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Here’s the deal on belts…
I tend to think of a belt as a performance enhancer rather than protection. If you are lifting correctly, your midsection should be strong enough to support itself through the vast majority of tasks you put it through. You may be limited in how much weight you can lift, but you are not in any significant danger of injury without it. The belt really comes into play when you need the extra support to get after heavy weights.
Most people assume that a lifting belt supports your back. The truth is that a good belt is designed to increase intra-abdominal pressure, which stabilizes your entire midsection. This is why the design of your belt is very important. The typical gym belts that are skinny up front and wide in the back do not cover enough abdominal surface area to provide the support you need. For lifts that challenge core strength like the squat and deadlift, you need a belt that is wide all the way around and will support your abdominals and obliques.
Types of Belts
There are three basic designs of powerlifting belt. They are the prong, lever and ratchet. I prefer and recommend the prong design because it is far less expensive and cumbersome than the ratchet and more flexible than the lever (If you need to adjust the size of a lever belt, you need to disassemble it with a screwdriver). Powerlifting belts come in two basic thicknesses, 10mm and 13mm. The 13mm is tougher, but the 10mm needs less break-in to feel comfortable. Get a single prong rather than a double prong because it’s easier to tighten. For a great all-purpose belt that will last a lifetime check out the EFS Economy Belt Single Prong.
For tips on breaking-in your new belt, check this out: Virgin Belt Users.
While you can easily use this belt for every lift, there are also special belts for specific purposes. For deadlifting, you can get a thinner belt with no buckle like the Spud Inc Deadlift Belt. The thinner design makes it easier to get down to the bar. Some lifters will wear a standard powerbelt backwards so the buckle does not get in the way. Most just wear it the same.
For bench, you can use a narrower belt, like the Spud Inc. Bench Belt. A narrow belt holds your bench shirt in place (if you use one) without interfering with your ability to arch. Personally I just use my normal belt because I feel it gives me more support.
How to Wear it
The belt should fit around the small of your back, with the buckle covering your lower abdominals. It should be worn fairly low, but should not get jammed in the crease of your hip when squatting or deadlifting. Because you’ll be expanding your abs into the belt during the lift, you’ll want to wear it one notch looser than all the way tight.
Belt Technique
In order to take advantage of your belt, it’s important to use the valsalva maneuver. This means taking a big gulp of air into your belly, than trying to exhale forcefully with a closed glottis (throat). The pressure should push your belly into the belt and increase the pressure around your midsection. This action should also force your lower back into an arch. Again, it’s really important to push your abs out to get the pressure, not tighten the belt as much as possible.
When to use it.
You shouldn’t wear your belt for every exercise because you still want to allow your back and abdominal muscles to function normally. For heavy special exercises, I’d work up without it, than put it on when you need it. For technical lifts like squatting and speed squatting, I would get it earlier because filling the belt up is an important technical cue that you need to practice.
Don’t wear it for assistance work, it shouldn’t be necessary.
If you wear your belt while doing curls, make sure that you’re wearing color coordinated fingerless gloves. Straps are optional for this.
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Dave began powerlifting competitively since 1998, and has since reached totals of 1901 in the 181 pound class, and 1925 in the 198 pound class. He trains at Eastside Barbell club in Palisades Park, New Jersey and currently manages a fitness center in New York City. A life-long fitness professional, he holds a degree in Physical Education from SUNY Cortland. Dave lives in New jersey with his fiance Liz.
View Dave’s Training Log 
I never understood the use of belts among raw lifters. I just used one last week for the first time, and I hit a 30lb PR in my front squat. Which lets me know that its not me moving the weight, its me and the belt.
And about protection, if you do your exercises and assistance work properly, your muscles will protect you just fine.
So I really wanted to do some curls in the squat rack with a belt. I was thinking about a pink and purple belt do you know where I could find that belt with matching gloves, straps and really tight spandex. Cause I don’t want to look like an idiot in front of everyone at the gym.
Also make sure you wear a tank top that says ” not now chief im in the zone”
The last two lines made me laugh! Great article and perfect timing. I’ve got quite a few people that have recently asked about using a belt.
