To Belt or Not to Belt?

Part of assimilating into the "lifting culture" means geeking out over new purchases like shoes, wrist wraps, straps, and belts. It's easy to fill up your shopping cart pretty quickly on Amazon.com or other similar websites. The question is, how much of these items are necessary, and what is extraneous and perhaps counter-productive?

I've been hesitant to write this post, because I know many people hold very strong opinions on this issue. There are plenty of people at an elite level who are using lifting belts to deadlift 800+ pounds, so it's natural to want to copy what those guys are doing and hope that all of this gear will lead to similar gains for you. If only that were the case...

Personally, I am not an advocate of belts (and most other "accessories" for that matter, but I'll save that for another post) in many circumstances.

First of all, it's important to understand why you're using a belt in the first place, because I believe a lot people have a great misunderstanding of the purpose of a belt. Some people are under the illusion that the belt will magically prevent back injuries. At the moment, there isn't a lot of evidence to support that belts reduce injury rates or lower back pain in any way. According to the CDC, "although back belts are being bought and sold under the premise that they reduce the risk of back injury, there is insufficient scientific evidence that they actually deliver what is promised."

Stuart McGill also notes that "[individuals] who have never had a previous back injury appear to have no additional protective benefit from wearing a belt," and "those who are injured while wearing a belt seem to risk a more severe injury."

A belt is meant to provide additional support and stability for the muscles of the trunk. Basically, the tension of the belt increases intra-abdominal pressure, activation of the spinal erectors and rectus abdominis. All of these things are clearly important in lifting heavy weight. So why do I have such a conceptual problem with using a belt?

A lifter needs to learn to create intra-abdominal pressure sans belt. When one becomes too reliant on a belt to stabilize his core, the risk of injury without one may increase. Essentially, a belt becomes a crutch for poor bodily awareness and motor learning. If you constantly step under a loaded barbell with your belt on, it's going to be much more difficult to move without it!

A belt will create a false sense of security in a lifter, and thus potentially stunt the growth of postural muscles like the erector spinae, multifidi, external obliques and rectus abdominis, as their roles become more limited with equipment.

In my opinion, a belt is most useful upwards of about 85% of your 1 rep maximum on a squat or a deadlift. That's it. Heavy weights require a greater degree of tension in the body, and that's where the belt will come in handy. You should not be warming up with your belt, and you should not wear it all of the time. When you are working up to a heavy single, or doing a ton of high volume work at high intensity, the use of a belt may be warranted and helpful. If you are not, however, training for a sport that requires you to be stronger than your competitors (such as Strongman, CrossFit, powerlifting or weightlifting), then I don't think using a belt is necessary at all. Instead, you could stand to benefit from a ton of practice in maintaining intra-abdominal pressure without the aid of equipment. Both your intrinsic and external muscles will get stronger in the process.

Again, this is my personal philosophy. Obviously for sports like powerlifting, a belt is going to be necessary after a certain point, but make sure you're strong without it as well. I rarely use belts unless I'm approaching 100% on my lifts. I prefer to train organically, when I can. I feel more accomplished knowing I was able to move a certain amount of weight without the aid of a belt around my waist. Some people like the security of having a belt, but I think it's always better to teach your body how to create that strength on its own.


Works Cited:

2. McGill, S., Norman, R.W., and Sharratt, M.T. (1990) The effect of an abdominal belt on trunk muscle activity and intraabdominal pressure during squat lifts. Ergonomics, 33 (2): 147-160. 
3. Reddell, Cheryl R., Jerome J. Congleton, R. Dale Huchingson, and John F. Montgomery. "An Evaluation of a Weightlifting Belt and Back Injury Prevention Training Class for Airline Baggage Handlers." Applied Ergonomics 23.5 (1992): 319-29. Web.
5. Reyna, J.R., Leggett, S.H., Kenney, K., Holmes, B., and Mooney, V. (1995) The effect of lumbar belts on isolated lumbar muscle. Spine, 20 (1): 68-73. 

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Essential Exercise Equipment for the Disabled to Consider

Physical activity is essential for everybody. A leading aspect in completing a program successfully is in participating in regimens that are enjoyable and comfortable for you. Even if you are a permanently or temporarily disabled person, you can find activities and exercise machines that are comfortable for you. There are even exercise equipment for the disabled that have been designed specifically for people with some form of disability.

Traditional Equipment

Many traditional kinds of exercise equipment can be utilized by disabled persons. For those who are confined to a wheelchair, exercise equipment for the disabled that emphasizes lateral pulls as well as arm curls could help in strengthening those muscles. If you have restrictions on the use of your upper body, you can focus on exercising your lower extremities. A couple of resisting poles can be squeezed by hands to build the strength of your hand grips. If you have restricted hand grasping abilities, you may use medicine or exercise balls instead.

Arm Ergometer

If you are using a manual wheelchair, a good exercise equipment for the disabled that you can use is the arm ergometer. This machine features a couple of pedals on a side, and mounted on table. It has been designed to increase the strength of the muscle and flex joints by allowing the disabled person to pedal against resistance using his or her hands. The ergometer has features like adjustable hand grips, to match the hand grasp of the user. You may also place this exercise equipment for the disabled on the ground and use it for exercising your legs in the same fashion. Both uses allow the user to do cardiovascular exercise at a speed that is comfortable for him or her.

Portable Recumbent Machine

There are recumbent step machines that are portable and designed for people with disabilities. The machine is incorporated with hydraulic cylinder system, which has been designed to react to the strength of the user through the adjustment of applied pressure. The disabled person presses down using his feet in a walking motion while in a seated position, thereby testing endurance and exercising the lower part of the body. There are also recumbent bikes that are available as exercise equipment for the disabled.

