A Beginner's Guide to Buying a Weightlifting Belt ...Middle East

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

If you’re serious about lifting barbells, sooner or later you’re probably going to want a belt. Belts don’t prevent injury as people sometimes assume, but they do help you to lift more weight. This helps you to squat and deadlift heavier—thus get stronger—so they’re standard equipment for a lot of strong people. We have a guide here to understanding what belts are for, how they work, and who needs them. But once you get the basic idea, you’ll probably still have questions. So let’s dig in.

By the way, if you want the short answer as to which belt I, your resident expert, wear: I have two that I love. My trusty leather belt is a Pioneer cut with offset holes, 3 inches wide, 10 millimeters thick, in maroon suede. I've had it for five or six years now and it's still going strong. My other belt is a velcro belt from 2Pood, 4 inches wide. I don't wear it much anymore because the velcro is starting to wear out, but I got it signed by Kate Vibert just after she won silver in the 2020 Olympics, so I'm never throwing it out.

Every coach has their own opinion on when is the right time for a new trainee to buy a belt. Some might want to see you lift a certain weight first, or demonstrate a certain amount of skill at the big lifts. But the truth is, there’s no agreed-upon dividing line between people who need a belt and people who don’t. A belt is a tool that anybody can use, at any point in their lifting career. It doesn’t make up for not knowing how to brace, so it makes sense to learn how to brace first. But a belt can help you learn how to brace, since you can feel your belly pushing against the belt when you’re doing it right.

In my opinion, if you’re wondering whether you should get a belt, it’s probably time to get a belt. A lot of the good leather ones need to be ordered online, and some have a lead time of several weeks, so you might not actually get the belt until a month or two after you decide you’re ready—in other words, you may want to order your belt sooner rather than later.

Which kind of weightlifting belt should you get?

If you search for “weightlifting belt” online, you’ll get tons of results, many of them marketed to gym goers who want to look cool but who don’t really understand what a belt is for. Let me cut through the marketing to say: There are only a few kinds of belts that strength sport athletes commonly wear.

A velcro belt

First, there’s the 4-inch velcro belt. I’m starting here because it’s a good all-purpose belt, cheaper than the leather ones we’re about to talk about, and it’s arguably easier to adjust and wear, too. I have one from 2Pood, which is a popular brand among Olympic weightlifters and Crossfitters. These belts are 4 inches wide, they close with a velcro strap, and they have a locking mechanism around the strap so that it won’t pop open even if the velcro fails mid-lift. The velcro will wear out over time, although mine put up with more than three years of frequent use before I started to notice any problems.

Velcro belts don't have to be limited to Olympic lifts, by the way. They work just fine for heavy squats and deadlifts, too. Velcro belts will generally run you between $30 and $70, depending on the brand and any special features, like custom colors.

A leather single-prong belt

Next are leather belts that buckle like, well, a traditional belt. These look like a comically large version of a regular belt you'd wear to hold up your pants: they're either 3 or 4 inches wide, and made of a thick leather that is usually either 10 or 13 millimeters. The buckle is enormous to match. (When I got my first belt in the mail, I laughed. I couldn’t imagine wearing it out in public. But now I just see it as a normal piece of gym equipment.)

There are double-prong belts, which look cool, but they can be really annoying to operate. Remember, you’ll be taking it off and putting it on (or loosening and tightening it) between sets. The second prong doesn’t make the belt any more secure, but it does make it fussier to fasten.

In addition to my velcro belt, I have a single-prong leather belt as well, and mine is a Pioneer cut with offset holes. This way, instead of choosing between two holes that are an inch apart, I can adjust the belt in 1/2-inch increments.

A leather lever belt

Instead of a buckle, you may prefer a lever belt. Instead of placing a buckle prong through the hole of your choice when you put it on, you use a screwdriver to install the lever into the ...

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( A Beginner's Guide to Buying a Weightlifting Belt )

Also on site :

• Spain hosts European, Arab nations to pressure Israel on Gaza
• Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce break cover after being spotted on date night close to $20 million love bunker
• '90s 'Dawson's Creek' Heartthrob, 53, Nearly Unrecognizable in 'Van Life' Video