Is a weight belt worth it?

If you're serious about performing heavy barbell lifts, like squats and deadlifts, then a weightlifting belt is a solid investment. In fact, it may be the most important gym accessory you'll ever buy. If you primarily train with machines or dumbbells, then a belt may not be needed.

gunsmithfitness.com - Why Weightlifting Belts Are Absolutely Necessary & When to Use Them

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One of the great debates in the gym revolves around weightlifting belts. Some claim belts are absolutely essential for those heavy lifts. Other claim lifting belts simply mask your weaknesses. The reality of the situation is a little different. If you’re an intermediate to advanced athlete, than belts can add huge value to your workouts. If you’re a newbie, than any back pain or added weight coming from a belt is simply a band-aid. There’s a little more to it than that. So, we wanted to break it down once and for all. If you’re considering buying a weight belt for the gym, keep on reading.

When You Don’t Need a Belt

See, at Gunsmith Fitness, we’re in the business of selling weightlifting belts. We also cringe when we see people doing sit-ups or bicep curls with their belts on. As gym addicts, we don’t want anyone using a belt unless they need to. So, here are a few situations where you shouldn’t buy one of the world’s greatest weightlifting belts from us:

You Don’t Squat or Deadlift

Sure, there are a few other lifts that weight lifting belts can be beneficial for. The bread and butter? The squat and the deadlift. Serious lifters looking to add kg to their major lifts will benefit from a belt. If you’re hitting machine weights all workout long, you do NOT need a weight lifting belt. Even athletes training bodyweight movements or dumbbell conditioning won’t find much benefit with a belt. Belts should only be needed when moving large amounts of weight on a barbell. Squat, deadlift, push press, etc.

Perfect Form & Heavy Weights

There’s a reason you see some of the biggest, baddest guys in the gym using belts. Why? They’re moving heavy weights with near perfect form. If the form wasn’t perfect, they’d be injured. These type of people need a belt to get over plateaus and crush personal records. Belts won’t do anything to cure bad form. In fact, you may be able to add more weight with a belt. And extra weight with bad form is never a good idea. The belt can even reinforce this bad form. As such, until you’re moving heavy weight consistently with good form, you should steer clear of a belt.

Proper Stabilizing

Part of the main issue some people have with weight lifting belts is core stabilization. If you’ve never lifted heavy without a belt, then your core muscles could be significantly weaker than the surrounding areas. As such, you won’t be able to lift nearly the same amount of weight when you take the belt off. That’s a surefire recipe for an injury. Instead, avoid a belt when learning how to lift. Once you’ve maxed out newbie gains, then incorporating a belt could be a great idea.

Old Injuries & Blood Pressure

Last but not least - individuals who have suffered a hernia or have high blood pressure should avoid using a belt. Weight lifting belts can aggravate these issues significantly, even flaring up old nagging injuries.

When Weightlifting Belts Are a Great Idea

Now we’re getting to the good stuff. There’s a reason many a bodybuilder uses a weightlifting belt each and every workout. Why? Because they offer huge benefit to intermediate to advanced lifters. In fact, most wouldn’t get under a heavy barbell for some deep squats without a belt on. Simply put, once you have enough weight on the bar, you’re going to need a belt to move it safely. Here are a few other reasons why lifting belts are a great idea:

Injury Prevention

When you’re under a heavy load, a lifting belt can help you prevent serious injuries, specifically - orthopedic ones. Make no mistake about it. When you’re moving 80% or more of your one-rep maximum while squatting or deadlifting, a belt can keep you injury-free while using ideal form. In fact, many would argue that a belt is necessary for individuals who can squat or deadlift 2X their bodyweight or more. The legs will respond better to training and grow faster than your abs and lower back. As such, a belt can make up for any imbalances between the strength of your legs and your core.

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Why are weightlifting belts so popular? Because they let you lift more weight! Trained athletes usually find their max weights go up 5-15% after training with a belt for one to two weeks. That’s a lot of added weight. For an 80 kg man squatting 2X his body weight, adding 15% to his squat equates to an added 24 kg on a one-rep max. That’s one hell of an improvement by simply using a gym accessory for a week. However, there is a caveat. Unless you’re an intermediate to advanced lifter, you could limit your gains by using the belt before it’s the right time. Have patience, young grasshopper. Don’t get greedy with your gains!

Breaking Plateaus

Natural trainees stuck on a certain plateau will always benefit from incorporating weight lifting belts into their workouts. There’s no quicker way to topple a one-rep max PR than strapping up a belt for a few workouts. Not only does a belt actually make you stronger, you’ll mentally believe you can lift the weight. A belt helps breakdown mental plateaus just as much as physical ones.

Improved Biomechanics

Research has concluded that a belt ensures ideal biomechanics while squatting and deadlifting. A weightlifting belt will force you to lift more with your legs instead of your back. As your legs can adapt to heavy stimulus faster than any other muscle group, this is ideal. The belt improves biomechanics by reducing spinal extension, spinal flexion, and to a lesser extent, lateral flexion.

