Wearing a belt to IMPROVE core strength?

[Guinness5.0]

I was wondering if wearing a somewhat loose belt could cause one to improve their core strength.

Example: I have a tendency to not pay particular attention to keeping myself 'tight' all over on really heavy sets. I was thinking that if I wore a loose belt and pushed my abs HARD into it when performing squats/deads/OHP etc. for a while (a few weeks), perhaps the habit would become ingrained and I would activate my abs with or without the belt.

Thoughts?

 

[blut wump]

I think pushing the abs into the belt is a different feeling from tightening the torso beltless for its own support. Interesting question, though.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Well, I was thinking that anything to cause me to focus on tightening my midsection during the lifts would be good, whether it's an exact replication of 'beltlessness' or not. I guess I'm thinking it would train me to 'need' to feel my abs tighten up.

 

[Chambewy20]

Me and my guys, over a period of time, started going heavier and heavier with no belt in small increments in order to increase core strength. There is a limit although and it is specific to each person and their abilities.

Have attempted practicing abdominal breathing, taking deep breaths into your belly so to speak and not into your chest, worked wonders for me, still trying to get my guys to learn how to breath.

 

[Cynical Simian]

Interesting. I see what you're getting at with trying to use tactile feedback rather than your kinesthetic sense alone (a la Rippetoe poking Generic Trainee in Starting Strength). As long as whatever you use doesn't inhibit movement, the main issue would be, like blut wump said, making sure that you don't fix one form problem by replacing it with another. I guess it'd be worth a shot if just trying to concentrate on staying tight or carryover from good form on submaximal sets doesn't work.