How long does it take to get used to belt

[swiminator]

This morning was my first workout with a belt ever. It made everything feel awkward. I felt like I couldn't take as big/deep of a breath. I felt weaker, but that could be due to the distraction. When in the hole of my squat, it would dig into my hip bones.

Roughly, how long does it take to get used to this? Any advice?

[mwhities]

I think it too me a week or so when I bought my BestBelts belt. It really felt awkward but, it seemed to get better everyday after the week.

[Karl Schudt]

Wear it a bit higher. It's not a belt to hold up your pants, and shouldn't go in the same place.

[Corrie]

I got used to it in a workout or two. At first when it's not broken in you will notice it, which may throw off your mental game. Once it gets broken in you won't even notice it.

If you can't get a decent deep breath in with it on you might have it too tight.

[RussB]

No time at all for me. I got a belt a month ago, and it immediately made things feel much better (read, tighter). The way I've described it is that it actually allows me to push harder in all the right ways. It feels like my force is going straight into the bar now that I'm belted. The first workout with the belt (somewhere around 290#) I repeated my last successful workout (I had to take a week off around the same time I got my belt), and I just used the belt for all of my warmups. It definitely felt weird, but by the time I hit my last warmup I could tell I was going to like using the belt. Haven't looked back since. Now I just belt up for my last warmup and my working sets.

I'm 5'6" and have a 4" belt, and it does not dig in (although, I'd describe myself as short-legged and long-torsoed, relatively speaking), so definitely make sure you have it in the right place. Before I squat with the belt I put it in its approximately correct spot, but keep it pretty loose (1 prong looser than what I squat with), then I squat to the bottom position and let the belt find where it needs to be. Stand up, tighten the belt, and I'm ready to go.

[Chebass88]

I started using a belt at the same time I switched to a routine of 20-rep squats. After a couple of weeks, I didn't notice the belt anymore.

[utexas61]

6 days

[JohnRoman]

A few workouts. It sounds like you may want to loosen it 1 notch and try that.

I wear mine higher for squat and lower for deadlift which seems to help. Also, wearing the belt was a good reminder to push the knees out to create more room in the hole.

[gzt]

There are two things: getting the belt broken in and getting used to the belt. These are happening simultaneously if you got a brand new belt.

One thing to beware of: there's an optimal tightness. Too tight and you can't get enough air to properly valsalva. Not tight enough and you don't actually use the belt. You want the belt to take a little effort to get on and you want to be able to push out HARD against it. If you have to suck in, it might be too tight. If you don't get good pressure against it until you're pushing all the way out, it's too loose.

Proper placement: the belt should be over your bellybutton. Where, exactly, over your bellybutton depends on your body. First spot to try is with the middle of the belt over it.

[swiminator]

Some great feedback, guys! I found this morning's workout a bit discouraging, but at least it seems that I just need a little more patience and to try these tips.