Weighing in on Weight Belts for Fitness Hood River OR

By Daniel Halperin

You've probably seen the toughest-looking member of your health club adorned with a giant weight belt. And while it may look impressive, before you follow his or her example, it's important to know when and how to use a weight belt. The improper use of weight belts can be detrimental to your workout and even cause injury.

Weight belts are worn not to increase the amount of weight you can lift but to help you maintain proper alignment and protect your lower-back muscles. In general, the proper exercises for a belt are those that involve your legs or lower back. These exercises include squats, where you hold the barbell above the shoulders while dropping down at the hips, and deadlifts, where you lift the barbell from the floor to the waist while moving from a squatting position to a standing position.

Weight belts can also be worn to reduce the mobility of your lower-back muscles and force you to use the muscles a particular exercise is designed to work out. Weight lifting is most effective when you isolate the muscle or muscle group you intend to work out. But if, for example, you are doing a bench press, which is designed to work out the chest muscles, poor technique may allow your lower back to "help" your chest muscles lift the weights, thereby interfering with the goal of the exercise.

It's important to realize that weight belts are only necessary when lifting your maximum weight.

Copyright 2009 NBC Health

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