To Belt, or not to Belt

[hello_world]

So I am starting deadlifts and squats up for the first in 8 years or so. I was one of the few freaks who did cleans and squats on my own time in high school training for sports. But it has been so long that i am starting from scratch.

I am starting light, real light. I'm in pretty good shape, just want to get good form while I get the hang of it. I do not wear a belt. Mainly because I've been too lazy (possibly cheap) to go buy one. I remmeber my coaches always saying 'use the belt'.

Should I use a weight lifting belt? Can wearing a belt somehow diminish the benefit of the lift?

My goals are to build overall functional strength and power for kickboxing and bjj. I do not have aspiraitons of becoming a powerlifter, or even lift enough to post the numbers on this board or videos of myself on youtube.

Thanks.

 

[blakethemus]

Did this really need 3 threads?

 

[zop]

^^ Yeah it's like the poem it has to get asked 3 times while pulling petals off of a flower.

 

[ChaseT.]

 

[ThinkGreen]

Using a belt is important when using high weights, but using it too much will hinder you and give you a weak core. I only use my belt on heavy singles/PR attempts

 

[hunto]

TheNerdKing posted.

\thread.

 

[hello_world]

Thanks, i'll stick around to see what others say. But you are reinforcing what I think is makes sense.

And sorry for the duplicate thread thing, i'm actually logged in remotely to my corporate network and the connection got screwy. Hit refresh a few times, blah blah...

 

[Chris Beeby]

Using a belt is important when using high weights, but using it too much will hinder you and give you a weak core. I only use my belt on heavy singles/PR attempts

To clarify what TG means: don't use the belt on "heavy weight" use it on 90% or more of your one repetition maximum for any given core involved lift. If you have inflexible shoulders, it may help give you security on overhead lifts.

 

[TheNerdKing]

Until you can ass to grass backsquat 495 you don't need to worry about a belt.

Belt is a tool for those who are pushing their limits.

If you had a belt and used it properly, you would probably develop a bit faster.

But, if you use it as a crutch, you'll be cursed with a weak core

Since you don't seem to care about pushing your limits in the gym, buy a belt but only use it for maximal effort work. That is, if you are going to be doing heavy singles on squats or deadlifts, throw it on. For everything else, don't use it.

Heavy singles means you couldn't possibly do two reps, belt or not.

 

[Zerocrew1984]

i normally only use a belt for 1 rep max attempts