Wellcultured - A men's fashion, fitness, sex, and lifestyle magazine.

Lifting Belts

Written by admin, Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 in Q&As

Should I use weight lifting belts when doing squats or deads?

EDIT: Maybe. As the commenter Mike notes below, there’s an increasing amount of support for belts, and I think I’m now in the pro-belt camp. With that being said, you should only use belts when absolutely necessary (I’d define necessary as close to your 1RM) and only on heavy lifts like squats and deads, and never on lifts like the bench press. My best advice would be to use one once you begin to lift a respectable amount of weight (over 3 plate).

In any event, my original posting was much more anti-belt, probably because I see way too many people wearing them for no reason. In that respect, my bad.

Note: This does not apply to dipping belts, as those increase, not reduce, your workload. I recommend wearing a dipping belt with as much weight as you can handle when doing dips, pull-ups, chin-ups, or the like.

Tags: , , , , , ,

One Response to Lifting Belts

  1. mike says:

    weightlifting belts actually increase “core” activation by giving your abs something to push against. mark rippetoe recommends wearing one in his book starting strength, which this article links to information about.

    this article has more information
    http://www.70sbig.com/blog/2009/12/belt-me-up-scotty/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Latest Question

    Should I go to a community college before I go to a 4-year college? Looks cheaper.

    Read our Answer More Questions and Answers Ask a Question
  • Latest Articles

  • Latest Discussion

  • About Wellcultured

    Well Cultured is a men's online magazine with advice and reviews on fashion, fitness, dating, lifestyle, and many other topics. About Us
  • http://www.wellcultured.com/feed">RSS Feed | Contact Us | Terms of Use/Privacy Policy
    WellCultured is powered by WordPress.