投稿日:2022.07.28 14:28

The meaning of wearing a training belt, how to choose it and how to use it

About the training belt

Have you ever seen someone doing strength training using weights such as barbells wearing a thick belt around their waist? Such belts are generally called training belts or power belts .

There are two main purposes for wearing this training belt around your waist. The first is to increase the stability of your core and protect your waist from injury. The second is to generate greater strength and improve the effectiveness of your strength training. In this column, I would like to explain these two points in a simple way that even first-time belt users can understand, and introduce the meaning of wearing a training belt, how to choose one, and how to use it.

Why can wearing a training belt help prevent lumbar injuries?

The most important purpose of wearing a training belt is to increase abdominal pressure and physically support the lumbar spine. It also helps prevent injury by preventing loss of posture and form during training.
When you exercise with heavy weights during strength training, you are unable to maintain proper posture, which increases the risk of developing herniated discs, spondylolisthesis, and spondylolysis. The core is the complex of the pelvis, lower back, and chest, excluding the head, neck, and hands. If you were to consider the core as just bones, it would be the pelvis, lumbar vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae, and ribs, as shown in the figure.
As shown in the diagram below, the trunk is a very unstable and fragile structure made up of bones alone. Therefore, when we lift heavy barbells, we strongly contract the muscles in our back and stomach to protect the lumbar vertebrae, increasing the pressure inside the stomach (abdominal pressure) and thus increasing the stability and fixation of the trunk.

Trunk and skeleton

With this as a foundation, wrapping the training belt tightly around your waist and tightening your abdominal muscles will make it easier to increase abdominal pressure. Furthermore, the physical support added to the lumbar vertebrae by the thick, sturdy training belt will significantly increase the lumbar vertebrae's stability. In other words, wearing the training belt will increase the stability of your core, so your form will not be compromised and the strain on your waist and back will be reduced. Not only advanced trainers who use heavy weights can train with this belt, but beginners and those with waist problems can also train more safely by using the training belt.

Wearing a training belt can increase your strength

When we move our arms and legs, we unconsciously tighten our stomachs just before the movement, strengthening the stability of our core. This is because the core is the base of our arms and legs, and if the core is not stable, not only will it be difficult to exert force on the arms and legs, but it will also be difficult to control their movements.
The same can be said about strength training. For example, when lifting a heavy barbell in squats or deadlifts, your core needs to be firmly fixed in order to generate great force from your lower body. For this reason, training belts are extremely effective. In fact, if you perform squats while tightening your abdominal muscles with a training belt tightly wrapped around your stomach, the targeted muscles will be more stable than when you are not wearing a training belt, and you will be able to lift heavy weights without putting strain on your lower back.

There are two reasons for this.
The first reason is, as mentioned above, wearing a training belt increases the stability of the trunk, reducing the load on the trunk muscles caused by the barbell.
The second is that increased abdominal pressure increases the ability of the lower limbs to exert strength.
Related to the latter, a study by Tayashiki1) et al. examined the relationship between hip extension strength and the degree of increase in abdominal pressure, reporting that the higher the abdominal pressure, the greater the maximum extension strength that can be exerted at the hip joint.
The most important training stimulus for improving muscle strength is to exert a greater muscle contraction force than usual in the target muscle (principle of overload). For this reason, wearing a training belt during strength training involving heavy weights that tend to cause poor posture is extremely effective in improving muscle strength, from the perspective of exerting greater muscle strength more safely. Of course, it is important to increase the weight gradually during training and continue to provide stimulation that does not allow the muscles to become accustomed to the weight, thereby increasing muscle strength.

How to choose and wear a training belt

1. How to choose a training belt

size

Due to the two purposes (reason) for using a training belt mentioned above, it is most important to choose a belt size that can tighten around the stomach. For people with a small waist, training belts that adjust the tightness with the belt holes may not have holes in the appropriate position and may not be able to tighten around the stomach properly. On the other hand, training belts with nylon straps (see image A below) are recommended because they can tighten around the stomach tightly even for people with a small waist.

Wearing a training belt
Image A
Material: Leather or nylon?

Leather belts (Download image B) are harder than nylon belts (Download image C), so if you can tighten the belt around your waist properly, it will provide a stronger physical support. Therefore, it is recommended for advanced trainees and those who lift heavy weights. However, as mentioned above, leather belts are designed to adjust the tightness of the belt around your waist by adjusting the position of the belt holes, so there may not be holes in the right position. In such cases, it is better to choose a nylon strap type. Some nylon strap types are wider to provide a stronger physical support around the waist. Although this type is made of nylon, it provides a stronger support around the waist, so it is recommended for those who lift heavy weights during training.
On the other hand, normal nylon training belts have the advantage of being light, easy to handle, and easy to tighten around the stomach, and provide sufficient core support during regular strength training. Therefore, for those who want to protect their waists in various situations, such as when doing strength training or lifting heavy objects in daily life, we recommend normal strap-type nylon training belts , as they are easy to use.

