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.