Overview
Walk into any weight room and you will no doubt see a few weightlifters and body builders who are wearing weight belts. These belts are made of leather or a durable type of nylon. They buckle at the waist and are designed to prevent back injuries. But their effectiveness is open to controversy.
Mayo Clinic Study
An article in the June 2004 issue of Shape Magazine cites a weight belt study that was performed at the Mayo Clinic. Sports medicine counselor Steven Finnie surveyed 352 members of a local fitness center involved in a strength training program. Finnie found 90 percent of the subjects wore a weight belt because they believed it would protect them from injury and 25 percent believed wearing a weight belt would improve their weightlifting form. But the majority of the subjects were using weight belts for exercises such as biceps curls or for exercises using extremely light weight.
Albany Medical Center Study
The American Council on Exercise cites a weight belt study that was performed at the Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York. The researchers compared 50 weightlifters. Half the subjects wore weight belts, the other half did not. Although all of the men followed the same program, the men who did not use the weight belts had better abdominal and back strength than the belt-wearers. While people might be able to lift 20 percent more weight while using a weight belt, using one does not translate into a 20 percent increase in protection for the back muscles.
Weight Belts and Intra-Abdominal Pressure
Many weight-belt wearers believe the belt increases intra-abdominal pressure. When you lift heavy objects, your deeper core muscles compress to support your torso. Wearing a weight belt is supposed to increase this intra-abdominal pressure. But if this was true, there would be a decrease in activity of the erector muscles in the back because these muscles work as antagonists to the deep-core muscles. If the core muscles are active because of intra-abdominal pressure, the back muscles should be relaxed. But many studies have indicated that this is not true.
Testing of Erector Muscle Activity
In 1999, the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research cited a study performed by Bauer, Fry and Carter. The researchers were interested in the EMG activity of the erector muscles during high-bar squats. Ten subjects performed two sets of squats with three repetitions. They used a weight belt for the first set. The second set was performed without a belt. The weight load was set at 60 percent of the lifter's one repetition maximum strength. The findings indicated erector activity was greater when using the weight belts. If the erector activity was increased, this indicates the deep core muscles were not working, which means the back was not really being supported by the weight belt.
Your Core Muscles: The Natural Weight Belt
Most researchers agree that wearing a weight belt can decrease activity of the deeper core muscles, which include the transverse abdominal muscle and the pelvic floor. When relying on the belt, these muscles become lazy. Research performed by Paul Hodges at the University of Queensland indicates people who do not suffer from back problems will activate their core muscles a fraction of a second before lifting a heavy object. In contrast, people with back muscles will activate their core muscles a few seconds after lifting a heavy object, if at all. You can train your core muscles to be active by using a proper breathing pattern. Inhale before you lift. As you exhale, take advantage of the natural function of your deep core muscles, which is to press against the diaphragm to expel the air. Manually contracting your abdominal muscles will create the intra-abdominal pressure needed to support your spine.
