I’ve been using my Titan Fitness Squat Max MD for about a month and am constantly reminded that I’m a bit too short for it as I keep bottoming out when hitting parallel. I bought a different belt that’s slightly shorter, but it turns out that only helps until I reach over 300lbs, and the belt material stretches a bit, making me bottom out again. So, the only real answer is to build a platform that raises me up a bit, giving me the clearance that I need.

Obviously, there are a lot of ways to approach this project. What I’m going to show you is what I feel is one of the easier approaches. That being said, I did do a couple of optional steps to make my platform look and perform better. Not every step that I’m about to show is necessary, and I’ll let you know that when we get there. Also, I personally already owned a lot of the materials to get this project done so your mileage will vary. I’ll do my best to include as many reference products as possible for you below. With that said, let’s get started.

Probably the most obvious approach to building a platform is to use wood. For my project, I decided to go with a non-pressure-treated 4”x4” for the internal structure. This is because right off the bat, a 4”x4” would give you a 3.5” lift right out the gate. You just cut it to size, stand on it, and you’re done. Not much else needed. With most other wood sizes, you’re probably going to have to do some sort of stacking, which just takes more effort.

I originally planned on cutting two pieces of 4”x4”, sticking them side by side, and calling it a day. That would give me a 7” wide platform to stand on, and that would be perfectly functional, but a little bit ugly in my opinion. I ultimately decided to wrap the platform, completely covering the 4”x4”, so I also picked up a 4’ x8’ sheet of plywood. For this, I went with the thinnest sheet that my Lowe’s had, and it was 5mm thick. With my platform, the plywood is purely for aesthetics. It’s just to cover up the 4x4, which is what’s giving me the structural rigidity. So spending money on thicker plywood would just be a complete waste of money in my opinion. Pro tip, if you don’t have the means to rip a full sheet of plywood or just too lazy to do it like me, some hardware stores sell smaller pre-cut sheets but at a higher cost per square footage, and some hardware stores have large saws that will be able to cut the wood down for you. But just be careful with this, as some of the workers are not proficient with the saw and can make inaccurate cuts. I say this because this happened with my project. The guy cut a little bit too short. I didn’t double-check at the store and had to make adjustments to everything at home.

At this point, I want to talk about the platform size. This will ultimately depend on you and what you want. I would recommend that you stand on the Squat Max in your normal squatting stance and measure your foot from side to side. Remember, your feet are going to be angled a bit, so account for that. I personally gave myself some extra space and decided to cut my 4”x4” to 9.5”. I had 4 of these side to side, which gave me a length of 14”. So my internal structure was 9.5”x14”.

To attach these blocks together, I just used some wood glue between the sides and clamped everything together to dry. You can reinforce them even more by nailing or screwing them together but I didn’t think this was necessary considering that they’d be locked in place once I get the plywood on.

Next, it was time to cut the plywood down to size. Again, there are a few ways to approach this. I went the easiest route and decided to just butt the ends to each other. I would say that cutting the plywood down was the hardest part of this project for me because it’s 5mm thick. That doesn’t translate perfectly to the imperial fraction system that we normally use when dealing with wood. 5mm is just over 3/16” of an inch. So what I’m getting at is unless you’re extremely anal about measuring and cutting, there’s going to be some descrepencies when you go to assemble. Especially, if you have a 4”x4” that’s not perfectly straight like I did. Just know that and be prepared for some gaps. If you don’t care, then no problem. If you do care, then there are ways to fill the gaps. But in saying that, I cut 4 pieces of 14”x10”, 4 pieces of 10”x4”, and 4 pieces of 14”x4”.

Once I got all the plywood cut, it was time to assemble the plywood box around the 4”x4” internal structure. To hold the plywood in place, I used brad nails. I would recommend that you add some wood glue here to make an even more sturdy structure. I didn’t because I was in a rush to get this project done and didn’t want to sit around waiting for the glue to dry.

Again, because I was working with some imperfect wood, there’s going to be some gaps. You can skip this step, but if you care like me, you can fill in the gaps. This can be done with wood filler or, in my case, spackle because I have a bunch lying around. This particular product that I’m using goes on pink and dries white. Not the best look, but it didn’t matter to me because I plan to paint my platform black to match the color scheme of my home gym.

Next, I’m going to glue some anti-slip padding to the top and bottom of my platform. For this, I’m using some toolbox liner that I already had lying around. This padding is going to help keep the platform in place and prevent the wood from possibly scratching up the Squat Max. This is another optional step, but I personally really appreciate having this liner on the platform.

And that’s my entire process for building a platform for the Squat Max. I can’t tell you how much of a game-changer this is for me. I can squat so low now, way below parallel, without bottoming out even when using some of the longer belts that I own. I think if you’re under 6’ tall, this is definitely a worthwhile project.

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

Titan Fitness Squat Max MD https://amzn.to/4mYKBPk

Spud Inc Pillow Belt Squat Belt https://amzn.to/43OJ7OV

Flex 12in Sliding Miter Saw https://amzn.to/4mQ5ex8

Speed Square https://amzn.to/43FlLuQ

Tape Measure https://amzn.to/43OJkBH

Titebond Original Wood Glue https://amzn.to/457PaQS

Wood Clamps 24" https://amzn.to/4kJ8Tut

Brad Nailer https://amzn.to/3HCeGDQ

Brad Nails https://amzn.to/45ccPjb

DAP DryDex Spackling https://amzn.to/43sMb4i

Toolbox Drawer Liner https://amzn.to/4jqYiDr