What is the purpose of a weight lifting belt?
During exercise, your muscles contract to stabilize the lumbar spine. Some of these lower-back muscles are under your conscious control. But other spinal-stabilization muscles are involuntary; you can’t feel them but they contract to protect the spine or aid in moving your torso.
Muscles that stabilize and orient the lumbar spine.
| LUMBAR MUSCLES | FUNCTION |
| Psoas Major | Flexes thigh at hip joint & vertebral column |
| Intertransversarii Lateralis | Lateral flexion of vertebral column |
| Quadratus Lumborum | Lateral flexion of vertebral column |
| Interspinales | Extends vertebral column |
| Intertransversarii Mediales | Lateral flexion of vertebral column |
| Multifidus | Extends & rotates vertebral column |
| Longissimus Lumborum | Extends & rotates vertebral column |
| Iliocostalis Lumborum | Extension, lateral flexion of vertebral column, rib rotation |
When you are lifting heavy weights, it is imperative that your spinal-stabilization muscles are up to the task. If they are weak, they may sustain injury during a workout. Subsequent lack of spinal stabilization will lead to unsatisfactory workouts and eventual lower-back problems.
Spinal stabilization muscles are only part of the picture. When you lift heavy, your intra-abdominal pressure increases as your abdominal structures share more of the compression load with the spinal stabilization muscles. Holding your breath, clenching your abs, and tightening your core all contribute to spinal stabilization.
Unfortunately, during heavy weight lifting, it is possible to create so much intra-abdominal pressure that, over time, it can cause a hernia of the abdominal wall. Trainees who rush things rather than gradually building up to maximum efforts are at risk for abdominal herniation during lifts which require maximum intra-abdominal pressure.
This is where a weight lifting belt comes in.
A weight lifting belt allows you to safely increase your intra-abdominal pressure by around 25% of your un-belted max. In real-world terms, power lifters have found that this can add from 5% to 15% to the weight they are able to squat.
In addition to protecting against spinal deformation, weight lifting belts serve as an additional layer of support for the abdomen – almost like another layer of abdominal muscles. With a weightlifting belt, your lumbar spine can endure greater compression forces and you can lift more weight. It’s that simple.
Olympic weight lifters developed weight belts to protect the lower back.
Do I need a weight lifting belt?
You probably don’t need a weightlifting belt.
But if you are recovering from a lower-back injury or abdominal hernia, or if you are lifting maximum weights, a weight lifting belt can be of some assistance. But be sure to clear such activity with a physician and perhaps a well-qualified coach or trainer. Think safety and don’t risk further injury.
If you are completely healthy, with strong, well-developed core musculature and a rock-solid lower back, you probably only need a weight lifting belt if you regularly lift below five reps in overhead presses or other overhead lifts, or if you try to max out in squats or deadlifts. Use it as a prophylactic – a device that prevents future problems.
If you’re like most fitness buffs, you don’t need a weight lifting belt as long as you are healthy.
Which are the best weight lifting belts?
There are two main styles of weight lifting belt: the Olympic weight lifting belt and the powerlifting belt.
Powerlifting belts are usually made of leather. They’re thick and sturdy, and their width remains constant around the circumference. When you wear a powerlifting belt, you sacrifice comfort and mobility to get increased functionality.
Olympic-style weight lifting belts are wider in the back than in the front. This increases mobility during the Olympic lifts, which require more athleticism than the power lifts.
Powerlifting belts are wider than traditional weight lifting belts.
Back support belts: are they identical to weight lifting belts?
In recent years, many manual laborers have taken to wearing back support belts. In fact, even though OSHA does not mandate or even suggest the use of back support belts for any sector of industry, many companies require employees to wear back support belts when they are engaged in heavy lifting.
The CDC says:
Although back belts are being bought and sold under the premise that they reduce the risk of back injury, there is insufficient scientific evidence that they actually deliver what is promised.
These back support belts are usually lightweight padded nylon, without the stiffness of typical weight lifting belts.
In the literature, doctors refer to them as lumbrosacral elastic supports. Their stated purpose is to brace the lumbar spine and deter the sorts of rounding and twisting motions that lead to injury. Basically, the claims are that they help workers retain their lordotic arch.
Since many back support belt designs seem intended to brace the lower back without helping to increase intra-abdominal pressure, these belts are less useful to weight lifters than a traditional weight lifting belt.