DON'T BUCKLE UP

You see them in the gym in all shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns. Every month there seems to be a new version. Women love to match them to their outfits, and men are leaving the old worn leather ones for the style and comfort of the latest model. Many think that weightlifting belts are a necessity for preventing injury in the gym, but some people use them indiscriminately and too often. The abuse of weightlifting belts may be increasing the risk of injuries instead of preventing them.

Weightlifting belts are not new. Olympic weightlifters first used them to prevent trunk hyperextension during overhead lifts. Marketers then promoted the devices to workers who lifted heavy loads daily in an industrial setting. Bodybuilders took the idea and ran with it. Once used for a specific purpose, the weightlifting belt has been turned into a fad by the bodybuilding community.

The real purpose of a belt is to provide support for the back by increasing the intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and the intrathoracic pressure (ITP). The IAP and ITP compress or prevent the protrusion of the abdominal compartment, which in turn reduces the force the low back muscles must exert to support a heavy load. Some researchers report that reducing how hard the low back muscles have to work may prevent disc compression injuries. But if the purpose is to increase IAP and ITP by compressing the abdominal contents, not supporting the back, then why is the widest part of the belt centered on the back instead of on the abdomen? The design of the traditional weightlifting belt is all wrong.

Many studies have shown that the low back muscles are not taxed while the weightlifting belt is worn. While this effect may seem beneficial, it actually has a detrimental effect in the long run on your functional and sports activities. It may be fine to use the weightlifting belt in the gym, but what happens when you need to move a couch in your family room or pull weeds in the yard? Your abdominals and low back muscles must be strong. The constant use of a weightlifting belt during strength training can give you a false sense of security. You could then expose your spine to greater loads, increasing the potential for injury outside the gym setting in sports or other activities.

Even the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) doesn't recommend that healthy people use back belts. Studies have proven that weightlifting belts don't decrease muscular fatigue or prevent injuries. One study has even shown that holding one's breath properly during lifting increased the IAP more significantly than wearing a weightlifting belt.

Although some of the best weightlifters in the world do not use weightlifting belts, there are certain competitive weightlifting and powerlifting situations in which weightlifting belts are appropriate and beneficial. When performing a lift like the clean and jerk or the squat, weightlifting belts are effective in increasing IAP for lifts at 90 percent of the 1RM (one repetition maximum). This effect may translate into lifting heavier weights. If the lifter wears a belt in the gym with heavy loads, then she should wear it in competition (and vice versa).