- Your cart is empty
- Continue Shopping
Add Kilos to the Barbell: how Does a Weightlifting Belt Help Break Strength Records?
Anyone serious about training will sooner or later hit their strength limit. You might know this yourself. You’re standing in front of a barbell that represents your personal record, but doubt gnaws at your mind. You’re missing that last bit of strength and confidence. This is exactly where a weightlifting belt can help you, the same one used by the strongest people in the gym. It’s not a magical tool, a cheat, or a substitute for poor technique. On the contrary, it’s effective training equipment that, when used correctly, can safely unlock your true strength. In this guide, we’ll look at how the belt works, when to reach for it, and how to choose the right one so it becomes your best training partner on the journey to new records.
What is a Weightlifting Belt?
A weightlifting belt or also fitness or lifting belt, is equipment that helps stabilise the core and protect the spine during heavy weight lifting. It functions as external support that improves activation of abdominal and back muscles, thereby supporting performance in the gym.
It is a belt with a width ranging from 9–15 cm and a length according to size to ensure support around the entire circumference of your waist.
How Does a Weightlifting Belt Work?
You might be surprised that the belt doesn’t hold your back passively like some corset. Its magic lies in the fact that it awakens and enhances the strength of your own body. It’s all about creating strong intra-abdominal pressure (IAP – Intra-Abdominal Pressure). [1–2]
Imagine your torso as a soda can. Empty, it can be easily crushed. But when it’s full and under pressure, it’s incredibly solid. This is exactly what the belt does to your core:
- Before the lift, you take a deep breath into your abdomen.
- You tense your abdominal muscles and brace them against the solid wall of the belt.
- Your torso transforms into an extremely stable cylinder that functions as an “internal airbag” for your spine.
This solid foundation protects your back and allows you to transfer all power from your legs directly to the barbell.
4 Biggest Benefits of a Weightlifting Belt
When you start using a training belt, you’ll gain several key benefits that you’ll feel firsthand with every heavy set.
1. Improved strength
The belt ensures better core stabilisation, which allows for more efficient power transfer. Thanks to this, you can lift a higher weight on the barbell and break your new maximum. You’ll likely feel the biggest difference with compound exercises like squats and deadlifts. The belt doesn’t give you strength you don’t have, but helps you fully and safely utilise your existing potential. [3–4]
Another tool that will help you lift and hold greater weight is lifting straps. You can learn everything about their proper use in the article Lifting Straps to Improve Your Grip and Strength. How to Use and Secure Them?
2. Improved speed and explosiveness
Some research suggests that using a belt can lead to increased speed of exercise execution, for example, in squats. This means you’re able to move faster with a given weight, which is key for developing explosive strength. Greater explosiveness then directly translates to better performance in many sports. It helps you achieve higher jumps, faster sprints, and overall better movement dynamics. For lifters, this means the ability to get through the hardest point of the lift faster, which can be decisive for successfully completing maximum weight. [4]
3. Subjectively easier exercise execution
Thanks to better stability and confidence, the belt reduces perceived exertion (RPE – Rate of Perceived Exertion). This means the same weight feels lighter, allowing you to handle training with higher intensity, do more repetitions, and thereby better support muscle and strength growth. [6]
4. Greater safety and spine protection
By creating intra-abdominal pressure, compressive loading on intervertebral discs in the lumbar region is reduced. This helps protect the back from injury, especially when lifting weights close to your maximum. [5]
You might be interested in these products:
Who is a Weightlifting Belt Suitable for?
A weightlifting belt is no longer just the privilege of elite powerlifters and weightlifters in tight suits. Its benefits can be utilised by a wide spectrum of athletes and fitness enthusiasts who want to advance their performance while maintaining safety.
- Strength athletes (Powerlifters, weightlifters, strongmen): For this group, the belt is an absolutely crucial piece of equipment. It helps them maximise strength and stability when lifting weights approaching their maximum, which is essential for this sport.
- Bodybuilders: Their goal is building muscle mass. The belt allows them to perform heavy sets of basic exercises like squats, Romanian deadlifts, or bent-over rows more safely. Thanks to better stability, they can better target the muscles being worked and reduce the risk of injury that would sideline them from training.
- CrossFit and functional fitness athletes: Given the diversity of their training, which often combines strength elements with dynamic ones, the belt is a valuable helper. They use it primarily during strength portions of workouts. They often prefer softer nylon belts that can be quickly tightened and loosened.
- Regular gym-goers and fitness enthusiasts: This includes anyone who takes training seriously and gradually works their way up to heavier weights in compound exercises. The belt in this case serves as a tool for safer progression. It provides a sense of security, increases stability, and helps maintain proper technique when the weight on the barbell becomes challenging.
Most Common Types of Belts
Choosing the right type depends on your goals and preferences. Here’s a basic breakdown to help you navigate.
A. Classification by material
- Leather belts: The gold standard for maximum support and durability. They’re ideal for heavy squats and deadlifts where uncompromising reinforcement is needed. They require a longer break-in period, but will reward you with reliability for years to come.
- Nylon and neoprene belts: These belts are lighter, more flexible, and often more comfortable from first use. They’re an excellent choice for bodybuilding training, CrossFit, and for beginners. Thanks to hook-and-loop fastening, they allow very quick and smooth adjustment of tightness.
