If you’re a regular or even a semi-regular gymgoer, you’ll no doubt have come across people lifting weights in the gym. You yourself might even lift weights? If that is the case, you’ll no doubt be aware that lifting weights can be dangerous which is why you should take the necessary safety precautions.
In gyms and fitness facilities up and down the country, and indeed the globe, weightlifting belts are a staple, and for good reason. Watch any lifter attempt a big lift on your favourite social media platform and you’ll see that strapped tightly around their waist is a weightlifting belt.
Weightlifting belts have been popular for decades, though arguably they really proved popular in the 1970s, during the ‘Golden Era’ of bodybuilding, when the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Ken Waller, Mike Katz, Frank Zane, and many more, were drawing huge crowds while training in the sunshine on Venice Beach.
But exactly why have weightlifting belts been popular in the fitness industry for so long? Well, that’s what we’re going to find out. Here’s a look at the benefits of wearing a weightlifting belt while training.
Improved performance
Despite weightlifting belts primarily being used for safety purposes while lifting, one of the main advantages of these belts is the fact that they can help to boost and improve performance while lifting.
Experts have found that wearing a weightlifting belt can actually help you to generate more strength and power when performing certain exercises, especially lower body exercises such as squats and lunges.
Wearing a weightlifting belt appears to increase muscle fibre activity of certain lower body muscles in the legs and glutes, namely the hamstrings and the quadriceps. Therefore, if you’re looking to work your legs that little bit harder, or perhaps simply add more weight to your squat, a weightlifting belt is highly beneficial.
Stabilize your back and spine
By wearing a weightlifting belt, you are able to enhance intra-abdominal pressure, which is pressure in your abdomen when you’re lifting weights. This pressure helps to create a rigid core which stabilizes the spine.
Having a stable spine and back is very important when lifting because it helps to reduce the risk of a back injury or a spinal injury – both of which could be extremely serious.
Again, the rigid core and stable spine not only reduces the risk of injury, it can also increase power output, allowing you to generate more power and lift heavier weights.
Improved form and body biomechanics
Wearing a weightlifting belt can also improve body biomechanics as well.
A weightlifting belt reduces spinal flexion and lateral spinal flexion, while enhancing flexion at the knees and the hips. Basically, weightlifting belts help you to lift more with your legs, which is exactly how you should lift from the ground.
For exercises such as deadlifts, rack pulls, and barbell squats, this not only helps to keep you safe, it also promotes good, solid form as well.
Product shown above from BeastGear. Also checkout:
- GymReapers 10mm Lever Belt
- AQF 6 Inch Neoprene Curved Weightlifting Belt
- Gunsmith Fitness Shibusa 4 Inch Premium Leather Lifting Belt
