In Part 2 of this series we’ll answer the all too commonly debated topic of lifting belts.
More specifically – should you wear a lifting belt, and if so, when?
The short answer to this question is – yes. You do need a lifting belt if you are going to lift seriously, but probably not on Day 1 of your novice program. But within a few weeks or a few months of your basic novice program, and certainly by the time you are training as an intermediate, you probably need to be in a belt.
A belt is optional for the first few weeks, shoes are not. So if finances are an issue, hold off on the belt and invest in some decent lifting shoes first.
Objections to Belt Use…..
The most common objection to wearing a lifting belt is that by doing so you are neglecting to train your “core” and the belt is “doing the work of the abs for you.”
The related argument is that the use of any sort of personal lifting equipment and is a slippery slope and leads to more and more gear to help maximize load on the bar.
So let’s look at these arguments, which are not entirely without merit.
The reality is that when squatting with a belt you will squat more weight. This is not debatable.
So the belt does “artificially” aid in the squat. However, it does so through a fairly indirect mechanism. It traps pressure internally and yes, reinforces, the abdominal wall, both of which help you maintain a stronger safer more efficient posture under the bar.
However, to say that it “does the work of the abs for you” is ludicrous. The abs, obliques, and low back are just as involved in the belted squat as they are in the beltless squat, and your “core” will get stronger, much stronger in fact, even in the presence of a belt. Think of a heavy beltless squat forcing your “core” to work at 100% to execute the lift. With a belt, your “core” is still at 100%….with an additional 10% aid from the belt which allows for a heavier load.
This dovetails into my next point which is that Squats are a HIPS & LEGS exercise, not a core exercise. Wearing a belt, allows you to place MORE LOAD on the hips and legs, while supporting the core. So the hips and legs get stronger when working under the heavier loads provided by the belt support. This seems a fairly simple argument. So if you want to squat to increase strength in your legs and hips – wear a belt.
It’s the same argument for not pulling your Deadlifts Double Overhand. Deadlifts are a hips, legs, and back exercise. Not a grip exercise. However, some lifters insist on using a double overhand grip for the sake of “purity” (or something?) as opposed to using a hook grip, mixed grip, or even straps. All of which are preferable to lifting submaximal loads double overhand, where grip is the limiting factor. The grip is a by-product of training the deadlift, but it is not the primary purpose of the exercise and should not be the limiting factor in deadlift training.
Here is the other – purely anecdotal – argument…..heavier belted squats make your beltless squats go up, whether you ever train beltless or not. There is an impressive video of Dan Green Squatting 635×10 beltless online. Did he achieve this feat of strength by training beltless? or by pushing his belted squat up over 800? My argument is that it’s the latter.
You can probably assume that your beltless squat is largely going to remain some FIXED percentage of your belted squat…..let’s call it 90% although it could be more or less. If you wanna get that beltless squat up, make it 90% of a larger number.
For instance, let’s assume you can Squat 315 x 5 with a belt. And without a belt you can Squat 285 x 5. You want to get that beltless number up to 315×5? Then push your belted squat up to 345 x 5 and you’ll hit 315×5 without a belt, without ever training beltless.
And in the process your legs and hips are stronger since you made them Squat 345×5.
Belts vs Wraps / Sleeves / Briefs / Suits
So remember earlier when we said that Squats are a hips and legs exercise and not a core exercise? This is an important point when it comes to supportive equipment.
Belts help to support the core while the hips and knees GENERATE THE FORCE on the barbell without the aid of any extra equipment.
When you add wraps, heavy thick knee sleeves, or certainly squat briefs or suits, you cross the threshold of DIRECTLY influencing force production. Force production is generated at the knees and the hips and when you add serious magnitudes of compression with thick materials around the knees (wraps or thick sleeves) or the hips (briefs or suits) you are influencing the weight on the bar with help from material that isn’t your own muscles. These pieces of gear are helping to operate the levers of force production, rather than aiding in more efficient force “transmission” as we see in the use of the belt. And in my opinion this is a distinctive difference between the belt and everything else.
So should you wear these items in training?
Simple answer…..it’s up to you. I don’t have a problem with a guy wearing a light pair of sleeves if he’s old and creaky or has a history of knee injury. A little extra warmth and compression can keep you safe and healthy and pain free and won’t aid that much to your lifts. Wraps add a lot more than sleeves.
A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to leave your knee sleeves on during your whole squat session. If they are so tight you have to pull them down to your ankles between every set or risk losing feeling in your feet, then your sleeves are too tight for training.
You can make a case for the periodic use of knee wraps as a way to train overload for some stimulation of the nervous system, but “squats with wraps” have to be treated as an entirely different exercise and I would not ever recommend training in knee wraps regularly.
I can see no reason for briefs and suits unless you want to compete in geared power lifting for some reason (back, back, back, back, take it!!!)
