Weight Lifting Belts: To Wear or Not to Wear
May 14th, 2008 by Mehdi Posted in Gym Equipment
Image credit: Powershotsmag.com
Do you need a weight lifting belt? Gym folklore says wearing a weight belt increases lower back safety. It also says weight belts increase abdominal pressure, which allows you to lift more weight. Let’s see if this is true.
Stuart McGill. Author of Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance & Low Back Disorders. Stuart McGill is the authority on lower back health. He has several articles on his site for those who haven’t his books yet.
One article deals with the use of weight belts. It’s adapted from the chapter on back belts in Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance. Click here to download this free pdf. View the file with Acrobat Reader.
Do You Need Weight Belts? If you don’t feel like reading the whole pdf, here are some of the key points of Stuart McGill’s research.
- If you never injured your back, wearing a belt adds no safety.
- If you injure yourself while wearing a belt, the injury is more severe.
- To get the most out of weight belts, you must lift with bad technique.
- If you want to lift a few more pounds, wear a weight belt.
Why I Never Recommend Weight Belts. Guy subscribes to a gym. Does Biceps Curls like the other guys. Gets stronger. Hyper-extends his back on each rep to get even stronger. Gets lower back pain.
He wears a belt upon recommendation of the gym people. No more pain. Back to curls, but still hyper-extending his back. Pain comes back, but worse. Doctor diagnoses him with a hernia. Weight lifting gets bad reputation again.
It was Biceps Curls, but it could have been Squats or Deadlifts. If you don’t lift correctly, you’ll injure yourself. That’s why I don’t recommend belts: they give a false sense of security. And according to McGill, injuries get more severe.
Choosing Your Weight Belt. You’ll need a weight belt to perform Weighted Dips/Pull-ups/Chin-ups. I use a leather belt with chain/caliper to attach the weight. Ironmind’s dipping belt handles up to 1000lbs (it works for Pull-ups).
I never wear a weight belt on Squats, Deadlifts or Presses. My lower back is fine. Wearing a belt messes with my technique. But if I decided to compete, then I’d train more with a belt to get used to it.
I like your advice on weight lifting belts. If you are using poor form without the belt, the belt is not going to fix that. A false sense of security is a great way to put it.
1. No where in this study did they differentiate between thick powerlifting belts and flimsy thin “cheap” belts.
2. What actual lifting experience does the author(s) of this article have with proper lifting?
3. Belts are not intended to provide back support, they provide abdominal support. This will provide more power for your squat.
Belts are used so that you can fill your gut with air and press your abdominal muscles against so that you generate more power through the squat. If worn and used correctly belts will NOT affect technique. Ask any powerlifter and this is the answer you will get.
I believe everyone should wear a thick 4″ wide belt during heavy lifts (as shown in the picture), not to protect your back, but instead to use abdominal muscles to provide more power, which in turn will lift more weight.
Why would you wear a belt if you competed, but not if you just trained at the gym? There are no rules saying you can’t wear a belt during a competition…
Nice articles i needed some advice on this subject of weightlifting, but i agree with johnnyo that a comparison between the kinds of belts that are popular in the gym wouldbe good to clarify better its use.
There is only one guy in my gym that wears the powerlifting leather belt, the one that is flat on the sides (he read Sarting Strength) . The rest of the people uses that wide-on-the-middle kind of belt.
[opinion]
partly @johnnyo
The reason I don’t use a belt is because I want to be able to use my body and my strength to it’s maximum not rely on external devices/support.
Practical, actual strength is more important to me then the amount I can lift.
Also logic would suggest that if you can’t lift something without the need of a belt then your body hasn’t developed enough all round to lift that weight.
[/opinion]
I wore weight belts all through high school. I was a total gym rat and lifted sometimes twice a day to bulk up for football and get stronger for discus/shot put. My coaches told me to always wear belts for heavy lifts (deadlifts, squats and military presses) to protect my back.
I ended up hurting my back more and more for the exact reason that I used the belt to lull myself into a false sense of security. I’d try to lift more and more weight, without working on technique one iota. So, every few weeks, I’d tweak my back and not be able to lift for a week. I thought this was normal.
I agree that, if you learn to do it right, you shouldn’t need a belt.
But I can also see the benefits of wearing one if you actually know what you’re doing and need that extra boost. If you’re going to wear one, you should be properly educated as to why and under what circumstances you should be wearing it.
Nowadays, I see guys wandering aimlessly around the gym, wearing weight belts while using machines and doing bench presses. They were obviously in the same boat I was, being told at an early age that they should wear a belt when they lift, period.
Good write up. I still consider myself new in the world of weight lifting. One thing that had kept me from it was a worry about my back. See at the age of 17, I crushed a vertebrae. Definite lower back problems.
