I’ve been enjoying my Titan Fitness Squat Max MD but quickly ran into a few problems. Problems that I’ve found some quick and simple fixes for.

First off, the entire system is metal-on-metal contact. So when you use it, there’s a lot of clanking and excessive noise. I haven’t found a fix for the handles and safety scissors, but one thing that I’ve done to minimize noise in general is by adding some padding on top of the safety bars. I just used some self-adhesive mats that I keep around for random projects. With this, I cut a strip and stuck it to the top of the safety bars. Again, it’s self-adhesive, so it’s pretty straightforward. But in doing this, I essentially eliminated the noise of racking the loading pin.

My next problem with the Squat Max is the amount of movement the loading pin has when it moves up and down the guide rod. This is in place to allow a more natural squat pattern, but in my opinion, there’s too much slop and this results in the possibility of your plates catching the lip of the oval cutout. Funny thing is, the inventor of the Squat Max, Brian Hennessy, saw me say this in my original Squat Max video and he mentioned that that shouldn’t be possible. But when you watch the promo video with him talking about the Squat Max on Titan’s channel, you can clearly see the model clipping his plates on the lip of the Squat Max on the very first rep. So, it’s very much possible. In my case and because I use rubber-coated plates, every time I hit the lip, it tears a chunk off of my plates, and I really don’t like that. To combat this, I’ve done two things. First, is by changing how I position myself on the Squat Max. If you haven’t noticed, when you squat, you naturally sit back and your body naturally shifts back a bit. It’s this shifting back motion that allows the plates to get caught under the lip of the oval cutout. So if you move a bit forward on the platform, you gain a bit of clearance. Then on top of this, I’ve added an edge guard to the lip of the cutout. This adds a softer and more rounded edge to the lip in case I do happen to hit it.

Finally, and likely the biggest upgrade that I’ve made is in picking up a new belt and the one that works for me is the Spud Inc Pillow Belt Squat Belt. I’ve made a dedicated video HERE comparing this belt and the Titan belt that the Squat Max comes with so check that out if you’re interested. But in short, the Pillow belt is going to offer more comfort as the materials it’s made of are softer, more flexible, and offer more effective padding. The Pillow belt is also about 2 inches shorter than the Titan belt. In my case, this allows me to hit parallel on a squat without hitting the bottom of the Squat Max. That alone makes it a worthwhile upgrade for me, but that’s not going to be applicable to everyone.

If you don’t pick up a new belt, something else that I can recommend is to pick up a new carabiner. My Titan belt started to fray after the very first use and this is because the carabiner that came with the belt is a bit sharp around the edges. Brian Hennessy, the inventor of the Squat Max, saw my original video where I mentioned this problem and sent a replacement carabiner that he sells on his website. For sure, his carabiner is of much higher quality, and the fit and finish are much better. There are no sharp edges, so hopefully this won’t rip up my new Pillow belt.

For now, these minor upgrades haven’t necessarily solved all of my minor complaints with the Squat Max, but they’ve certainly minimized them. What I’ve shown you are simple little tweaks that don’t take much effort and don’t cost too much, so I can definitely recommend them to any Squat Max owner.

If you're considering buying any of the products mentioned, please support my work by using the links below.

Titan Squat Max MD https://amzn.to/3SjN3BS

Self-Adhesive Anti-Slip Pads https://amzn.to/43f23Hm

Edge Guard Strip https://amzn.to/44XY5UZ

Spud Inc Pillow Belt Squat Belt https://amzn.to/45oB6SY

Carabiner https://thehenny.com/collections/accessories/products/replacement-carabiners

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