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Lifting Belts
wearing a has two main important purposes:
•Reduction of stress on the lower back while lifting in an upright position.
•Prevention of hyperextension when pressing overhead.
Despite these benefits, I have never supported the use of lifting belts. Not for deadlifts, not for squats, and not for overhead pressing.It does this by compressing the core, which increases intra-abdominal pressure and provides added support around the spine. Because of this pressure, the spinal erector muscles will produce less force during the lift, which means less chance of lower back injury due to muscle strain, but which also means less load is placed on those muscles and therefore less strength adaptation.
Wearing a belt = weaker back muscles = a predisposition to lower back injury. Worse yet, electromyographic research has found that wearing a belt causes decreased stimulation of the abdominal muscles. In this way, wearing a lifting belt is a vicious cycle of strength imbalances, causing your lower back and abdominal muscles to become the weakest links. Not good.
The indirect benefit of wearing a belt for the knees, is that you will be more likely to stand up straighter, keeping most of the stress in a straight line over the ankles, which ultimately results in far less stress on the quads and the knees.
Generally, belts should not be worn often during training, if at all. They are sometimes not allowed in competition either.
wearing a has two main important purposes:
•Reduction of stress on the lower back while lifting in an upright position.
•Prevention of hyperextension when pressing overhead.
Despite these benefits, I have never supported the use of lifting belts. Not for deadlifts, not for squats, and not for overhead pressing.It does this by compressing the core, which increases intra-abdominal pressure and provides added support around the spine. Because of this pressure, the spinal erector muscles will produce less force during the lift, which means less chance of lower back injury due to muscle strain, but which also means less load is placed on those muscles and therefore less strength adaptation.
Wearing a belt = weaker back muscles = a predisposition to lower back injury. Worse yet, electromyographic research has found that wearing a belt causes decreased stimulation of the abdominal muscles. In this way, wearing a lifting belt is a vicious cycle of strength imbalances, causing your lower back and abdominal muscles to become the weakest links. Not good.
The indirect benefit of wearing a belt for the knees, is that you will be more likely to stand up straighter, keeping most of the stress in a straight line over the ankles, which ultimately results in far less stress on the quads and the knees.
Generally, belts should not be worn often during training, if at all. They are sometimes not allowed in competition either.
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