When To Use a Belt in Weightliftng
One of the most frequently asked question I get is “When should I use a belt? I’ll share my preferences, but you can do whatever you want.
I recommend never using a belt in the snatch. The absolute weight should not be anything that requires a belt. If you need a belt to be able to snatch, you might have some abdominal or mental issues that need to be addressed.
I recommend using a belt on clean and jerks, however only above 80% of your current maxes. If you need it below that, you might also have some abdominal or mental issues that need to be addressed.
I recommend using a belt for strength exercises such as pulls, deadlifts, and squats, but again only above 80% of your current maximums. This is a great way to develop abdominal strength, and in my opinion should be a priority in offseason training and transitioning from an offseason to a hypertrophy phase. I will often program no belt clean and jerks, squats and pulls for lifters that have just finished a competition and are in offseason and hypertrophy phases of their training. This is a way for them to manage their relative intensity, as well as force them to not mentally rely on the belt when they don’t need it.
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