Forte Fitness Hack Squat Attachment Review
Quick verdict
The Forte Fitness Hack Squat Attachment has one of my favourite characteristics in home gym equipment:
it creates a movement I otherwise don't have room for.
I cannot fit a proper plate-loaded hack squat machine into my gym. This lets me create a surprisingly effective quad-focused squat using:
an Olympic bar
a landmine
a small attachment
The actual exercise is excellent and the attachment is compact, plus, it's made in the UK.
And the price has come down considerably since I originally tested it.
But there's one design flaw I still can't ignore:
the shoulder padding isn't good enough.
I complained about this when I reviewed it. Interestingly, I'm no longer alone: one of Forte's current verified customer reviews makes essentially the same complaint and describes adding extra bar-pad foam.
At the time of writing Forte lists it at £89, reduced from £119, although it is currently showing as sold out.
At £89, I think the value proposition is substantially better than when I first tested it around the £149 mark.
My verdict:
A genuinely useful small-gym attachment with excellent training utility — provided you're willing to solve the padding yourself.
What is it?
It's essentially a shoulder yoke that slides over the sleeve of a 50mm Olympic barbell being used in a landmine.
Rather than holding the end of the bar in your hands, the attachment distributes the load across your shoulders.
Forte currently specifies:
adjustable shoulder width: 200–290mm
50mm Olympic sleeve compatibility
100mm attachment length
roughly 310mm of usable plate space when used on a 410mm sleeve
The actual plate capacity therefore depends heavily on plate thickness. Forte estimates approximately 80kg with thick CrossFit-style bumpers, rising dramatically with thin calibrated/steel plates.
That matters.
If you own giant bumpers, you'll run out of sleeve before you run out of theoretical strength.
Who should buy it?
I'd consider it if:
you want more quad-focused leg training
you already own an Olympic bar
you already own a landmine
you don't have space for a hack squat machine
you value compact attachments
you don't mind a bit of setup between sets
I'd skip it if:
you already own a good hack squat/leg press
you hate removing attachments to add plates
you want commercial-machine convenience
you expect the included padding to be comfortable under heavy load without modification
your landmine setup is unstable or awkwardly positioned
Setup
The basic setup is simple:
Secure your bar in a landmine.
Load the plates.
Slide the Forte attachment over the sleeve.
Adjust the shoulder pads to suit your width (you should only need to do this once)
Get underneath.
Stand up and move into your squat position.
I prefer using a rack-mounted landmine rather than having the bar pivot directly from floor level. For me, that produces an angle that feels more like the machine pattern I'm trying to approximate. You can still use a normal floor landmine but the resistance curve will simply feel different.
The actual hack squat feels far better than the product looks
This is a very simple bit of steel and tt doesn't look like it should transform leg training. But it does give you something meaningfully different from a conventional barbell squat.
With my feet positioned appropriately and a heel wedge underneath, I can:
remain more upright
allow substantial knee travel
achieve a deep range of motion
bias the quads more aggressively
This doesn't magically turn a landmine into a £5,000 commercial hack squat. The bar still moves around a fixed pivot rather than along the rails of a traditional machine but in a small home gym, I'm not really asking “Is this identical to Panatta?”, I'm asking “Does this give me a useful squat stimulus I didn't have before?”
Yes.
Very clearly.
Front-facing versus rear-facing
You can orient yourself in different directions relative to the attachment. I use it to create both front-squat-style and hack-squat-style patterns.
The adjustable shoulder width is helpful here because you can make the contact points fit your own frame rather than being stuck with one fixed yoke.
Forte currently describes both hack-squat and reverse-hack/front-facing variations as intended uses. That's legitimate versatility.
But I still wouldn't buy it because it technically performs ten exercises, I'd buy it because it does one or two squat variations really well.
The biggest problem: those shoulder pads
Forte describes the attachment as having foam-padded shoulder support and technically, it does. Practically, I don't think the standard padding is good enough once you start loading it heavily. A barbell distributes pressure across your upper back but this attachment can put pressure much more directly onto the top of the shoulders.