Less Stress on Spine

When wearing a belt, the intra-abdominal pressure inside you can increase by over 40%. In doing so, compression throughout your lower back discs can decrease by up to 50%. This leads to a vast reduction in pressure on your lower back. But it’s not all due to the belt. The belt isn’t actually supporting your spine. The belt actually supports your abs. The increased abdominal pressure is what supports the spine while you move heavy weight. It’s how your body reacts to the belt that provides benefit to your back and weight to your main lifts.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Lifting Belt

There are a lot of factors that go into choosing the right type of weightlifting belt. We need to think about the material, thickness, whether our belt will use prongs, velcro or leather, and if you should go with a mass-produced model or one that's custom-designed to your specifications.

1. Material

Weightlifting belts are made from leather, suede, or nylon. Of course, the ideal material must be based on your own comfort and preference as well as how long you intend to wear and use it. Nylon belts generally are more adjustable due to the velcro whereas leather and suede provide a firmer support. Most lifters use leather. Aside from its long lifespan, the material is durable and stiff, which makes it a reliable support.

2. Thickness and Width

Extra thickness provides stiffness that prevent the bending of the spine. Some say that the thicker the belt, the more durable and reliable it is. While this is true, another perspective suggests that a thicker belt is not necessarily better because of comfort issues. For beginners, a thicker belt can be uncomfortable, which may discourage its use and weightlifting altogether. Thickness, and width, should always be relative to the weighing activity and to the amount of support the wearer needs. Hence, it is important to strike a balance between utility and comfort. Gunsmith offer belts from 6/7mm (most popular), to 10mm to 13mm.

3. Prongs, Velcro or Leather

If you expect Velcro Belts to offer the least support (compared to other weightlifting belts), you’re not wrong. The advantage though is that you can easily adjust the belt tightness to exactly how you want it, and they’re very easy to put on and off. They’re not ideal for squats of deadlifts, but are great for CrossFit style workouts where you’d be taking off your belt between exercises. These ones are generally favoured by the ladies, due to their flexibility and simplicity to use. Single and Double Prong Belts offer more stability and support than belts that use a Velcro fastener, but take a little more time to remove and don't offer as much variety in terms of adjustment. The most common type of belt is a single prong, which is a little easier to get on and off, but it's commonly believed that a double prong belt distributes the pressure more evenly and are less likely to fail.

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Lever Belt (left) vs Single Prong (right)

Lever Belts are much easier to put on and off than prong belts, however you would need a screwdriver to adjust between sizes – but you’ll only need to do that when you’re losing or gaining weight, right? Otherwise, taking it off after heavy lifting is only a flick of the wrist away. In addition there are 2 types of materials used, there's pewter which has a tendency to crack over time, this should be avoided as it's a poor quality lever. Then you have stainless steel, this will not let you down, ever! All of our levers are stainless steel.

From top to bottom: Lever, Single Prong, Double Prong, Double Prong

4. Olympic vs. Powerlifting Belt: What’s The Difference?

Width Differences in Olympic (right) vs. Powerlifting (left) Belts

Olympic belts tend to be wider in the back, and are often times made of more flexible material. This is because Olympic lifts, such as the snatch and clean and jerk, require much more flexibility. Olympic belts aren’t just for Olympic lifters, either. They’re very popular among Crossfitters as well. Weightlifting or Powerlifting belts are almost always the same width all the way around, which is usually 4”. These belts tend to be stiffer, and are used primarily in squats and deadlifts. To make a long story short, and to cut through some of the confusion, you can follow this basic rule: if you’re not focused entirely on Powerlifting, you can go with an Olympic belt. An Olympic belt will still provide a high level of support, while giving you the flexibility in your abdomen and hips for movements like the clean and jerk.

The Perfect Lifting Belt For You...

As you can see, weightlifting belts provide huge benefits in certain situations while hindering lifters in others. So, when is it time to buy a belt? That’s pretty simple. If you’re serious about performing heavy barbell lifts, like squats and deadlifts, then a weightlifting belt is a solid investment. In fact, it may be the most important gym accessory you’ll ever buy. If you primarily train with machines or dumbbells, then a belt may not be needed. If you’re in the market, a belt from Gunsmith Fitness is what you need. While we may be a little biased, you won’t find a higher-quality belt on the market. Every product we create is dedicated to those gym rats looking to build bigger guns.

When Is It Worth It to Purchase a Customized Belt?

Choosing the right weightlifting belt can be a challenging task, especially with so many options to choose from. When all is said and done, the only way to get exactly what you want is to go with a custom belt. By getting a custom weightlifting belt, you don't have to worry about finding a belt with all of the right requirements and specifications that you need. You can select the size, material, type of fastener, and even customize the design on the back of the belt. If you're having trouble finding the right belt for you, or just want to add a bit of extra flare to your gym sessions, be sure to check out our Custom Belts.

gunsmithfitness.com - Why Weightlifting Belts Are Absolutely Necessary & When to Use Them

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