belt

[the koala]

when do you guys use a belt?

i ask because i recently watched some westside tapes and noticed that they wear belts about 80% of the time

i generally try to use it as little as possible because as far as i know it takes some strength gain away from your abs, but lately asked myself if it wouldn't be beneficial if i would use the belt more often for back-safety and so on

thanks in advance

 

[Chambewy20]

Use your own discretion with your belt but you do need to establish some core strength without relying on your belt all of the time.

You also need to not cinch up your belt extremely tight. Allow yourself room so you can breath in your belly and push your abs against the belt.

Westside guys wear belts alot but you rarely see them taking them on and off, they are not all that tight in comparison to other folks you might see.

 

[Devastation]

i agree on the tightness part. wear it loose enough where you wouldn't have to take it off, but so you can effectively push out against it with your abs for stabilization. i wear my belt during speed box squats or taking a max or sub max weight. also heavy shrugs, rack deads, and max deads

 

[MsBeverlyHills]

I use a belt with anything over 75-80% of my max when doing deads, squats & OHPs & I do cinch it VERY tight.

 

[Scotsman]

I pretty much only use it fro 90% plus work. Remember in the videos those guys are usually using some pretty big weights and are trying to reinforce form and safety.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[Schutzhund1]

I use my belt for anything over 80% ME.

I've got a lever belt so it goes on and off in 1 second.

I train abs by themselves so when I'm squatting or deadlifting I'm not worried about strengthening my abs.

 

[Quadsweeps Sister]

I believe establishing core strength is key here to reply to the question. Belt usage does not only equate to abdominal strength, but also the strength of the entire core, posterior chain, etc. Cinching a belt too tightly makes it difficult to breath in (through the belly - not the chest) and push out 'against' the belt. Try to at least warm-up and increase weight up to approx. 75% of your max prior to belt usage. Use it more frequently, wearing it loosly - if you need to train yourself to breathe through your belly, pushing out against the belt. Once you have taken in a breath - before the weight is unracked, hold it - stay tight and perform your lift or movement.

Abdominal work should not be forgotten, but the strength of the core comes through a series of movements which includes the abs, but also many of the surrounding muscles above and below.

 

[blut wump]

I've been working around a bad back for ages and just started to introduce deadlifts and bent rows into my workouts. I started doing squats again a few months ago and I'm still at the stage where I have to believe that if I need the belt then it's too much weight. I'm more concerned about strengthening my core to ensure that my gym strength is usable in the real world.

 

[stout]

I've been working around a bad back for ages and just started to introduce deadlifts and bent rows into my workouts. I started doing squats again a few months ago and I'm still at the stage where I have to believe that if I need the belt then it's too much weight. I'm more concerned about strengthening my core to ensure that my gym strength is usable in the real world.

what's wrong with your back???

 

[blut wump]

I think I went too many years not working out and sitting at a desk hunched over a keyboard. I got to a stage where my sacro-illiac area was just grinding and binding giving much pain even to stand still. It was painful even to start the squat movement or to bend over to begin a deadlift etc.

 

[stout]

Do you ever do reverse hypers? These have been wonderful for alleviating my lower back pain,( a compressed disk), they stretch out the spinal cord and improve circulation in the lumbar area. I hardly ever feel a twinge anymore.

 

[blut wump]

My chiropractor said not to do hypers. He also said no squats, no rowing, no overhead pressing and to be very careful not to arch when benching. He recommended I walk a lot and showed me a handful of stretches. I'd already found that squatting wasn't an option and that seated rows were something to be careful with. I was so pathetic that I couldn't sit up in bed without using my arms due to the pain it would induce in my back and just standing still in a shop queue would hurt.

I joined abs and fitball classes, which did include reverse hypers, to start to strengthen my core and they gave me some partial recovery. My biggest recovery period began when I started to do seated rows and also a full pull right the way back on the seated rowing machine, kind of like a seated good morning. I also started to do very light squats. It was a bit scary and sometimes my mind would just refuse to do a weight I knew I had the muscle for. These exercises did for more for me than anythng I'd tried before.

I finally added in deadlifts and bent barbell rowing about a month ago. The chiropractor was appalled at the idea when I saw a couple of days ago until he examined me and said that I was in the best state he'd ever seen me. I can now do such crazy things as bend forward and pick things up without pain.

 

[stout]

that's great bro. When I was doing rehab for my back, i didn't use any weight, just the movement to stretch so there was little danger in doing anymore damage........but heh, when you can't even bend over or stand still for long what have you got to lose? You have to do something right? hope you recover completely. stout

 

[donsj]

I almost always wear my belt except when warming up with real light weights, like the bare bar for benching. By the time I am getting up to 135 on goes the belt. I also like the belt to prevent umbilical hernias. They are common when not wearing belts on heavy lifts.

 

[blut wump]

Heavy is a very relative term. I used to put my belt on as I passed 300 on the squat. It probably did allow me to lift more but I think I also used to press my abdomen against it for extra pressure and I think this might be a bad thing in itself.

I've not used the belt this year at all and am squatting 400 without it. I feel no pressure on my abdomen and am no longer convinced that a belt is a good thing unless I need to lift near my max. I think it's better to get my form improved and train my body's support system to do the job it was designed for. The belt might actually induce poor form and increase the likelyhood of injury.

I've seen Raymonds Bergmanis on TV deadlifting many hundreds of pounds with no belt which, while he is an exceptional athlete, indicates that a belt is not a necessity. Consider also that you don't usually get the chance to put your belt on if you need to pick up and carry something heavy when out of the gym and that's when a hernia becomes likely if your core is not conditioned to handle the strain.