A note of warning: before using any exercise equipment for the disabled, it is important that the disabled person take special preparations in all instances. Talk with your doctor before starting any planned exercise program and pay attention to your body while you are working out.

Alexander is a disabled slimming expert. To find out more information about exercise equipment for the disabled, visit http://www.disabledslimmingguide.com

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Using Home Exercise Equipment - How Do I Lose Weight Fast?

ByWayne A Richtsmeier

Great you've started your diet. You've made up your plan and started following it. Next you need to develop an exercise plan also. After all you need to burn more calories than you take in. The only way to lose weight is to use more energy than you consume. When you have a consistent workout plan it will jumpstart your metabolism and it will help you to burn more energy. It will give you better long term results than just diet alone.

Before you start any exercise program talk to your doctor and follow their advice. I'm just trying to help you lose weight fast. I don't know your medical condition. I don't want to advise you to do anything that would harm you.

Personally I prefer to work out at home rather than going to the gym. Depending on how far away it is I don't have to waste 1.5 to 3 hours of my day travel back and forth to the gym to work out every day. I work a lot of different shifts for my job and often the gym isn't open when I want to work out. When I work out at home I can do it any time of the day or night.

When you go to the gym you often have to wait to use the machine you want. When you do get on it you have to limit your time because other people are waiting for the machine.

If you add up the gym membership over time you will be very surprised at how quickly working out at home pays for itself. Though the initial price of the equipment can be expensive, if you set up the right payment plan, the monthly payment is often less than the gym membership. When you finish paying for the equipment it's yours. You never finish paying for the membership and you get nothing out of it.

When you have a membership in a gym you have to pay the dues no matter how often or how little you use it. You have to make that payment even if you get sick, hurt, or go on vacation. If you already own the machines they might gather dust for a while but they will be there when you're able to get back into it. You will not be paying for nothing.

These are the main reasons that I prefer a home work out plan. When you think about the numbers and the times involved as well as the convenience I think you will agree.

If you would like to discover more information on exercise, dieting, and weight loss go to my blog http://howdoiloseweightfastx.com
Wayne Richtsmeier

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Get a Calorie Blasting Workout at Home Without Expensive Exercise Equipment

I love circuit workouts as a solution for people who haven't got much time to train. You move quickly from one exercise to another, each working different muscle groups, so one area of your body gets to rest while another area is doing its thing.

You can create your own circuit workout at home with little or no equipment. You get to choose the exercises, the music, when, where and how you do it. They can be designed for cardio/aerobic fitness or resistance training and can be very specific to your fitness goals. In short, circuits rock!

Think about what you'd like to get from your workout. To sweat it out and go for the burn you'll need to include lots of aerobic moves, or to build strength you'll need to think of exercises that work against resistance. Weights would be helpful for this, but not essential as there are lots of exercises that use lifting your own body weight against gravity to build strength.
Dust off that exercise bike, pump up that sagging Swiss ball, and roll out those old dumbbells. Assemble all the exercise equipment you've gathered over the years, or at least make a list of it.
Now list all the exercises you know how to do, both with any equipment you have or without. But only pick exercises you feel confident you'll be able to perform safely. Once you have your list, split it into four columns - arms and shoulders, legs and butt, chest and back, and stomach/core.
I'm going to recommend you do each of the exercises for two minutes, but you can, of course, increase or reduce this depending on your goals and the time you have available. I'm also going to suggest you repeat your entire circuit of exercises three times. Now you need to divide up your available time. If you're sticking with the three laps of the circuit and two minutes at each exercise station, divide the duration of time you'd like your circuit to last by three to find the amount of time you have available for each "lap" of your circuit. Then divide that number by two to determine how many exercises to include in the circuit. So, if you'd like to create a 30 minute circuit session you'll have time for three 10 minute repetitions of your circuit, so you can include five exercises (two minutes for each). Again, this is just a suggestion, you should tailor your circuit to whatever meets your needs.
Once you know how many exercises you need to include you can go about creating your exercise stations. This may mean putting a piece of equipment in each corner of a room, in a row down the hall way, or even dashing from one room to another if you're really short of space. An exercise station could be just a mat on the floor where you'll do ab crunches or even just bits of paper placed on the floor naming the exercise you'll do in that location. If you're aiming for a full body workout choose at least one exercise from each of the columns on your list. Otherwise tailor your exercise to whatever your aims are.
Place a clock where you can clearly see it, or better still set a timer to beep at two-minute intervals, so you know when to change stations. And go!

Tips:
As with any exercise session, always begin with a gentle warm up and end by gradually cooling down. You may want to devise a flexibility circuit to follow where you visit each of your exercise stations and stretch the muscles you worked there.
Safety first. Your exercise goals could come to naught if you get injured, so make sure all your exercises, equipment and locations are safe and suitable.
Exercises should be performed one after another with no breaks, so avoid working the same muscle in two consecutive exercises to allow it to rest.
Keep changing your circuit routine so it's stays challenging, in line with your goals, and fun.
If you know a lot of exercises you could devise several circuits to use on different days.
Don't be disheartened if it takes a little time to prepare your first circuit or it doesn't quite work as you'd hoped! Once you get good at this, you'll be able to quickly put together combinations of moves and really feel in control of your workouts.

Julia Buckley is one of Britain's top fitness writers. She is also a qualified fitness trainer and marathon runners. She publishes lots of beginner-friendly articles on exercise and fitness at her website, Fitness Rocks. On the site you will find a friendly fitness forum where Julia or one of her team of exercise professionals will answer your fitness questions and give advice on all things fitness.

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