To Belt Or Not To Belt

Lifting supports have been around for years, however none are more common than the weightlifting belt. There are 3 separate camps when it comes to wearing them and using them. One side that says to wear them at all times, one that says only wear them as an accessory to lifting, and one that says to never wear a lifting belt. There are arguments for all three sides but I am going to give my view on the matter and how I believe the belt should and should not be used.

The belt should never be uses as a permanent training tool, It should never be attached to the waist for an entire work out or even used at light weights just because you don't want to hurt your back. It comes down to this simple fact. If you need a belt to lift properly without pain then you should probably stop lifting and source out the real reason why your having pain while lifting and stop using the belt as a crutch to get your through work outs.

There are very few exercises that build a solid core like heavy squats and heavy deadlift, beltless of course. So here is the Untamed Strength Stance on how a weightlifting belt should be used. A belt should only be used when doing weights at or over 90% and even that is a stretch. The way a belt should be looked at it as a tool to increase a number. So for example if you can get close to a previous max without a belt then adding a belt will increase the max by my estimates 5-15 percent depending on how the athlete takes to using a belt.

Now this being said it is important to allow a couple of weeks at a lighter weight in order to get used to using a belt. Belts can throw off the biomechanics of a lifter slightly and it is important that the lifter gets accommodated with using one before hitting max numbers.

Let's talk about why it is important to train mostly beltless for a moment. If you build a solid base off of belt less training you will gain a great amount of lower back, oblique, and abdominal strength without even doing a single core movement and this is important because when performing any strength movement a strong core is a basically a prerequisite.

Training with a belt all the time is a quick way to gain a weaker core without thinking about it, we do not need to use the belt to lift we should only have to use the belt in order to insure an extra amount of poundage on whatever lift is being done.

Creating an environment in which a belt is not necessary should be the focus of the lifter and the coach. We want to build up the core enough that using a belt is only a bargaining chip to increase your total. So put down the belts and start performing lifts without the belts and only use them for maximal efforts lifts to increase. Get back to some real strength!

#strong #Strength #strengthtraining #powerlifting #strongman #olympics