[pie muncher]

ok guys ive been deadlifting for around 3 months now. my max is 160kg for 3 reps, however i am still doing it without a belt. Should i start wearing one now? my back does feel like it has a small twinge coming on when lifting this weight!!!

All opinions much much appreciated!!!!!!!!

[chalk]

I'd definitely wear a belt. You should be able to lift more with one also.

[Nick500]

you will be able to lift more with one, but reliance upon support is not a good thing...

if you are going for max lifts, then wear a belt, otherwise its better to train without one as your core strength will improve and also when you DO finally wear a belt the impact of wearing it will be greater (i.e. you will lift more).

Powerlifters don't do their strength training in their powerlifting suits, yet lift in them... you see?

Nick

[pie muncher]

ah-ha ( insert partridge pun here ), yes nick i see cheers dude 8)

[LeeB]

personally as im not a powerlifter i ALWAYS wear a belt when perfroming exercises such as squats, deadlifts, shruggs etc... for me as a bodybuilder its more important to stimulate the muscle fully rather than simply increase strength.. its also not worth risking injury for the sake of being a a super-strong ****a!! lol

on other exercises which are not specifically compound or are nor really stressing my lower back i will save my belt for my heaviest set if i need it!

[chalk]

Although, if you're getting twinges then it not a good thing. Take care of your back you don't want to get a injury which will hold you back. If you're not going to wear a belt then I'd reduce the weight a little for a couple of workouts. Make sure you warm up plenty also.
Nick's right in saying that it's good to build up your core strength. Although 160kg is not light for you as you're only doing max 3 reps. I don't wear a belt on my warm up sets or when I'm working with approx. less than 50 -60% my max weight.

[Extreme]

I used to deadlift heavy (320 kg for 2 or 3 reps on the heavy set), I never wore a belt until we went to 5 plates or more. The more our core muscles worked the better, by not using a belt you force the anciliary muscles to work more and ensure you are totally in control all the way through.

The reason we did use a belt was because of the increased risk of injury on the heaviest sets through possibly not being in as much control as we were on the lighter sets and whilst not being able to cheat on deadlifts our form may have sufferred when attempting to move such weights.

The same went for squats (270 for 5 on heavy set), no belt until 5 plates and no wraps until 6 plates a side or more. At the end we never wore the wraps at all.

It worked for us, we got stronger and thicker like we never believed, the beauty of this training is that after almost 5 years of serious medical issues (I was given a year to live 5 years ago!) and only having managed 18-24 months since then I still manage to hold onto a serious amount of muscle which flys back on whenever I start back.

We called it "power bodybuilding" because we encorporated powerlifting movements and poundages with drop sets and isolation movements, my training partner and I did/do not have great genetics but we carried serious amounts of muscle (17'2 with abs at 5'9.5).

www.extremenutrition.co.uk

[SoulCard]

rule of thumb...if your gonna go heavy on an exercise that is gonna hit your lower back and create a risk of injury i would rather have a belt on than not...a couple pounds less on a set of lifts is better than a pulled or strained muscle...then you will lift far less for a while...better safe then sorry...

[LeeB]

belts in my opinion are needed for any heavy movements which will put stress on your back... they prevent side to side movement of that area which will really hurt your back spine...

if your doing the movement in perfect form then your back should be fine without a belt...

but why take a risk... what if for some reason your grip jerks or someone accidentally walks into the bar whilst your lifting???

i suppose the same thing can be said of wearing a helmet on a bike... you may be perfectly safe at 200mph on your hyabusa... thats not to say mr magoo in his micra isnt going to come along and knock you off it!

[ChrisJenkins398.5kg]

Yes I would warm up without the belt, I usualy go to around 3-4 plates then ad the belt for the heavyer sets...

You will be able to handle more poundage with the belt, more poundage more muscle and strength...

You can get a good belt from Irongladiators, direct from Inzer's web page or Pullum sports, who are based in London. I usualy change my belt every six months, I find after a few months my belt gets softer and Im less upright when squating using the belt.