A powerlifting belt is different from a weightlifting belt. It’s important for you to know the difference to ensure that you’re purchasing the right one for you. In this article, I’ll discuss the distinguishing factors between a weightlifting belt vs powerlifting belt.

1. Powerlifting Belt vs Weightlifting
Belt: What Is the Difference

3. A powerlifting belt is different from a
weightlifting belt. It’s important for you to know
the difference to ensure that you’re purchasing
the right one for you. In this article, I’ll discuss
the distinguishing factors between a
weightlifting belt vs powerlifting belt.

4. Are You a Powerlifter or Weightlifter?
There are some key differences between the
two. Powerlifting involves a slower movement
speed, and a focus on strength in three primary
lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. This
strength sport heavily focuses on lifting as much
weight as possible in a single rep.

5. On the other hand, Olympic weightlifting
involves highly skilled and technical movements
carried out at a rapid pace that combines
elements of strength, power, speed, and
mobility. Weightlifting consists of two
competition lifts: snatch and clean & jerk.

6. Official rules
Powerlifting. There are multiple independent
regulatory organizations for powerlifting, and
each has its own set of rules and regulations,
and the most notable is the International
Powerlifting Federation (IPF). The following are
the IPF specifications for lifting belts:

7. • It is prohibited to wear a belt under lifting
suits.
• It should be constructed from leather, vinyl, or
some other non-stretchable material.
• Laminations that are stitched or glued are
acceptable.
• It cannot contain any padding, bracing, or
other forms of support.

8. • It may come with a single prong, two prongs,
or a lever.
• The buckle needs to be firmly fastened with
stitching or studs.
• The design must be simple and devoid of
branding unless specifically permitted by IPF.
• Upon IPF clearance, you can add a logo of
your name or country.

9. • The belt cannot be more than 13mm thick or
4" wide.
• The inside and outer widths of the buckle
should be 11 and 13 cm, respectively.
• The tongue loop should be positioned 25 cm
or less from the end of the belt.
• The tongue loop can only be up to 5 cm wide.

10. Weightlifting. Weightlifting competitions
conform to the rules and regulations of the
International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). The
following are the IWF specifications for lifting
belts:
• Athletes may wear a weightlifting belt. It must
be worn outside the costume if it is utilized.
• The belt cannot be wider than 12 cm.

11. Material
The main difference in terms of the material is that
a powerlifting belt should be rigid while a
weightlifting belt should be flexible.
Although some powerlifting belts are made of vinyl,
leather makes up the majority of them. Both of
these materials lack flexibility, so if you take up a
powerlifting belt, you'll note that its rigidity
requires you to manually wrap it around your torso.
Meanwhile, belts for weightlifting are frequently
made of vinyl but there are some that are also
made of leather.

12. Simply put, powerlifters lift bigger loads than
weightlifters do. And this is mostly because the
former perform less dynamic movements and
that they do not hold the load overhead. For
these reasons, powerlifters need tougher and
more rigid belts than weightlifters.

13. Closure type
A powerlifting belt typically employs a prong or a
lever buckle. The mechanism of a prong buckle is
comparable to that of any regular belt. You choose
a hole that fits your torso then pull the belt strap
through the loop. On the other hand, a prong belt
offers the flexibility to wear the belt looser or
tighter depending on the lift while a lever belt is
somewhat more secure. For heavy lifting, I prefer
the lever belt since you actually want to wear the
belt rather tightly.