Weightlifting Belt

bored.ie

I've been lifting weights for about a year now and have gradually been increasing my lifts. At this stage I'm wondering whether or not it would be advisable to get a weightlifting belt (the ones that support your lower back) for deadlifts. I'm not lifting anything serious but I do feel a slight strain in my back towards the end of sets. It's nothing painful but I'm conscious of it all the same.

Is it just poor form on my part? I've asked the instructors and they say I'm doing everything OK and personally, I believe I'm doing everything well. I don't think I'm out of my depth either and I'm not trying any stupid weight. So I suppose what I'm asking is, is there a natural progression towards a weight belt purely for safety reasons?

amazingemmet

If you've got perfect form there's no need for a belt unless your doing super high numbers.

t-ha

I got a real good one to help me with my deadlifts. It looks like this (attached);



Seriously though, is it muscle strain you're feeling? Deadlift is one exercise where you don't want your form to go sloppy. If I'm going to do them I'll usually do them first and do them right. As soon as the form goes I stop or drop the weight. Are you new to deadlifting, or lower back work generally? Sounds like your lower back is just having some trouble keeping up.

Edit: Even powerlifters (the good ones anyway) generally only use belts for competitions and 1RM attempts.

bored.ie

Yeah, I'm fairly new to deadlifts (about 4 months). My lower back is where the strain is so either my form is sloppy as you suggest, or, my lower back just isn't strong enough. Thing is, I was pretty confident that I'd built up that area before I started deadlifting because I didn't want to strain anything initially.
So, no belt necessary unless the numbers are high, is that the general consensus?

amazingemmet

Yup, if your feeling the strain in your lower back try add some good mornings into your program and that'll help sort it out.

RPGGAMER

a belt in the deadlift is there so your abs can push against it. that means not wearing it too tight. before i learned how to use a belt (use my abs!!) i hovered around 220-230kg for years!!!now i train westside style(read up on this, louie simmons ) and i am gaining str. all the time. 270kg so far.

you must push OUT your abs when you deadlift. A belt gives something to push against thats all, a reminder if you will. its helps the bar off the floor.

now this pushing out might go against some schools of thought like the paul chek popularised pulling in of abs to activate core. thats fine for prancing but try it on a max dead and you will buckle.

so in short:
as the lads here say a belt shouldnt replace strong torso/midsection/'core'
good for a few more kg
personnally i use it only for Personal bests(loose- tighter is NOT better) and toward comp. otherwise raw work is great at building a thick strong waist/abs

read all you need on THIS forum: http://www.powermagonline.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

its for powerlifting and has trillions of threads on the deadlift. check the 'rise of the dead' forum there

RPGGAMER

a belt in the deadlift is there so your abs can push against it. that means not wearing it too tight. before i learned how to use a belt (use my abs!!) i hovered around 220-230kg for years!!!now i train westside style(read up on this, louie simmons ) and i am gaining str. all the time. 270kg so far.

you must push OUT your abs when you deadlift. A belt gives something to push against thats all, a reminder if you will. its helps the bar off the floor.

now this pushing out might go against some schools of thought like the paul chek popularised pulling in of abs to activate core. thats fine for prancing but try it on a max dead and you will buckle.

so in short:
as the lads here say a belt shouldnt replace strong torso/midsection/'core'
good for a few more kg
personnally i use it only for Personal bests(loose- tighter is NOT better) and toward comp. otherwise raw work is great at building a thick strong waist/abs

read all you need on THIS forum: http://www.powermagonline.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

its for powerlifting and has trillions of threads on the deadlift. check the 'rise of the dead' forum there

RPGGAMER

a belt in the deadlift is there so your abs can push against it. that means not wearing it too tight. before i learned how to use a belt (use my abs!!) i hovered around 220-230kg for years!!!now i train westside style(read up on this, louie simmons ) and i am gaining str. all the time. 270kg so far.

you must push OUT your abs when you deadlift. A belt gives something to push against thats all, a reminder if you will. its helps the bar off the floor.

now this pushing out might go against some schools of thought like the paul chek popularised pulling in of abs to activate core. thats fine for prancing but try it on a max dead and you will buckle.

so in short:
as the lads here say a belt shouldnt replace strong torso/midsection/'core'
good for a few more kg
personnally i use it only for Personal bests(loose- tighter is NOT better) and toward comp. otherwise raw work is great at building a thick strong waist/abs

read all you need on THIS forum: http://www.powermagonline.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

its for powerlifting and has trillions of threads on the deadlift. check the 'rise of the dead' forum there

RPGGAMER

bored.ie wrote:

I've been lifting weights for about a year now and have gradually been increasing my lifts. At this stage I'm wondering whether or not it would be advisable to get a weightlifting belt (the ones that support your lower back) for deadlifts. I'm not lifting anything serious but I do feel a slight strain in my back towards the end of sets. It's nothing painful but I'm conscious of it all the same.

Is it just poor form on my part? I've asked the instructors and they say I'm doing everything OK and personally, I believe I'm doing everything well. I don't think I'm out of my depth either and I'm not trying any stupid weight. So I suppose what I'm asking is, is there a natural progression towards a weight belt purely for safety reasons?

its probably form. check your shoes also. they need to be flat, or go barefoot. with runners on you WILL lean forward, hips will be up and thus more torso lean and more lumbar/sacral strain. remember injurying yourself is all relative. you can hurt yourself just as easy with 100kg as 300kg.i've seen more deadlift injuries with weights around 100kg than plus 200kg. reason is because usually stronger lifters got that way with good solid form. form is everything. also i feel if one is deadlifting one MUST do other assistance work for backhealth like: sidework, ex. sidebends; lum/sac prehab,reverse hypers; back extensions; glute-ham raises; heavy abwork, unilateral legwork like bulgarian squats for pelvis stability and strength etc