Should you Use a Belt During Strength Training?
Should you Use a Belt During Strength Training?
A weight belt is one of those rights of passage for people when they’re starting their training journey. No one knows what they do, but they dream of the day when they can lift enough to use the coveted weight belt so their lifts will soar to new levels. Like most things, there’s a time and place where using one is right and wrong and the context matters a lot in this situation. We work with a lot of younger athletes and also some older adults who have already experienced back pain and want to be sure stay out of pain. We even keep around about a dozen belts available at the gym for people to use if they wish. Many people never even realize that they’re available despite being in the middle of the gym. Let’s look at some myths about using a belt and then also when to or not use a belt. Like anything else in your training routine, it’s a tool that you can use if you desire, but shouldn’t become a crutch that if not available means you can’t train.
Myths
Belts prevent back injuries. I’ve seen a lot of people injure their back while wearing a belt. It does help engage more muscles of the core because of feedback, but doesn’t guarantee you won’t get injured.
You have to lift a certain amount to use. I’ve heard people say that if you can’t squat bodyweight or some other number, you’re not strong enough to use a belt. There’s no reasoning for this, it’s just a made up metric handed down from one gym rat to another over decades.
You have to use them if lifting over a certain amount of weight. On the flip side from previous point, people use numbers like 405lbs as a staple for a belt. I once watched Burley Hawk perform a Goodmorning with over 700lbs for 3 reps with no belt. His back was very strong and healthy.
Skill
There’s a really funny thing about so many people using a belt when they train. Most of the people using them don’t know how to properly use them to get the benefit from them. I first realized this in 2011 when I was training with Chuck Vogelpohl. He could tell I wasn’t using the belt correctly during Squats. He then made me take the belt off during squats and deadlifts and cued me specifically on using the muscles of my core, glutes, and upper back. This was to give me a more solid base during the lifts. Then towards the end of the workout, he had me put the belt back on to perform ab exercises. At this point, I thought he was crazy. I put the belt on and then he adjusted it because I actually had it too tight to be beneficial because the muscles of my core couldn’t expand into the belt. A good test, you should be able to put your fingers between the stomach and belt when relaxed and then expand all the way around to create rigid support using the belt. During the ab training, every rep was focused driving the muscles into the belt and then keeping the tension all the way around my torso. This was a great learning session. If you’re going to utilize a belt, be sure you’re using it correctly.
When to Use It
With our athletes, I’m generally not a fan of using belts. This can change as they progress to college and professional athletes. The goal for our athletes is to increase athletic performance and weights are simply a part of that. If a baseball player increases their squat from 405lbs to 425lbs with a belt, I’m not sure that’s the difference maker in throwing velocity or injury prevention. With adults, I just let them decide when to use it if they want to and we will teach them how. We’re still trying to build a foundation of strength prior to use of the belt. We also make sure they don’t become dependent on the belt. If you feel dependent on your belt, try a few weeks without it and you’ll be amazed at your body working harder.
When to not Use It
If you feel the need to put your belt on just reading your workout, you might want to go without it for a while. If you decide to use it frequently in training, I would suggest only on main exercises like squats and deadlifts and only during the top sets. You can read online about people saying only use a belt at 60,70,80% of 1 rep max. Again this is all context dependent. When I was competing, I put my belt on right away because the goal of the competition wasn’t to build strength, but rather display maximal strength that day. That means wasting no energy. If you feel the need to use a belt during bicep curls, you might have an addiction to your belt.
What Belt to Use?
I was always amazed at my 8mm single prong belt from Inzer. This heavy duty belt will last long after my grandkids stop lifting. Double prong belts are a huge pain because one prong will always get stuck. For many gym enthusiast, a basic belt from your local sporting goods store will be fine. I would recommend either a Velcro belt or small single prong. I was never fond of lever belts as they’re a huge pain to adjust if needed and I saw a countless number of them snap on people in the bottom of a squat.
Tips to Use a Belt
When using a belt, make sure it’s loose enough to slide your fingers between the stomach and the belt. Then practice expanding all the way around creating tension into the belt. If the belt is too tight, the torso can’t expand and is actually inhibiting the muscles from doing their job. When lining it up, I always recommend going across the belly button. If it’s too low it doesn’t do much. Some larger framed lifters liked having their belt higher on deadlifts. I tried it and wasn’t for me as I felt less support, but these people were levering to their specific technique and build. If you buy a thicker belt like the Inzer one I used, roll it up a lay a 100lb plate on it for a day. The next day, roll it the other weight and lay the weight on it. This will help break in the material so you can actually use the belt.
Wrap Up
Use a belt if you want after building a solid foundation for a few years. Until then it’s like putting an ornament on brown Christmas tree. Understand that there is a time and a place for everything in training. Use it for a while, but don’t become dependent on it or any other training tool in your arsenal.
Nick Showman