B. Classification by shape
- Wide belts (Powerlifting): Typically have a width of approximately 10 cm around the entire circumference. This provides maximum contact area for abdominal muscles and is ideal for exercises like squats and deadlifts.
- Anatomically shaped belts (Fitness/Olympic): The most widespread type of belts that are wide at the back and narrow toward the abdomen. This shape better follows body contours, is more comfortable for many people, and doesn’t restrict movement during a wide range of exercises.
C. Classification by fastening type
- Prong buckle: Classic and very reliable fastening.
- Lever fastening (Lever Belt): Powerlifters’ favourite. Allows lightning-fast and secure fastening to a pre-set size and equally easy release after a set.
- Hook-and-loop: Typical for nylon and neoprene belts. Offers the most comfortable and fastest tightness adjustment.
Beware of confusion: It’s important not to confuse a weightlifting belt with a dip belt. This type (often with a chain) doesn’t serve to strengthen the core, but to hang additional weight for bodyweight exercises like dips or pull-ups.
Which Exercises to Use a Fitness Belt for?
When using fitness belts, it’s important to know which exercises they’re suitable for and when to leave them in the locker room.
| When is a belt appropriate? | When is a belt inappropriate? |
|---|---|
| Heavy squats, deadlifts, and overhead presses | Isolation exercises (biceps, triceps, calves) |
| Bent-over rows with heavy weight | Abdominal exercises (crunches, planks) |
| Olympic lifts (snatch, clean, jerk) | Cardio and HIIT workouts |
| Working sets with a weight above 80% of the maximum | Warm-up and sets with light weight |
| When feeling that core stability is the limiting factor | If it’s meant to mask pain or injury |
Discover our bestsellers:
Choosing Size and Proper Use of a Weightlifting Belt
After you’ve chosen the ideal belt, let’s look at how to use it correctly so it serves you 100%.
How to Choose the Correct Fitness Belt Size?
- Find the right place to measure: Stand straight and find the narrowest part of your torso, which is typically just above your navel. This is the place where your body naturally bends when you lean to the side.
- Measure your circumference: Take a measuring tape, place it at this spot, and measure your circumference. Stand relaxed, don’t suck in your stomach.
- Compare the measurement with the chart. Compare the measured circumference with the size chart for the specific product. Ideally, your measurement should be roughly in the middle of the range for a given size. This gives you room for tightening and loosening as needed.
How to Properly Use a Weightlifting Belt?
Having the right belt is only half the success. The other half is knowing how to use it effectively.
- Placement: Put the belt over your abdomen and lower back, typically between your ribs and hips.
- Tightening: Tighten it firmly, but still allow for a deep breath into your abdomen. You should be able to fit at most one finger between the belt and your stomach.
- Breathing (Bracing): Before each repetition, actively breathe into your abdomen and actively push with your entire torso circumference against the belt. Try to expand the belt in all directions with your breath. Hold this tension throughout the entire repetition.
What to Avoid? 3 Most Common Mistakes when Using a Belt
- Wearing it too tight or too loose: If the belt is too loose, it provides no support. When it’s overtightened, it restricts deep breathing into the abdomen, which is key for creating pressure. Proper tightening is firm but still allows full breathing.
- Relying on it as a substitute for a strong core: The belt is only a tool for the heaviest repetitions. If you wear it even during warm-ups or light sets, your core can become lazy. Don’t forget regular abdominal strengthening and back exercises without the belt.
- Sucking your stomach in instead of pushing out. The biggest mistake is instinctively sucking in your stomach when tightening the belt. Its function is exactly the opposite. You must actively push your abdominal wall outward against it to create the necessary pressure and stability.
What Should You Remember?
After reading today’s article, you now know that a weightlifting belt is not a substitute for proper technique, but an effective tool that allows you to safely lift heavier weights. Its strength doesn’t lie in passive support, but in the ability to activate and stabilise your core. With proper selection and technique, it becomes a reliable partner that gives you confidence to attack new personal records.
If you liked the article and learned new information from it, don’t forget to share it with your friends.
Sources:
[1] Cholewicki, J., Juluru, K., Radebold, A., Panjabi, M. M., & McGill, S. M. Lumbar spine stability can be augmented with an abdominal belt and/or increased intra-abdominal pressure.– https://doi.org/10.1007/s005860050192
[2] Lander, J. E., Hundley, J. R., & Simonton, R. L. The effectiveness of weight-belts during multiple repetitions of the squat exercise. – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1533266/
[3] Zink, A. J., Whiting, W. C., Vincent, W. J., & McLaine, A. J. (2001). The effects of a weight belt on trunk and leg muscle activity and joint kinematics during the squat exercise. – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11710410/
[4] Lander, J. E., et al. The effectiveness of weight-belts during the squat exercise – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2304406/
[5] Kingma, I., et al. Effect of a stiff lifting belt on spine compression during lifting.– https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17047531/
[6] Fong, S. S. M., Chung, L. M. Y., Gao, Y., Lee, J. C. W., Chang, T. C., & Ma, A. W. W. . The influence of weightlifting belts and wrist straps on deadlift kinematics, time to complete a deadlift and rating of perceived exertion in male recreational weightlifters. –
