*** The 2013 Gym Rats Thread ***

Good shout BennyC. I have done that before but totally forgot to be honest :)
Bennyc is in your threads, stealing your advice gainz


Sylas, looks like you had a dysfunctional deadlift technique back then too.......!

*runs and hides* :p

It wasn't great then nope, but I didn't pay as much attention to it then because I wasn't getting my lower abdominal searing pain, so everything felt fine :(

Is it just me or is that belt a lot higher than where you wear it currently?

You might well be on to something there, just watched a load of my old vids back and belt about 2-3 inches higher then now. However still have big rom/mobility/flexibility issues to fix. I think where I wear the belt now is more where it should be worn but that needs some testing again once I can actually make the correct shapes regardless of the belt ;)
 
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Only way to do it. Using a belt is a tacet admission your form is compromised. ;) :D

this is the funny thing, no belt and form looks fine for deadlifts. Belt on and form looks horrible. Underlying issues present clearly in both belted and unbelted form but much easier to spot with the belt.

Also beltless lifting doesnt get you far in powerlifting :(
 
Beltless lifting all my life.

I was doing deadlifts last saturday.. this massive polish guy walks up to me and wants to join.. I'm cool with that and as soon as I start working my weight up to 145kg.. he goes? WAT NO BELT you must be mad.. I might use a belt when I get to 180ish.. but right now I don't really feel the need for it :o
 
I was doing deadlifts last saturday.. this massive polish guy walks up to me and wants to join.. I'm cool with that and as soon as I start working my weight up to 145kg.. he goes? WAT NO BELT you must be mad.. I might use a belt when I get to 180ish.. but right now I don't really feel the need for it :o

Likewise, don't intend on using one until it's needed.
 
Also beltless lifting doesnt get you far in powerlifting :(

I think you're starting from a faulty presumption: that you NEED a belt to be a powerlifter.

You don't.

They might help a lifter push that much harder once your form starts to break, but the question is: do you really want to push past the limit of your body's ability to brace?

If you're competing with lifts where you know your going to compromise your bracing at some point in either a deadlift or squat, then a belt can help maintain a degree of thoracic pressure over unbelted. But that is way up the intensity scale to where you should be training on a day-in, day-out basis. IMHO.
 
I think you're starting from a faulty presumption: that you NEED a belt to be a powerlifter.

You don't.

They might help a lifter push that much harder once your form starts to break, but the question is: do you really want to push past the limit of your body's ability to brace?

If you're competing with lifts where you know your going to compromise your bracing at some point in either a deadlift or squat, then a belt can help maintain a degree of thoracic pressure over unbelted. But that is way up the intensity scale to where you should be training on a day-in, day-out basis. IMHO.

Training with a belt is less about requiring the belt to train and more about being comfortable with the belt. You dont just want to throw it on when your at your limit at a meet.

I am happy to do unbelted training but with a long term goal of giong to meets I need to be comfortable in a belt while lifting, this will only come with extra practice. Also making sure that form is not impacted by the wearing of a belt is also important. Its pointless to put the belt on to gain an extra few KG if the belt pulls your form out - or more likely in my case highlights issues that are less easily seen sans belt.

There is also the argument that you can push your core harder with a belt as well so your actually training harder with one on but thats a whole other discussion.

The focus for my unbelted training has been to improve my core strength which i have been doing, but i also know that with wearing a belt i can maintain form, brace more effectively and add kg's to the lift due to this improved bracing.

I was never saying that a belt is a prerequisite to powerlifting, "a belt is a posative advantage for competing in powerlifting and is not something that should be thrown on just before max efforts" is probably a better way of putting it.

Far from starting from a faulty presumption.
 
I was doing deadlifts last saturday.. this massive polish guy walks up to me and wants to join.. I'm cool with that and as soon as I start working my weight up to 145kg.. he goes? WAT NO BELT you must be mad.. I might use a belt when I get to 180ish.. but right now I don't really feel the need for it :o

I'm not opposed to belted lifting it's just not an avenue I've properly explored as I haven't felt the need.

I've seen people belt up for high bar smith squats before at 40KG :rolleyes:
 
I'm not opposed to belted lifting it's just not an avenue I've properly explored as I haven't felt the need.

I've seen people belt up for high bar smith squats before at 40KG :rolleyes:

I've seen guys belt up for bench presses.. and for walking around.. there's this guy that never does any compound exercises yet wears a belt all the time?! WHAT FOR.. :o
 
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