Lifting a barbell while wearing a leather training belt
Leather belt (Image B)
Recommended for advanced users and those who handle heavy weights
Lifting a barbell while wearing a nylon training belt
Nylon belt (Image C)
Recommended for those who want to finely adjust the tightness

2. How to use the training belt (how to wear it)

Wearing the training belt

The purpose of the training belt is to increase abdominal pressure and provide physical support to the lower back. To maximize this goal, it is important to exhale and tighten the belt around your stomach when wearing it, as shown in the image on the right.

After wearing the belt, when lifting something, take a small breath while keeping your back straight, inflate your stomach, and then tighten your stomach. However, be careful because it is important to keep breathing even while tightening your stomach to prevent excessive rise in blood pressure.
There are moments when you need to exert a lot of force all at once, such as when changing direction of movement (when changing from flexion to extension, etc.). At such moments, you may need to hold your breath, but even in those cases, you should only do so for a moment (about 1 second), such as when changing direction of movement.

When lifting heavy weights, take a deep breath and tighten your abdominal muscles to maximize the strength of your core. However, holding your breath and increasing abdominal pressure too much can cause your blood pressure to rise too high. When training with heavy weights, be sure to first receive instruction from a training instructor on how to increase abdominal pressure before starting the training. Also, when taking a break from training, it is important to remember not to wrap your belt too tightly, such as by loosening it once.

3. Advantages and disadvantages of use

A training belt is a good tool to make your training safer and more effective.
The reasons for this are that the benefits of using a training belt include increasing the stability of the core, preventing injuries to the lower back, and making it easier to exert muscle strength.
The disadvantages are that if you rely too much on the training belt, you may not be able to stabilize your core by yourself. Also, the use of the training belt may hinder the movement of your core.
However, if your goal is to improve your ability to stabilize your core, you probably won't need to use heavy weights. For that purpose, it's best to train with weights that will not disrupt your core posture even without a training belt. There are also disadvantages, but the biggest benefit of using a training belt is that it improves the training effect more safely, so it's important to focus on using a training belt when necessary.

Finally, I hope that this column will help you to perform strength training safely while preventing injuries and building the ideal physique.

[References]
1) Tayashiki K, Hirata K, Ishida K, Kanehisa H, Miyamoto N. Associations of maximal voluntary isometric hip extension torque with muscle size of hamstring and gluteus maximus and intra-abdominal pressure. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2017 Jun;117(6 ):1267-1272.
Dr. Yohei Shimogouchi

Dr. Yohei Shimogouchi
Doctor (Exercise and Sport Sciences)

Currently a professor at Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences. In 2003, he obtained his NATA-BOC certified athletic trainer license in Minnesota, USA. In 2006, he obtained his PhD (exercise and sports science) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he worked as a full-time Postdoctoral Research Associate until 2007. He was appointed to Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences in September 2007, where he remains to this day. His main research themes include elucidating the mechanisms of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention and developing rational training methods for this purpose.

★We received a comment from Harbinger brand ambassador!

Yumie Shimizu

Ms. Yumie Shimizu
Owner of Trainer's Gym Ekoda

When my clients use a training belt for the first time, I tell them how it can help prevent injury and make it easier to transfer force to their legs.
I also think that tightening your belt helps you change your mindset and think, "Okay, let's do this!"
By the way, our gym offers foam core belts in four sizes for our customers.
Since there are people with all different body types, the ability to adjust the Velcro strap is very useful.
When I'm handling heavy weights, I find it comfortable to tighten it up tightly with the Harbinger foam core belt.
I find them very useful as they are not too wide or too narrow and do not get in the way when I train.

Akane Aoki

Akane Aoki
Fitness Trainer/Bikini Competitor

For me, a belt is an essential item when I train!
This is because it increases abdominal pressure, protects your lower back from injury, and provides the stimulation of heavy weights during training.
I use both the nylon and leather ones, and the position of the holes gives me a guide to measure my waist size as I lose weight, which serves as motivation.
Harbinger belts have cute and cool designs, so I wear them with my training clothes to lift my spirits.
It's a tool that allows you to train safely, so it's great for anyone, from beginners to those who lift heavy weights, to use to make their training even more fulfilling!