The funniest thing (at least to me), is that now that I’m lifting 4 to 5 days a week, my back has never felt better. At first, I did use a weight belt for a few lifts. Now, as I get stronger, and my lifts go up, I find myself bothering with a belt less and less. I do see a point in them at times, but I think the summary of it really is that - they have a definite use case, but as with anything else - good form rules.
(sorry for the short life story, felt it was appropriate given the subject)
Nothing makes me happier than watching guys at the gym slap 400lbs on the bar, pull their weight belt as tight as possible and then proceed to do eighth squats bellowing out “arrgh” at then end of each “rep”. Or even better, the guy who insists on wearing a belt for bench press as if that is going to make him lift more…what a bunch of idiots!
@ Anthony
Don’t you get stronger the more weight that you lift? The belt isn’t lifting the weight, you are. When using a belt PROPERLY you incorporate more muscle (abdominals), which in turn moves more weight, which in turn makes you stronger.
I have a similar question with regards to wrist supports. I am a female, small frame (54kg, 1.6m) and I have broken my wrists in the past. I wear wrist bands (nothing over the hands, just around the wrists) or use tape for added support. I find it particularly useful for the bench press and squat (which I am doing close to body weight). When I lift without them my wrists can get a bit sore.
Is it a bad idea to depend on using wrist supports (as you seem to convey on the topic of back supports)? Should I work to strengthen my wrists instead (which may prove difficult given the weak underlying bone structure)?
I think Johnnyo has a point in that when going for extremely heavy lifts, especially in competition, a belt used properly can be a good thing. But with the focus on novice lifters (generally) of this site, I think a belt is unnecessary and a bad idea. I’m a novice (week 7 of SL 5×5) and have never considered a belt as my lifts are still light, I know my core has become stronger because of this.
Funny thing in the gym the other day, a guy comes in wearing a belt (not the 4 inch straight kind either), gloves and a visor turned upside down, walks up to the bench press area, puts 115lbs on the oly bar (no warmup) and starts doing the worst curls I’ve ever seen (swinging the bar with a huge hyperextended back) while grunting very loudly. So dumb.
only time I wear a belt is when I max out on deadlifts…which is twice a year?
@katya
I would suggest using wrist wraps, whether you have wrist problems or not. It’s not like the wraps are doing all the work, just supporting. Your wrists will still get stronger while wearing wraps.
@Nate
Your this comments was funny
“Nowadays, I see guys wandering aimlessly around the gym, wearing weight belts while using machines and doing bench presses.”
Very true!!
Novice in strength training as well but have been around in all sorts of lifting routines for 2 years. I have played volleyball for 11 years (age 11-22) and it has almost destroyed my lower back and shoulders. For years my lower back was terrible. It got better when I took up swimming more seriously.
My history with back trouble makes me weary of wearing belts. I want to feel the slightest thing going wrong. Belts will not allow me to feel that untill it gets really beyond the point where a good stretching and a day of rest will take care of it.
Besides that, I’m not competing with anyone, so why would that few extra pounds bother me?
@johnnyo
The paper does agree with you: you can lift more weight with a belt than without. I don’t wear a belt because I like raw strength. I agree with you that wearing a belt, would increase raw strength too however. But it just gets in the way of my technique. Probably lack of experience with wearing a belt, or just psychological.
@katya
Make sure your back supports the weight on squats, not your wrists. Make also sure the bar is low in your hands on the bench press, not high in your fingers.
I train at my University gym which is full of pretty-boys wandering round with all the gear under the sun performing with awful technique. I love strolling in with raggedy clothes and no gear to assist me and being able to lift more than them/lift or with better technique.
@Mehdi
Its all about raw strength! I used to use HST principles with lots of isolations, but I’ve since switch to the beginner 5×5 II workout. Its great, I’ve never had useable strength before!
when using your strength in real life, for example to pick up a heavy box, would you first go home and get your belt? no! that’s why I agree one should only use the belt for really heavy weights, if necessary at all…
and it is funny seeing those guys at the gym: 1. get a belt 2. bench 3. dumbell curls 4. stare at mirror 5. remove belt and leave
Too many people wear a belt in the gym like it’s a fashion accessory,they never take it off.
I haven’t owned a belt or used wrist straps for over 10 years . Deadlifts,squats & standing press can all be done safely without a belt.If you aren’t using proper form then you are training too heavy,a belt isn’t going to change that.
A common mistake is to wear a belt so tight for a heavy lift that the stomach wall is bulging above & below the belt. That doe4sn’t help the back & it can cause a hernia.
Training without a belt strengthens your core.I make fairly heavy lifts & I’ve never had a back injury when training without a belt.
