 Next question is from Marco 0801. Are lifting belts necessary for heavy lifting? Everywhere I look, answers are vague. You know, when I was a kid working out, I remember when I was a kid working out and I first started lifting, my uncles would tell me, put a belt on, it'll protect your back. Make sure you wear a belt. That's what you got to know. It's it's it's not necessary. Now, can you lift more weight when you wear a belt? Yeah, because the belt is this external form of stability in your core. It actually makes your your your core fire differently. So when you're wearing up, especially a power lifter belt, right? The old bodybuilder ones where they're skinning the front, that's stupid. That's kind of wasting. That's that's like you're using the belt, but then it's skinning the front. So you're losing a lot of the effect. You want one that's the same thickness all the way around. Your core pushes out against the belt, which then creates the stability. And so you can lift more weight as a result. And it changes the recruitment pattern. Your body will actually learn to stabilize better with a belt than it does without a belt. And then you get stuck in this loop like I'm in, right? I started deadlifting. And because I trained with because power lifters taught me, they were like always wear a belt when you when you deadlift and you squat. Now, you know, I did it for a I did a year with no belt. And it was still felt very strange to me because I'd trained for 14 years. You know, have you wearing a different mechanism that you're working with? It is. But I mean, unless you're going to compete with the bell, there's really no need to wear now unless you want to lift more weight. But again, that looks cool for the people around you, but it doesn't it doesn't make any difference in terms of muscle development and stuff like I always have a hard time answering these questions because these are tools that I think we all use. But I also think that we would admit that it's not ideal. If I was building the perfect avatar, right? So this this client that I have a good relationship with exercise and food and is healthy and strong and the attributes, all the attributes of this this person or this avatar you'd want to have, one of them would be that they have no need for straps or belts. I mean, that's just a fact. I would I would want my client that I'm building from scratch to be able to deadlift their max load without ever having to use straps. I'd want them to be able to squat their max load and not have to use a belt. Now, the truth is we all grew up in an era where we utilize these tools just in less than both of us, but you and I probably a lot. And so every once in a while, you'll see me pull it out of my bag and because I want to go after it and and I want to lift heavy weight that day, although I would still recommend it to a client that it's not something that you need to do unless you are in the sport of powerlifting and it allows you to wear a belt and it's then and then it's advantageous for you to use it and train with it so you get good at it. Otherwise, for the general pop, it really doesn't have a lot of value. And if anything, you have to be careful not to abuse it because then it could actually hurt you. Yeah. Yeah, it definitely shifted for me. I mean, I was definitely wearing a belt and wrist wraps were something I used for for power cleans quite a bit when I was training in high school and then going into college, but it it was just one of those things. I I had a moment there where I was trying to pick something up and I was doing some kind of like hard labor work as some kind of construction. And I was just like, I just had no strength, even like holding this object for very long. And that really pissed me off. And I'm like, I was a hammer. Super. Yeah. Oh, God. This hammer stores hammer like, no, it's just a regular hammer. That's like, you know, it's not even like one pound guy. Yeah. So like that pissed me off. And so I was just like, I'm over it. I'm never using these again. I'm kind of like a hot and cold sort of personality when it comes to that stuff. Like it pissed me off enough to where nothing is going to be strapped. No belts. Like I'm going to work my way back from nothing. So I was I just started with the basics of of carrying heavy objects like farmer walks and just squatting, you know, beltless and to a point where I just I'm comfortable now. Like I can lift the weight that I can lift without any aids. And that's where I'm at. That's my real strength. Otherwise, to me now, of course, on the other end of it, I'm like, yeah, cool, but can you lift it without that shit? Yeah, you know, what's funny about that is that so people don't realize this, but there's a skill to using a belt, too. It's not like you put it on and you automatically or stronger. You have to learn how to fire your muscles in order to utilize about. And what's funny about that is like, I bet you, if we put a belt on Justin now, he probably wouldn't be able to lift as well. Oh, I had a hard time with it. Yes, whereas now with me, I'm stuck in that loop or wearing a belt. I feel stronger now. I did that with straps, with wrist straps. I took them off because I was, you know, doing judo or jiu-jitsu and that's very grip heavy. And so I threw them away a long time ago and now I'm very comfortable. But the belt, man, I've got this weird relationship with the belt where it's like, you know, it's this thing I hugs you. Oh, I love it. You know, it's like a friend. But no, man, I tell you what? If you want to be strong in the real world, use none of them. If you just want to be strong in the gym, then then then use them. And that's true. It's even true for me. So it's definitely not necessary. And that's the question, right? Not at all. It's beyond, it's beyond not necessary. But I think we always have to clarify, because I know every once while one of us posts a video and you see one of these tools. Hey, I thought my pump doesn't have a game for wrist straps or for belts. It's like running. I mean, I've got both those in my bag. I absolutely use those a handful of times throughout the year. I can't even tell you the last time either one of them been pulled out. I've probably got a video on my Instagram the last time that I actually used it. It's just not a tool that I use. I want to be able to lift and squat a good amount of weight without any sort of aids or tools. Yes, do I pull it out when my when I'm flexing my ego or, hey, I want to push a number that I haven't seen in a long time. And I know it'll help me do that. Yeah, it comes out. Yeah, you know, it's what's really bad is you see like people like at Home Depot or construction workers and they'll wear the belt. It's not like a weight belt, but it's similar, right? Where it goes. Yeah. And they have almost the shoulder straps that go with it. And it's just holding them in place really. Oh, that's terrible because it's you'll start to atrophy and lose strength because so wearing a weight belt when you lift, it's like a set. And then you take it off, right? These guys are wearing them all day long. Yeah, you start to you really change recruitment patterns. That's the wrong one. That's so dangerous about those corsets and the screens that people wear. I mean, they wear those all day long. And so you atrophy your core, which is arguably one of your most important muscles in your entire body. So silly just to shave a half of an inch off your waist.