Robert

hello, first post on this site. (not a weight lifting newb though)

personally i don't use a belt for anything. they do help stabilize the core during heavy lifts, partially because you are able to exert a force on the belt building pressure in your abdomen (core) and partly because it reduces the ability to round the lower back. the post above mine about what the belt does is very accurate and informative i think.

sounds good to use a belt then....? no. i would only ever reccomend using a belt if [a] your 1RM SQ/DL is over 250kg and [b] you are going for a new max (be it triple or single).

why?
i subscribe to the "if you cannot lift it absolutely, utterly and totally raw, then you cannot claim to lift it". thats not to say i am dead right, a belt will aid you as a bodybuilder/powerlifter (esp in comps as a powerlifter), but not in everyday training. far from it imo. it buidls a false sense of security in beginners and is in 99% of cases, unnesecary for the experinced lifter.

glen ross recently put up a 1000kg total, (squat was around the 380kg mark) wearing nothing but a t-shirt and shorts. no wraps, no belt, no suit, no gloves, no straps.

just my personal opinion, not meant to cause offence.