With enough load, that became uncomfortable enough that I bought extra barbell pads. For an attachment designed specifically to carry load through your shoulders, I don't think you should need to do that.
And this isn't merely my unusual anatomy.
That is the design change I'd make before anything else: thicker, denser, larger shoulder pads.
Fix that and this becomes a much easier product to recommend.
Loading is more annoying than a real hack squat
This is the second compromise because the attachment occupies the outer end of the bar sleeve.
So when you want to add plates, you generally have to remove the attachment, add the plate, replace the attachment and then do your squat.
This adds a small amount of friction to every weight change.
Does that ruin the product? No.
It's simply part of the difference between:
a £89 attachment and a giant machine permanently occupying several square metres.
If you perform lots of ramping sets with small jumps, you'll notice it more.
What about using it for Viking presses, calf raises and lunges?
You can and current owner reviews also mention calf raises, single-leg work and Viking pressing.
Personally, I wouldn't make those the buying argument as there are better Viking-press handles and easier ways to perform lunges.
I already have other options for calf raises.
Home gym manufacturers love turning every attachment into:
“17 exercises in one!”
But versatility only matters if you actually use the extra exercises.
For me this is:
a very good compact hack-squat tool.
Anything else is a bonus.
Rack-mounted versus floor landmine
This changes the movement more than people realise because a floor-mounted landmine pivots from very low down. As the bar becomes more upright, the horizontal component of the load changes.
With my rack-mounted landmine positioned higher, the leverage and movement arc feel closer to what I want from the hack-squat pattern.
Squat wedges make it substantially better for me
I often use wedges underneath my feet to give me more freedom to let the knees travel forward while keeping the movement comfortable.
It also helps me get a deeper quad-focused squat. You don't need wedges to use the Forte but if ankle mobility or your preferred squat mechanics limit depth, they're worth experimenting with.
Build quality
The basic steelwork is strong and simple and there's not a complicated mechanism waiting to develop play. The adjustable shoulder section is useful and the branding is clean.
And Forte manufactures the attachment in the UK.
Price: much more attractive now
When I first reviewed the attachment, it was around £149. At that price, the shoulder pads annoyed me significantly because it felt like a finished product asking premium attachment money while still needing a DIY comfort fix.
Forte currently lists it at £89 sale / £119 regular price. At £89, my opinion shifts a little. The padding is still a flaw. but the cost of solving it with additional padding becomes easier to accept when the overall product is substantially cheaper.
It's a good example of why a review verdict should be revisited when pricing changes.
Final verdict
The Forte Hack Squat Attachment is almost the definition of good small-home-gym equipment. It's not perfect and it's not as convenient as a real machine. It isn't as comfortable as it should be out of the box.
But it gives me a genuinely useful leg exercise that I simply would not have room to replicate with a dedicated machine.
And then it goes away when I'm finished.
At £89, that's a very compelling proposition.
My advice would be:
Buy it for hack squats.
Add some better shoulder padding.
Use a secure landmine.
Experiment with the height and your foot position.
And enjoy the fact that you've just avoided trying to squeeze a 300kg commercial machine through your garden gate.
FAQs
Is the Forte Hack Squat Attachment worth it?
At the current £89 sale price, I think it makes strong sense for someone who already owns a barbell and landmine and wants a compact quad-focused squat option.
Does it fit any barbell?
Forte specifies compatibility with standard 50mm Olympic sleeves.
Is the shoulder padding comfortable?
I don't think the standard pads are thick enough under heavier loads. At least one current Forte customer review reports the same issue.
Can I use bumper plates?
Yes, but thick bumper plates considerably reduce how much total weight you can physically fit on the remaining sleeve. Forte currently estimates around 80kg with thick CrossFit-style bumpers on a typical 410mm sleeve.
Do I need squat wedges?
No. I personally prefer using them because they help me achieve the foot position and knee travel I want from the movement.
Is it the same as a real hack squat machine?
No. A landmine moves around a fixed pivot and has a different resistance path from a dedicated linear hack squat. The attraction is achieving a useful approximation of the movement with dramatically less cost and space.