When To Wear A Weightlifting Belt (Plus Why & How)
Oh, why do you need to read this when you already know when to wear a weightlifting belt, which is all the time?
Yeah, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything badasser than you hulking around the gym with your lifting belt on for each and every exercise, from calf raises to crunches, because who the fuck knows when your back is going to fold in on itself like the universe one day will.
My, not only are you looking snazzy as fuck but also like a total badass who cares about their body, shit that usually doesn’t go together.
…
Fuck, you people really need to learn how to read sarcasm because I’m being facetious as hell!!!
Wearing a weightlifting belt for every single exercise doesn’t look cool.
Oh, you might think it does, which is why you do it. After all, how can wearing something composed of leather and held in place by a big ass buckle or constructed of synthetic material and secured with Velcro NOT be cool?!?! Fuck, everyone loves leather, huge buckles, nylon, and Velcro!1There are also weightlifting belts that are secured with levers. This type of belt is usually more expensive than those secured with prongs or Velcro, so if you want to show off your wealth along with your coolness then you know the route to go!
I know it’s baffling, but trust me here that “cool” isn’t the first word to describe that look.
No, my friend.
Instead, let’s try the word “stupid”.
Far from looking snazzy, walking around the gym with a weightlifting belt on and using it on every lift makes you look stupid because it’s a neon sign that you don’t know what you’re doing.2That is, it makes you look stupid if what you’re NOT trying to do is make an “I have no style” fashion statement or prevent your body from folding into itself like a Transformer. If that type of fashion statement is what you’re after and the belt is the only thing that’s responsible for keeping you from folding over, then you know exactly what you’re doing. So keep doing your thing, baby! By all means, don’t let me interfere. But if that’s not you, then you look stupid. Stupid, I tell ya!!!
So you can stop looking stupid, here’s when to wear a weightlifting belt.
Apart from pulling exercise gloves out of your drawstring workout bag, nothing screams newbie louder than pulling a weightlifting belt out of your drawstring workout bag and then cinching it way too fucking tight as you wear it on every single lift.
That’s as newbie as it gets!
Why?
Because you think wearing a belt helps support your lower back.
Sorry, but that isn’t what it does in the slightest.
Actually, the purpose of a weightlifting belt is to provide support to the abs, not the lumbar spine.
How in good heavens can this be?!?!
– you asking me telepathically because your jaw is on the floor, making it impossible for you to talk
I’m not going to get too technical explaining how a belt supports the abs (because you’ll get bored and don’t really care), but a weightlifting belt works something as follows.
There’s this thingy called the Valsalva maneuver, a controlled breathing technique that one should only employ when lifting the sort of relative poundages that would make the Incredible Hulk have second thoughts. It involves taking a deep breath into your stomach before the eccentric part of the lift (i.e. when the weight is lowered) and holding it as you breathe out without actually breathing any air out.
Confused?
If you’ve ever held in a sneeze, then that’s essentially what the Valsalva maneuver is. With that in mind, just imagine doing that with a shit ton of weight on your back as you bear down into a squat.
Now, with the belt wrapped around your stomach, your abdomen is limited in how far it can expand when you take that deep diaphragmatic breath. As a result, the belt pushes the breath back against your abdominal wall. This in turn creates intra-abdominal pressure that stabilizes the trunk and torso, as well as the spine indirectly. It’s thanks to the increased stabilization of the “core” — not the back — that you can move more weight than you possibly would have without it.
How much more weight?
At least 5-15 percent more!
If not the ability to push more weight, you’ll notice that you can squeeze out an extra 1-3 reps with the same weight or exert less effort to move the same weight for the same number of reps.
Sounds good, right?
And because it sounds so good, why not wear a belt ALL THE TIME FOR EVERY SINGLE EXERCISE?
You don’t want to do that because a belt, when worn properly, shouldn’t cut off circulation but it definitely shouldn’t be comfortable enough for you to keep on for the entire length of your session as you strut your not so sexy stuff from station to station. More so, constant wear robs you of strengthening the transverse abdominis, which is the body’s internal weight belt, as well as stymies the development of the stabilizer muscles in your mid-section, such as the obliques.3Some people wear a belt all the time to keep their waist smaller, not so much for back support. However, there’s zero evidence that a belt can do that. Regardless, as we see, wearing a belt all the time for that, or any other reason, does more harm than good.
Rather than donning a belt to take up a machine and work out your fingers as you play on your phone or because you think it makes you look sooooooo chic, save its usage for when you’re attempting a deadlift, squat, or clean and jerk with a weight that’s 80-90 percent of your one-rep maximum.
INSTRUCTIONS
1). Place the belt around your waist. Specifically, the belt should sit above your hip bone and below your ribs, with it making full contact with the back, sides, and front of your trunk.
2). Once the belt is comfortably around your midsection, breathe in and secure it in place with the prongs, lever, or Velcro fastener. If you can fit an index finger down the back of the belt, then you have the right fit because there’s enough room for the stomach to expand. However, if your finger doesn’t fit, then the belt is too tight. Conversely, if more than one finger is able to slide down the back of the belt, then it’s too loose or not being worn in the proper area.
3). With the belt in place and fitting snugly, take a deep breath and actively push your abs into the belt. From there, flex your core by pretending that someone was about to punch you in the stomach. Hold this position for the entire length of the lifting exercise.
You should now know when to wear a weightlifting belt.
And because I provide you waaaaaaaayyyyyy too much value, you also know how to properly use one.
So there should be no reason to look stupid in the gym, other than for the other stupid shit you do.
NOTE: Do not — DO NOT!!! — use a weightlifting belt (1) if you have shitty lifting technique; (2) don’t know how to properly brace your core; or (3) have a preexisting history of lumbar stenosis, back pain, bulging discs, hernia, heart problems, or any other conditions that can be made worse by the belt increasing blood pressure or intra-abdominal pressure.
Glossary: abs, crunches, deadlift, exercise, gym, lifting belt, lifting gloves, one-rep max, squats, work out