Terminal City Training Vancouver Personal Trainer Strength & Conditioning

                        To Belt or not to Belt? That is Yvonne’s Question.
I received a text message from a client/friend Yvonne the other night as I was leaving the Spartacus Athletic Club. If I hadn’t erased it from my phone then I could just quote her. But she wrote something like this:

“Hey a lot of my friends are asking me why I don’t wear a belt when I lift? What’s the deal with belts?”

I wrote back and told her that I would have to talk with her in person about that deep subject. And then I thought, “Hmmm, maybe I will write about it too.”

So here is a summary of my opinion (as of April 23 2010) about wearing belts while training. Most of it I have  adopted from some guys in Wichita Falls, Texas, although I have been testing it through my own scientific process of trial and error.

-Good and even great coaches have divergent opinions about belts. Some never advocate their use. Others think that they are a major asset in getting stronger. There is no clear correct point of view. Although both camps would likely claim otherwise. And they’re both probably right.

  -Belts are useful when a lower back injury has been sustained and also to teach and ensure proper bracing of the torso. When you lift heavy in the big lifts you need to put a fantastic effort into bracing your trunk and creating intra-abdominal pressure. When you slip a belt on it can teach you a lot about whether you are doing this well or whether you have been fooling yourself.  It can keep you honest in your bracing. This is not a time to be half-assed.

-If back injury is an issue then more frequent use of the belt is called for. Otherwise I tend to use the belt on the last warm-up set and during my work sets. I tend to use the belt while squatting and pressing. I loosen the belt between sets, lest I lose consciousness.

  -Most of the belts I see in use seem to me to be wholly inadequate. For most strength-training uses I want to wear a belt that is the same width all the way around. This is because I am mostly concerned with a hard brace in my stomach and so a wide belt in the front will give me something substantial to brace against. I also want a thick belt made of leather. Since I live in Canada I find these belts very hard to come by. I was going to buy myself a belt from elitefts.com for Xmas but the shipping alone was going to put me out $70 (they are in Ohio). Since they make amazing belts I might just have to suck it up. 

 I hope that Yvonne and other readers find this helpful.

Congratulations to everyone who hit personal records this week.

Jamie hit a PR in the deadlift and the overhead press yesterday. For the press he hit three sets of 5 at 120 pounds. Not long ago we cut his press way back after a partial shoulder dislocation while playing hockey. He is progressing very well. 

Andrea and I both PRed in the bench press. I don't have photos. I generally don't take bench photos as I am too busy spotting.

The following video shows the first and the third sets of Jamie's press.

Now we are trying to clean up his technique a little. When he holds the bar closer to the heel of the palm then it will alleviate strain on the wrist.

This forum is brand new. It will be a place to announce and learn about upcoming events relating to training and competititon in the various milieus of strength and power sports and also for general discussion of training and competition. The forum focuses on the Metro Vancouver region (British Columbia) but feel free to announce and discuss events that are further afield.
http://www.terminalcitytraining.com/vancouver-strength--power-sports.htm