The lower back is subjects to hundreds of pounds of force during weight lifting sessions. Most athletic disciplines now utilize some form of weight training to improve physical strength and athletic performance. The weight lifting belt is an essential tool to protect the lower back from excessive strain. Its use has expanded as the population of fitness conscious Americans has widened.
Weightlifting and the Need to Protect the Body
Regardless of the weightlifting method chosen, protection of the lower back is critical to avoid muscle strains and tears, or severe injury such as damage to spinal disks.
The repetitive lifting of either free weights (barbells and dumbells), or the repetitive use of weight lifting machines (devices that mimic the use of free weights but are safer to use) increase the size of the muscle and thereby build strength. American boxers such as Eugene Sandow used iron freeweights to train in the 1890s. In many countries athletes built their own weight training equipment such as the Chinese weight lifting devices described by Jin Ing Zhong in 1934.
An overlooked sport in the world of weightlifting is called powerlifting and is usually televised only during the Olympics. Powerlifting strives to develop brute weight lifting strength.
Types of Weightlifting Belts
There are two types of weightlifting belts, The standard belt used is up to a quarter-inch thick, about six inches wide across the back tapering to two inches across the front. The belt is cinched with a two pronged steel closure,
Powerlifting belts are designed for athletes doing Deadlifts, Squats, and Bench Presses with many hundred of pounds. They are handmade, a half-inch thick, six inches across the back with a short taper of only a few inches in the front; to protect against hernia,. The belt is cinched with a two prong closure that is over 6 inches wide. The closure is linked to the belt itself with the same powerful aluminum rivets used on the Space Shuttle.
When to Use Weightlifting Belts
Arnold Schwartzenegger has explained that belts were originally used by weightlifters doing very heavy Overhead Presses. He further notes that heavy Squats, Bench Presses, and Standing Calf raises all require the use of a belt to protect the lower back from injury.
When Not to Use Weightlifting Belts
Many people often wear weight lifting belts the entire time they spend in the gym. For routine weight lifting, such as light dumbell exercises, the weightlifting belt actually binds the lower body muscles and prevents them from becoming strong.
Who Should Use Weightlifting Belts
Thousands of non-athletes have taken to the gym for weight control and general health. For this reason weightlifting belts should be used throughout all phases of an initial weightlifting program especially among the elderly, disabled, or those who have not exercised for many years. As strength increases, and the novice grows to be an athlete, the belt can come off for all but the most demanding heavy exercises.
Warnings
Weightlifting is a relatively safe and easy sport in the sense that its techniques are readily acquired but can become extremely demanding and exhausting as the level of weight progresses to hundred of pounds. Heavy bodybuilding and powerlifting always require a friend to 'spot' each lift and grab it should one's strength wane.
References
- Brian Kennedy, Brian and Elizabeth Guo. Chinese Martial Arts Training Manuals: A Historical Survey. 2005.
- Bruce Lee. The Tao of Gung Fu. 1997
- Arnold Schwartzenegger. Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. 1987.
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