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What does a weightlifting belt do? How do you wear a weightlifting belt? And how do you find the best weightlifting belt for you?<br><br>All good questions, and youu2019ll learn the answers in this article. <br><br>Some folks claim weightlifting belts are essential for avoiding injuryu2014almost like wearing a seatbelt while driving.
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What does a weightlifting belt do? How do you wear a weightlifting belt? And how do you find the best weightlifting belt for you? All good questions, and you’ll learn the answers in this article. Some folks claim weightlifting belts are essential for avoiding injury—almost like wearing a seatbelt while driving. Others say that the safety benefits are overblown and the primary reason to wear a belt is that it helps you lift more weight.
What Is a Weightlifting Belt? A weightlifting belt is a thick belt that you wear around your waist while lifting weights. There are many different types of weightlifting belts, but they’re typically three-to-four inches wide (though some are wider at the back than they are at the front), made of thick, stiff material such as leather or woven nylon, and have a large buckle that secures the belt in place and helps to cinch it tightly around your abdomen.
What Does a Weightlifting Belt Do? When you lift weights (or anything heavy, for that matter), it’s important to trap air in your lungs and create pressure in your abdomen, known as intra-abdominal pressure. This stabilizes your torso and prevents your spine from bending, which enables you to lift heavier weights safely.
A weightlifting belt buttresses your belly so that when you take a deep breath of air “into your stomach,” your abs are pushed against the belt. This increasesintra-abdominalpressure by ~15-to-40% beyond what you can achieve without a belt, boostingyourperformance on exercises like the squat and deadlift.
How to Wear a Weightlifting Belt In order for a weightlifting belt to help you lift heavier weights, you need to wear it properly. Here’s how: Position the belt around your waist so that the bottom of the belt is just above the height of your iliac crests (the bony protrusions at the front of your hip bones). Be prepared for this to feel uncomfortable and leave some bruises until the belt is properly broken in and you find the right tightness for you.
Adjust the tightness of the belt. Use the tightest notch that still allows you to take a full breath without having to raise your shoulders. Sometimes the ideal tightness is between two notches. My general recommendation for scenarios like these is to use the tighter option for the squat, bench press, and overhead press, and the looser option for the deadlift. That said, you should ultimately use whatever you find improves your performance the most.
Before you begin a set (and between reps as necessary), take a deep “belly breath” of about 80% of your maximum lung capacity. As you breathe in, imagine your stomach inflating to the front, sides, and back. Your entire torso should feel full of air, but not so much that you have to struggle to keep your mouth closed.
Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and without letting any air escape, try to breathe out. At the same time, press your abs against the belt as hard as you can. Then begin your rep. Once you’re past the “sticking point,” or the most difficult part of the rep, breathe out as you finish the rep.
How to Find the Best Weightlifting Belt for You Size: The two most important measurements to look at when buying a belt are its width and thickness: Width: Most weightlifting belts come in one of three widths: 4, 3, and 2.5 inches. Four-inch belts offer the most support, so they’re the best option for most people. That said, a 3-inch weightlifting belt might be better if you have a short torso because it’s less likely to dig into your ribs (many women prefer a 3-inch weightlifting belt because they tend to be shorter than men, for example).
Thickness: Most weightlifting belts are 9-to-13 millimeters thick. Thinner belts are more supple and break in faster, which makes them more comfortable, but thicker belts offer more support and are more durable.
Material Weightlifting belts are typically made of leather or nylon (you may also find cheap Amazon weightlifting belts made of other synthetic fabrics, but I don’t recommend these). Leather weightlifting belts are more rigid and durable than nylon belts and therefore offer more support. Some leather weightlifting belts are also finished with a layer of suede, which is naturally “anti-slip,” so the belt doesn’t move out of position as easily during a set.