Hey Russell
Have you ever seen a belt lift a weight? Neither have I. It’s about lifting the most weight possible given *the rules*. That last part is important because YOU do not make the rules, the feds do. If the fed says a belt is included in raw, then that is the definition of raw. If the fed says knee or wrist wraps are allowed, then that is the definition. Create your own fed and disallow weight belts. Until then, the RRRRAAAAAWWWWWW zealots like you will only have article comment sections and forums to blast your idiocy.
By the way, I’m a raw lifter.
I’ve always kind of felt that a belt is more of a handicap than anything else. I absolutely agree that for a veteran college athlete (junior/senior) who’s been in a consistent collegiate weight training system for 2 -3 years should use a belt during maximal lifting. However I try to teach our athletes who are younger to stay away from belts and let there “power zone” or “core” get stronger to help support there weights. Its just my opinion that if the athlete gets to comfortable early with using a belt it can lead to the inability of there body to adapt to stress put on there mid section during other lifts. For example, what if my athlete was helping a buddy move and had to help move a 400 lb entertainment stand and he doesn’t have a weight belt to help pick this up off the ground? Would he be more susceptible to injury now since his body is so use to having that support? Just my 2 cents,
Great article, Dave!
I’ll let you borrow my zebra print set.
StrengthTraining – a belt not only allows for more intra-abdominal pressure, it also makes the abdominals work VERY hard. When I first started wearing a belt and hit things like front squats and presses, my midsection was definitely sore. Wearing a belt does NOT put the abs to sleep, as some have said (you didn’t say this, I know), but rather it makes them work just as hard (if not harder).
Since using a belt, I know that I am stronger, and not just in my legs. After using a belt for a couple of months, I was messing around on some gymnastic rings, and doing a front lever and a back lever was easier, since my midsection was a lot stronger as well.
Remember to refer to your color wheel for accessory and complimentary colors when curling equipped.
really good explanation on ab expansion for trunk support. when i use it for dead lift i raise the belt a little higher on my belly and makes it easier to get hips into position.
He just wanted to prove he could use the word “glottis.” Good article!
in response to “strengthtraining”
in the giving example of helping someone move a 400lb stand and getting hurt from not wearing a belt……how many people are gonna warm up, dynamic stretch, do a set of 8-10 with a 135lb stand, than find a 225lb stand to do a set of 5 with, than a 315lb stand for a double, 365lb stand for a single, than finally attempt to move the 400lb stand?
point being, in a situation like the one you provided is it the use of a belt in the gym thats gonna cause injury in everyday life? probably not
I have been preaching the exact same thing for the last few years,but recently have started to use heavy enough weight to warrant the use of a belt.My wife and I both have lower back issues that weren’t caused by lifting(car accident).Now we use a belt for some of our regular weight training routine.I believe in letting my body naturally adapting to greater and greater loads and that a strong core is absolutely essential,but i also have to weigh the pros and cons of wearing a belt for different exercises against the possibilitiesof adding to my injuries and losing training time.I’m in my forties and have found that weight training has really helped me have a better quality of life despite my problems.I know it seems like a contradiction in terms but it really does really help.Especially with the helpful insights and continual learning I,ve found here in these articles.Thanks for taking the time to do it for the rest of us out here.
“400 lb entertainment stand”
Damn, I would think your college kids would be buying entertainment stands from IKEA.
Plus the guy is going to have the belt on for what? A few hours a week tops? And that were only if he were wearing a belt the entire time he was in the gym. If someone only uses a belt on heavy technical lifts (ie the squat and deadlift as the article states) and has a weak, injury prone core then his programming is super fucked.
Great Article Reposted for the people!
reminds me of the Karate Kid…
Daniel-san: “So Mr. Myagi, what belt do you have?”
Myagi: “J.C. Penny!”
Don’t forget the circa 1983 style leg warmers to match the color coordinated fingerless gloves:)
If you don’t know why raw lifters use lifting belts your obviously don’t lift heavy enough.
Classic on the gloves. Was using liquid chalk in my Gym hitting 200kg deadlifts and they practically kicked me out saying it makes a mess. Then the “johhny 2 shiitees in Gym” said use Gloves like I do. I replied gloves are for women, a bit too quick. He does not like me any more.