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belt fit question
28 yo, 6' 240 lbs SS LP
I'm confused about how my belt should be fitting during the deadlift. It's my first time using one. 4" 10 mm
The problem: I'll put my belt on tight enough so that I can still get a full breath of air (maybe this is a mistake). I'm shaped a bit like the letter "d" if you know what I mean, so the belt will be snug until I get into the bottom position, where my gut basically gets smushed into my thighs. This temporarily makes my waist smaller at the bottom, which makes the belt loose, so I get nothing from the belt until I'm about halfway up. This is making everything feel very weird and not giving me a smooth pull.
I'm not really having a problem getting my back in extension, so I don't know if a thinner belt is the solution. I wear the belt across my navel, maybe slightly lower. My deadlift set up is exactly what is described in the book. Maybe I just need to lose weight?
Thanks for your time.
✓ Member
Your problem is one that many share. You can mess around a little with belt positioning and tightness. A leather powerlifting belt often does not do a whole lot first thing off the ground and only "bites" when the bar gets near the knees. Do you have a 3-inch belt you can try? Without being there, I cannot say a whole lot more than try moving the belt up and down and see how it feels. Some peeps like the belt higher on pulls, or higher in the back. Play with it. That's all I got.
Member
Should have guessed this was probably common. No I don't have a 3 inch belt. I was thinking about ordering a 2.5 inch one, but when I saw that I could get a flat back with the 4 inch, I thought maybe I didn't need one. Ok well I'll play around with it like you say and see what works. Thanks a bunch.Originally Posted by Tom Campitelli
I was going to make another thread, but maybe you wouldn't mind answering real quick: I will take a 10% back-off for the squat at some point soon, but it will be close to the 300lb + range (squatted a reasonable 290 most recently). With 5 lb jumps, I'm wondering if the 2 weeks it will take to come back is too long of a reset period... like so long that by the time I get back to the old weight pr, I'm tired all over again. Is that a legit concern? Or should I just stay the course and do what the book says? Hope it's not too obnoxious that I ask this here. Thanks so much
✓ Member
In fact, you want that back off period to be reasonably long. You have built up some fatigue that may take a little while to go away. Also, you want to allow yourself to get stronger and that takes time, too. I would put a light day in on Wednesday and extend the period out a little longer. Also for deadlifts, you can try a velcro belt and see how you like it. I used to pull in a velcro belt. It is comfy. Less support and the velcro eventually fails, but consider it.
Member
Oh ok, sounds good. Would I keep the light day when making 5lb jumps back after eventually starting the back-off? Oh velcro, awesome, I will definitely look into that. Thank you so much for your help so far.
Member
I personally cannot stand a belt when I pull. If its tight enough to do anything it leaves severe bruising. The belt is actually tighter in the down position than the up position, so, basically, the belt is pretty loose in the up position. Nessa from Horn strength disagrees with my prissiness. (j/k) However, I probably need to shoot for a 2.5" or 3" belt.
Member
Dang you have the opposite problem that I have. I always thought before I started using a belt that it would just sort of mold to your torso.
Member
I always wondered if this only affected me because of my power belly. I assumed that I just needed to lose weight. Since I wasn't feeling the belt do much until I got the bar to about my knees, I assumed the belt wasn't tight enough, but making it tighter made me feeling like burping every time I reached down to grab the bar. Eventually I just convinced myself that the belt does nothing for me at all, but I'm not deadlifting 500+ pounds yet and I really wouldn't know.
How effective is the belt if it's only offering real support for about 2/3 or possibly half the movement, especially at lower weight (sub-400 or 500)? I'd assume that you'd want the most support when the lever arm is longest--those first few inches off the ground. As you become more upright, it seems like more support isn't necessary when your spinal erectors and lats aren't contracting as hard as that first inch off the ground.
I'd snort every time I see people on IG posting "beltless deadlift PR!!!1!" and I'd think to myself, "The belt barely does anything, anyway." Am I way off the mark here?
Member
I think that would extend your LP, so, yes? I would guess that if you were making 10 pound jumps each week and you were going to stall at 350, if you made 5 pound jumps each week you can probably make it past that and not stall until 375-385 or something. That's just my guess.
✓ Member
It varies from person to person. While the belt is less helpful immediately off the ground, it does provide a little bit of external resistance for the abs. Around the knee, where you are still fairly horizontal with respect to the ground, it makes itself known. A belt does less on the deadlift than the squat, but it still does something. Whether you use it or not and whether you like it or not is one of those things that comes down to individual preference. If you can find the right size belt and learn to use it, it will help you on the deads. I pull more with a belt than without and am generally less likely to tweak my back lifting with a belt, so I use it for anything above 365 these days.
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