[quote]tom63 wrote:
And did you ever think you just could have strained something either way. You can only lift so much beltless.
But the funny thing is that any strong guy I know uses one. And the other funny thing is they are still pretty strong beltless. [/quote]
True could have been a freak coincidence, but I’d never had that happen before or in the 18 years since.
I agree wearing a belt will make you stronger on a maximum lift as would wearing gear, but just because you train without a belt does not prevent you from getting strong. I can give you countless examples of very strong olympic lifters, many who never wear belts, squatting weights that would embarass many powerlifters, so it didn’t seem to stop them from getting strong did it?
And as for saying that everyone strong you know wears one, I could tell you every strong man I know has brown hair, but it doesn’t mean having brown hair made them strong. Probably 95% of all regular gym goers wear a belt so it goes without saying that the majority of strong guys will be wearing them too. But look around any gym at all the weak guys doing their curls and kickbacks chances are they are wearing them too but it doesn’t seem to have worked for them does it?
Whether someone ends up squatting 700lbs or not has nothing to do with a belt.
Konstantinovs hardly ever trains deadlift with belt, Bolton puts it on at less than 50% of his 1RM. Neither of them is wrong, they’re both doing stuff that works pretty damn well for them. Experiment and figure out what works for you. Most people who want to compete in powerlifting will probably need to put on a belt at some point though.
Personally I use belt for:
Heavy squats
Heavy deadlifts
I normally don’t use a belt for:
Pause deadlifts
Pause squats
Front squats
RDL (here it depends on how my back feels though)
Most other accessory movements
I feel that it’s good for me to squat without a belt sometimes because it makes me better at staying in the proper groove. Like I said, figure out what works and do it. Here’s the thing though, whatever you do, please PLEASE don’t act like you’re something special because you’re using/not using a belt. Same goes for not using straps, squatting ATG etc. It’s very strange to me when people brag about stuff like that, just train more and suck less and you might eventually have something real to brag about instead. You hardly ever hear truly strong people brag about that kind of stuff, it’s always the mediocre ones. “Hey I can’t squat half as much as that guy but at least I’m doing it beltless and ATG!1Ã?½”
Sorry about the rant but damnit, this has been bugging the crap out of me. Wasn’t directed at anyone in particular, just had to get it off my chest. Oh and just for the record, my squat sucks something fierce but then again you won’t hear me bragging about it either.
[quote]FarmerBrett wrote:
I trained for a couple of years beltless, then decided I needed one. First rep on front squats with the belt I had a red hot stabbing pain in my lower abdomen. It scared the life out of me, thought I’d torn something, so I threw the belt in the corner and have trained beltless ever since.
[/quote]
This might sound silly but are you sure you didn’t just pinch your skin? That can be painful as hell (and pinching it between the belt and a log is even worse! XD).
There is nothing wrong with people who decide to train without a belt, however the idea that you are somehow not “working you’re core” by wearing one is crap. As Rippetoe says, “you’re abs dont just go to sleep when you wear a belt”
[quote]Matsa wrote:
I feel that it’s good for me to squat without a belt sometimes because it makes me better at staying in the proper groove. Like I said, figure out what works and do it. Here’s the thing though, whatever you do, please PLEASE don’t act like you’re something special because you’re using/not using a belt. Same goes for not using straps, squatting ATG etc. It’s very strange to me when people brag about stuff like that, just train more and suck less and you might eventually have something real to brag about instead. You hardly ever hear truly strong people brag about that kind of stuff, it’s always the mediocre ones. “Hey I can’t squat half as much as that guy but at least I’m doing it beltless and ATG!1Ã??Ã?½”
Sorry about the rant but damnit, this has been bugging the crap out of me. Wasn’t directed at anyone in particular, just had to get it off my chest. Oh and just for the record, my squat sucks something fierce but then again you won’t hear me bragging about it either.[/quote]
[quote]StormTheBeach wrote:
The name of this thread should be “Who will NEVER squat 700lbs?”[/quote]
Normally agree with most you say STB, but your logic is flawed there, tens of thousands of people wear belts and will never squat 700lbs either! I don’t think wearing a belt or not is the main determining factor for who goes on to do that.
I trained for a couple of years beltless, then decided I needed one. First rep on front squats with the belt I had a red hot stabbing pain in my lower abdomen. It scared the life out of me, thought I’d torn something, so I threw the belt in the corner and have trained beltless ever since.
I think my core has got to be stronger as a result.[/quote]
Everyone knows a belt adds 150lbs to your squat. Knee wraps add another 200lbs.
Anyway, belt or not, you still have to be strong as shit to be strong as shit. A beltless 900+ deadlift is not more impressive than a triple ply, belted, juiced out 900+ deadlift. You have to work very hard and be very strong to do either.
No belt yet (lifting five years, squat 350/dl 470 @180) but I feel like at some point soon I’ll max out my body beltless. Then I’ll have no problem using a belt.
[quote]FarmerBrett wrote:
At no point have I said anything about a belt weakening your core. My argument is that you can still get strong without one.
BTW Konstantinovs can deadlift 948lbs without a belt. What exactly is your point?[/quote]
Did you read the thread? “Wearing a belt weakens the core” seems to be a pretty common sentiment, even if it was a 5 year old thread. I didn’t quote you, so I don’t know why you took that as a personal attack.
[quote]TigerPower wrote:
“I can squat 350 without a belt.” Yeah, so can many females. The better question is how many people don’t use a belt and can lift REAL weight (squat 500+, deadlift 500+) My guess is not many. Anybody can lift less than 300 lbs. without a belt. Those are called warmups. [/quote]
My guess is the weightlifters, or atleast 95 % of them.
I just started using a belt again. It really gave me alot of feedback has to what i was doing with my abs and my lifts feel more solid. I love the thing. I use it for the heavier sets.
HAHAHA there is a guy at my gym who wears a powerlifting belt. He wears it ALL THE TIME. He even wears it when he is doing crunches. Further more, he never even squats are deadlifts. If he does squat, he is in the smith machine. WTF does he need a powerlifting belt for? He is in his 40s or 50s. Nice guy, but tries to be a know-it-all.
Tries to talk to every female in the gym and impress them with his “knowledge”. HAHA one time, I was training one of my clients, who just squatted 365x10 (belt/wraps). Then he walks over and tried talking about the squat like he kne what he was saying. I called his ass out. I was like “what are you talking about? You dont even squat?” he goes “yes I do, I squat in the smith machine!” I dont need to say anything further about this matter…
I forgot to tell the important fact that when I was kicked out of my last gym for breaking the floor and a barbell when missing a heavy squat, I left my belt there, and never cared to go back and get it, and never cared to buy a new one, and since I had a history of back injury, I figured why not train beltless, and done it ever since, it’s been about 3 years now, not looking back.
[quote]TigerPower wrote:
“I can squat 350 without a belt.” Yeah, so can many females. The better question is how many people don’t use a belt and can lift REAL weight (squat 500+, deadlift 500+) My guess is not many. Anybody can lift less than 300 lbs. without a belt. Those are called warmups. [/quote]
My guess is the weightlifters, or atleast 95 % of them.[/quote]
Your guess would be way off. Maybe 95% of the lifters IN THE OLYMPICS. But your view is VERY skewed by the fact that all you see is the 100 best lifters in the world.