I use a belt only on my heaviest set on squats, just for the extra few pounds. I feel my quads working more when I wear one.
i’m glad you wrote this topic, mehdi - and with all the other post of course-. So now i can convinced my self to stay away from weight belt (at least for now). Weight lifting is a whole new world in my life. Two months ago was my first “contact’ with barbel and plates when i decide to went in to the gym (I was 50 kg, very skinny compared to my height;1,73 cm). So many mith and floating information provided here on my gym (i’m from Indonesia). As a beginner, i have to deal with many crabs and wise guys every time i workout (including the gym’s instructor), and one of the “big guy’s guidance” is ; You should wear weight belt every time you lift, the belt is provided by the gym for that purpose” ;p
After my first two weeks in Gym with so many machines and isolation exercise tasks, i’m so grateful to find your site and i’m enjoyed being the one and only person in a gym who using free weight while everyone else still on smith machine’s waiting line.
I’m on my 6th week SLift 5×5 now, gaining 8kg and looking for 60kg at the end of May.
I’m sorry for the unrelated story, I just want to share and thank you for everything i got here.. btw, it’s too late but happy anniversary for your site mehdi,,keep up your great work…just let me know if there’s any chances for you to visit indonesia.:p
Lifting with a belt and without is indeed different. The technique is different, so yes it messes with your technique. The former requires you to push your stomach against the belt in order to increase IAP. The latter requires you to brace so that your inner and outer unit are pushing against each other to increase torso stiffness. Pushing your stomach out is not bracing.
I started doing the Beginner 5×5 WITH A BELT by myself after reading some articles on this site and reading the exercise form instruction parts of Starting Strength, 1st Edition. Everything seemed to come along nicely, I worked up to 230lbs on my Squat (I weigh 215lbs). Then I went away for a month with no access to proper barbell equipment and after I came back I decided to knock the weight back down to 205lbs and try it without a belt. One thing I learned — my abs and overall core were much, much weaker than I thought because of the belt. After 2 workouts with no belt my lower back is super stiff, not sore, no sharp pain but stiffness, loss of mobility. One of the most ab-intensive exercises turned out to be the Overhead Press. I’m thinking of restarting the 5×5 program from “empty bar” level (may be from 135lbs on the squat) with NO BELT to make sure I avoid injury and a refocus on form.
I don’t completely agree with the reasoning behind Stuar McGill’s argument. From what i’ve read so far the majority of Physio’s agree that weightlifting belts do offer support and prevent injury.
What’s wrong with wearing a belt and lifting with good technique at the same time? Surely it couldn’t hurt to wear a belt as added support during heavy lifting with proper technique. Suggesting that a support or safety item shouldn’t be needed is not unlike saying that if you ride safely you should never need a bike helmet, or if you always drive safely in your car, why wear a seatbelt!?
These topics baffle me.
The thread should make clear when and how to use belts. I got put onto this thread by a novice powerlifter. He really didnt know what to do, start training withought a belt, or to go out and buy a belt.
Reading the article I agree mostly, but then it must also be stressed what the writer is trying to achieve with his training. There are many very very strong climbers who train in our gym who never use belts wraps or other paraphernalia, they use the same weights and exercises (some of them even dealift!) we do but their end goal and training routines are very different to mine (i’m a powerlifter) i believe i have raw strength, but then again so do they!
The ignorance surrounding the belt is astonishing. I see many guys walk into the weight room and put the belt on which then doesnt come off until they leave the weight room. They have had it on for every exercise from bicep curl to sittups!
I personally believe the only exercises needing the belt is the deadlift and the squat. I use short back upright benches for overhead training.
The debate is still raging as to the benefit on mechanics, powerand even safety of a belt, however a tight belt during heavy squats and deadlifting helps to prevents the spine taking on a shape that would promote bulging in the discs and reminding of the need for form.
One thing must be added. BAD FORM IS BAD FORM belt or no belt. If you feel pain, dont put on a belt and carry on!!! even training on the slightest pinch can end up needing months of recovery.
good hunting
bambam
And, only using the belt above 80-85% 1RM prevents any so-called problems with “core weakness.”
Anyways, a tight 4″ uniform width belt, breathe into belly and vasalva, and then pushing your abs out hard against the belt is a wonderful feeling. If I hadn’t read Rippetoe’s book, I wouldn’t have realize that he thinks they’re sometimes useful, since this site is so anti-belt.
(Other equipment that gets the nod: oly squat shoes, chalk.. that’s it.)
Coach Rippetoe says that wearing belt does not make your back weaker. And personally I wear a belt because it helps me keep the abdominal pressure during the valsalva maneuver when lifting heavy. My form is good enough since I learn from Mark Rippetoe. poster Jakson is spot on.
[...] prevent injuries. – If used properly when lifting extreme amounts of weight, they do help. The problem is that most amateur weight lifters swing their bodies and hyper-extend their backs while lifting [...]