No more weight belts in the gym!

Fitness Professional, Kim Ball, has started a new video series. She's fed up with watching people's mistakes in the gym. In an attempt to help gym-goers avoid bad posture, muscular imbalances, and injury, Kim will be describing her pet peeves that take place in most gyms, AND she'll give tips on how to avoid committing these common "crimes".

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Deliberate Movement
• Kim Ball
• pet peeves
• transverse abdominus
• weight belts
• abdominal
• abs
• exercise
• gym

[buddward13]

Also the core for most people cannot support weight past a certain point without tearing or damaging it, but our lower body can. hence squating and deadlifting. now im an athlete and for my event legs are everything....so if i need to wear a weight belt so that my legs can be the strongest they can be then im gunna do it. i do it my way you do it yours, dont try and tell people they are making mistakes, thats just inaccurate. its not a mistake it is just different....and quite frankly its safer.

[deliberatemovement]

@buddward13 I completely disagree. Just because you are a girl doesn't mean your core (abs & lower back) muscles cannot develop properly. In fact, research shows that using a belt all the time will prevent you from recruiting core musculature properly. Yes, a belt should be used on your heaviest attempts (think 1-2 reps) to help increase spinal stability... but it absolutely shouldn't be used otherwise. You've gotta build up the core as part of the chain - not just the legs.

[deliberatemovement]

@buddward13 In addition, there's no limit as to how much weight you can support. The muscles of your abdomen aren't going to "tear" unless you fail to slowly increase your strength. I'm a girl and I deadlift 305 lbs - without a belt. And yeah, 185 was super heavy at one point... but you work past that. Now, I'm def supportive of weight belts for serious lifters who perform max attempts - but for most gym-goers, it's just not necessary. And it's not really safer either...

[MrBlackhaw]

She is right for most lifters and especially for women who do not lift heavy weights. I used weight belts in high school when I was lifting heavy weights for football. I might put on on for squat or dead lift if I am going really heavy. But I do not use it for those lifts often. It is just not necessary and works against some of the good things that the exercise does. Form and not lifting too heavy of a weight for you is more important for safety concerns for most than a weight belt.

[deliberatemovement]

@MrBlackhaw great points! Thanks for the comment :)

[buddward13]

you ever think the people deadlifitng 185 and using a belt.....are doing that because that is fucking heavy for them ??? i personally have to wear a belt when i left anything 200 lbs or more (squat/deadlift) bcuz my lower back muscles are weak and cannot develop properly. Im 18, a girl, and squat 345....and i dont really train to squat. Weight belt helps tremendously. weight belt isnt superficially making my legs stronger is it?no. it helps you not to not tear those abs you were talking about.

[zazenzach]

everything she said is spot on. why are you morons voting her down?

[mguyx]

@LRGHMN Why? Comfort is a relative concept, but you want to know what "I" think is comfortable. Comfortable is whatever (1) does not result in injury during an otherwise proper lift, or (2) risk serious injury when done properly. But what you're really asking is: what is my max squat without a belt, right? What is your point? Why do you want to know? What smartass remark are you waiting to drop? Come on man, JUST SAY IT and get on with it!

[mguyx]

@LRGHMN Dude, I'm not walking into traps. If you want to say something clowny, just say it. This discussion thread was about Kim's weight belt observation. In the course of the discussion, tuffmustang brought up deadlifting. He and I both talked about our max efforts, with passing reference to my not using a belt, and with passing reference to his belief that powerlifting gear advice should be left to "the professionals."

Then you asked what I think is a comfortable squat weight ...