What does a weightlifting belt do? How do you wear a weightlifting belt? And how do you find the best weightlifting belt for you? All good questions, and you’ll learn the answers in this article. Some folks claim weightlifting belts are essential for avoiding injury—almost like wearing a seatbelt while driving.

1. How to Find the Best
Weightlifting Belt for You

3. What does a weightlifting belt do? How do you
wear a weightlifting belt? And how do you find
the best weightlifting belt for you?
All good questions, and you’ll learn the answers in
this article.
Some folks claim weightlifting belts are essential for
avoiding injury—almost like wearing a seatbelt
while driving.
Others say that the safety benefits are overblown
and the primary reason to wear a belt is that it
helps you lift more weight.

4. What Is a Weightlifting Belt?
A weightlifting belt is a thick belt that you wear
around your waist while lifting weights.
There are many different types of weightlifting
belts, but they’re typically three-to-four inches wide
(though some are wider at the back than they are
at the front), made of thick, stiff material such as
leather or woven nylon, and have a large buckle
that secures the belt in place and helps to cinch it
tightly around your abdomen.

5. What Does a Weightlifting Belt Do?
When you lift weights (or anything heavy, for
that matter), it’s important to trap air in your
lungs and create pressure in your abdomen,
known as intra-abdominal pressure.
This stabilizes your torso and prevents your
spine from bending, which enables you to lift
heavier weights safely.

6. A weightlifting belt buttresses your belly so that
when you take a deep breath of air “into your
stomach,” your abs are pushed against the belt.
This increases intra-abdominal pressure by ~15-
to-40% beyond what you can achieve without a
belt, boosting your performance on exercises
like the squat and deadlift.

7. How to Wear a Weightlifting Belt
In order for a weightlifting belt to help you lift
heavier weights, you need to wear it properly.
Here’s how:
Position the belt around your waist so that the
bottom of the belt is just above the height of your
iliac crests (the bony protrusions at the front of
your hip bones). Be prepared for this to feel
uncomfortable and leave some bruises until the
belt is properly broken in and you find the right
tightness for you.

8. Adjust the tightness of the belt. Use the tightest
notch that still allows you to take a full breath
without having to raise your shoulders. Sometimes
the ideal tightness is between two notches. My
general recommendation for scenarios like these is
to use the tighter option for the squat, bench press,
and overhead press, and the looser option for the
deadlift. That said, you should ultimately use
whatever you find improves your performance the
most.

9. Before you begin a set (and between reps as
necessary), take a deep “belly breath” of about
80% of your maximum lung capacity. As you
breathe in, imagine your stomach inflating to
the front, sides, and back. Your entire torso
should feel full of air, but not so much that you
have to struggle to keep your mouth closed.

10. Press your tongue against the roof of your
mouth, and without letting any air escape, try to
breathe out. At the same time, press your abs
against the belt as hard as you can. Then begin
your rep.
Once you’re past the “sticking point,” or the
most difficult part of the rep, breathe out as you
finish the rep.

11. How to Find the Best Weightlifting
Belt for You
Size:
The two most important measurements to look at
when buying a belt are its width and thickness:
Width: Most weightlifting belts come in one of
three widths: 4, 3, and 2.5 inches. Four-inch belts
offer the most support, so they’re the best option
for most people. That said, a 3-inch weightlifting
belt might be better if you have a short torso
because it’s less likely to dig into your ribs (many
women prefer a 3-inch weightlifting belt because
they tend to be shorter than men, for example).

12. Thickness: Most weightlifting belts are 9-to-13
millimeters thick. Thinner belts are more supple
and break in faster, which makes them more
comfortable, but thicker belts offer more
support and are more durable.

13. Material
Weightlifting belts are typically made of leather or
nylon (you may also find cheap Amazon
weightlifting belts made of other synthetic fabrics,
but I don’t recommend these).
Leather weightlifting belts are more rigid and
durable than nylon belts and therefore offer more
support. Some leather weightlifting belts are also
finished with a layer of suede, which is naturally
“anti-slip,” so the belt doesn’t move out of position
as easily during a set.