A Weight Belt Tutorial

Whether you are new to weightlifting or looking for something new to keep your routine interesting, you may find yourself considering purchasing a weight belt. Weight belts are supposed to protect your back and allow you to lift more. There is debate as to whether weight belts actually fulfill that purpose, with some experts suggesting they are not worthwhile.

Background

Weightlifting belts are 4-inch wide belts made of a fairly stiff material such as leather. You wear a weightlifting belt snugly above your hips, so that you can feel it supporting your lower back. Iron Workout suggests you may only need a weight belt when performing exercises that put a lot of stress on your lower back, such as squats, dead lifts or barbell rows.

Benefits

Weight belts are supposed to help you in two ways, according to Christopher Frankel and Len Kravitz from the University of New Mexico. Weight belts should make you less likely to damage the stabilizing muscles in your lower back by providing extra support. Consequently, the added support of a weight belt should allow you to handle more weight when doing exercises that depend on lower-back support such as squats and dead lifts.

Evidence

Some evidence suggests possible benefits of using a weight belt. In a 2001 article in the "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research," A.J. Zink and colleagues provided evidence that a weight belt may allow you to push the barbell up more quickly when doing a squat. In a 2006 study in the journal "Spine," Idsart Kingma and colleagues showed that a weight belt may reduce the amount of pressure on your lower spine by 10 percent if you inhale before lifting.

Controversy

Recent evidence suggests weight belts do not play a substantial role in protecting your lower back, according to the American Council on Exercise. Rather, people tend to have stronger back and abdominal muscles when they routinely train without a weight belt. Weight belts may even weaken your lower-back muscles because you begin to rely on the extra support from the belt. The American Council on Exercise suggests you may only need a weight belt if lifting very high amounts of weight, and that even then, you should not use one regularly.

Considerations

Wearing a weight belt may help to improve your form, according to Dr. Edward Laskowski on MayoClinic.com. The tightness and position of a weight belt may help to remind you to keep your lower back straight when performing a lift. Laskowski says proper form is essential to avoiding injury while lifting weights.