When should you wear a weight belt?

[needsize]

have a read a ton of BS on this board over the last few months, and I am amazed at how many people we have here that are damn near know-it-all's. Weight training is a subjective matter, what works for one person is not always going to be the same for another since we were not all built the same.

The only people I've ever seen not use a belt when doing heavy deads or squats were people who either put their ego first, were not doing very much weight to start with, or too fat to use a belt.

That last quote is funny as hell, you talk about everyone on here generalizing and lumping everyone together, and then you go and say something like that. I'd like to know where I fit in then, I'm not a powerlifter, I just do deads for back thickness, but can still deadlift 3x my bodyweight, so I would say I'm not using a small amount of weight. I never go above 10% bodyfay, so I know I'm not fat. So where exactly do I fit into your generalizations?

 

[Lumberg]

Guys, pay attention to the marines on here. They know what they are talking about. A few months ago I asked what brand of weight belt was the best and most people were like "your gym shorts." They directed me to a FASCINATING three-part article on testosterone.net about your core stabilizing mechanism and it blew me away. I will never use a belt again unless I am either injured or maxing out on either the squat or the deadlift. As far as military presses and curls, WTF?

JC

P.S. for the article on testosterone.net search for "How to be back strong and beltless."

 

[bignate73]

Guys, pay attention to the marines on here. They know what they are talking about. A few months ago I asked what brand of weight belt was the best and most people were like "your gym shorts." They directed me to a FASCINATING three-part article on testosterone.net about your core stabilizing mechanism and it blew me away. I will never use a belt again unless I am either injured or maxing out on either the squat or the deadlift. As far as military presses and curls, WTF?

JC

P.S. for the article on testosterone.net search for "How to be back strong and beltless."

exactly, thats the article i would refer to people. very comprehensive and will answer bfold's question perfectly.

bfold, pay attention to the words gross stability and segmental stability. they are the difference between what you are talking about and what i am talking about.

http://www.chekinstitute.com/articles.cfm?select=16
http://www.chekinstitute.com/articles.cfm?select=17

and this one on abs in or out.
http://www.chekinstitute.com/articles.cfm?select=24

hope that clarifies my position a bit more. i practice this with my clients who come to me with back pain and it works wonders just to teach them postural control and functional stability. just imagine what the athlete can do with it.

 

[Blkout]

I wear mine when I compete...I train to compete...and on competition day...I wear my belt. I wear my belt on the log press from time to time in a loose fashion and I make a shelf out of the front of it to help with the clean of the log...if a competition allows it.

Wearing a belt does make a difference in your strength on a lift...but when I train...I want to train everything. I will train weakness as much as possible. If my grip is my weak point...I train my grip very hard. Most people's abs are their weak point...so I feel the need to train my abs. I am constantly moving with the weight that I am using in a contest...so my abs and entire core must be very strong.

I do agree with you that a belt will make you stronger...but in training...it is exactly just that...training.

Note, and this may be the difference here, that I am a strength athlete. My thoughts may not apply to anyone else.

B True

Ok, I see your point, now let me add one more to it and see what you think again.

OK, say your abs and lower back are weak. I understand by your theory that you would want to bring those points up to match the rest of your body. I have no problem with that. But lets say that your abs and lower back are preventing you from squatting or deadlifting a weight that challenges your legs or back. Does this mean you should not wear a belt and hope that the lagging muscle catch up, or wear a belt, challenge your legs or back and then work on some extra excercises to on another day to bring up those lagging points?


My point is that while we would all love to have proportional strength in all muscles, this is just not the case most of the time. so since this is often the case, why not just use a belt or straps for lifting on those excercises that are needed and then work the weaker muscles seperately another day until they catch up, if they ever catch up.

 

[Hannibal]

Yeah, I would love to read more. Can you also explain why Louie Simmons as well as every other powerlifter that I know believe that you should push outwards with your belly when you lift...to protect your spine?

Why is it that I am stronger when I push my belly outwards when I squat? It is the same when I deadlift and do my events too. Pushing my belly out is one of the main things I feel that helps me on a heavy set...as do most strength athletes.

B True

ELEMENTARY MY DEAR WATSON....my "guess" would be that the people that Nate trains are NOT strength athletes. "How to be back strong and beltless"...is great unless you plan to compete in an event which allows the use of belts...then you better no how to use one.

I AGREE with what Nate says...if the people I worked with were "people into fitness" or "bodybuiders". Someone even posted to do what Marines do....Marines would never wear a weightbelt in combat...so they should not train with one. But strength athletes have to know how to use their belt. If you have a half a ton across your back, and you plan to take it for a ride...I hope you are pushing your belly out.

 

[Hannibal]

Does this mean you should not wear a belt and hope that the lagging muscle catch up, or wear a belt, challenge your legs or back and then work on some extra excercises to on another day to bring up those lagging points?

Thats EXACTLY what it means. If you notice that your lower back and ab strength is out of propotion to the rest of your body...then you have found your "weakness". You need to make it strong. And if you just strap on a belt...then even though you are doing extra work for your lagging parts...they will never catch up to the rest...because you are strengthening then through the use of the belt.

I ditched the belt for everything but Speed Squats on Friday. And initially all my Max Effort movements went down...but after a couple of weeks or two...with some extra core work...my poundages were back up. So when I put the belt on in competition I am that much stronger.

 

[Lumberg]

ELEMENTARY MY DEAR WATSON....my "guess" would be that the people that Nate trains are NOT strength athletes. "How to be back strong and beltless"...is great unless you plan to compete in an event which allows the use of belts...then you better no how to use one.

I AGREE with what Nate says...if the people I worked with were "people into fitness" or "bodybuiders". Someone even posted to do what Marines do....Marines would never wear a weightbelt in combat...so they should not train with one. But strength athletes have to know how to use their belt. If you have a half a ton across your back, and you plan to take it for a ride...I hope you are pushing your belly out.

I was the one who said listen to the marines and I specifically meant listen to what Big Nate says. I do not know if his statements are endorsed by the USMC as a whole and I did not mean to imply that. I meant pay attention to him as a person because he knows his shit.

JC

 

[Lumberg]

Personally I see use of a belt as similar to use of a suit or shirt in powerlifting. You should get as strong as possible without it, then in the weeks leading up to a contest start working the gear into your routine so that you are used to it and know your limits.

If you are not maxing out you do not need a belt. Period. It will cause bad recruitment patters of the muscles in your gut.

As far as the other person who asked if they should lower their weights and work on their supporting muscles on other days, yes. The articles even have a training program for strenghtening the TVA that you could follow.

And as a person who has considered using straps but recently DLed a new PR without straps, my advice is to stop being a pussy and just do it!

Just for the record using lots of chalk helps too.

JC

 

[Night Fly]

I haven't used a weight belt for any exercise in a long time. I have really been focusing on strengthening my lower back, though, so I don't have much of a problem. I would suggest (probably like everyone else in this thread, but I just hit "reply" before reading) that you do your workouts without a belt...unless you are going for a really heavy one rep max....or for a contest.

 

[Hannibal]

I was the one who said listen to the marines and I specifically meant listen to what Big Nate says. I do not know if his statements are endorsed by the USMC as a whole and I did not mean to imply that. I meant pay attention to him as a person because he knows his shit.

JC

I know man...I was agreeing with you. My point was train for what you compete at. Marines "competition" is combat. And they would never use a weightbelt in combat...so they shouldnt use one in training.