Who invented the weightlifting belt?

[OverfedZombie]

I was thinking about this today during my squat sets.

Do you know who invented the weightlifting belt?

Is it something that's been around for so long that it just "is"?

I searched a bit online and found a few recent patents, and I skimmed an 18+ page article by Ken Leistner. I couldn't find anything about the belt's origination.

I figure after man created the wheel, he tied a deer carcass tightly around his waist to lift and mount the stone wheel onto his floor-less Bedrock mobile.

Just curious.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I don't know.

[Mark E. Hurling]

They go back at least as far as photographs exist. You can see them in one form or another on the old time strongmen from the mid 19th Century. Some of the older engravings of them show some form of belt or sash wrapped tightly around their waists. So I suspect they go way farther back than that. For all we know, Milo of Crotona may have used one as the cow got heavier.

[danlightbulb]

Great question! I wonder if they could have originated from the roman period. Here is a pic of a roman gladiator belt. Couldn't find a pic of it in context with a gladiator outfit.

[Mark Rippetoe]

This would look good on a gal with large full breasts.

[Adam Skillin]

This would look good on a gal with large full breasts.

So would I. Most things do.