Lifting Belts, Are They Good?

If there is an over-reliance on belts it can actually weaken your core strength. Lifting belts can increase intra-abdominal pressure, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. The good news from intra-abdominal pressure is it can help increase spine and core stability. The bad news is intra-abdominal pressure shoots up blood pressure and can aggravate hernias and other injuries.

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Lifting belts can help the performance of heavy lifters with lifts that use a lot of your lower back, such as squatting heavy or pulling something big. If the workout doesn’t stress the lower back then a lifting belt is unnecessary.

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Core musculature can be weakened if there is an over-reliance on lifting belts. This makes the point of not wearing a belt unless the lower back is very involved in the lift very important. Save the belt for big sets, don’t wear one for warm-up sets or lighter sets, only wear one for big and heavy sets.

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Lifting belts have benefits and they help people out a lot but limit your use of one. Only use it when you feel that the set is too heavy for you or if you feel like your going to need a little extra help while lifting. Be sparing with it to make sure you don’t make any previous injuries worse and so your core muscles can get their workout in too!