To belt, or not to belt... - RDX Sports Blog

If you’re like me, but slightly more motivated, meaning you are past procrastination and have finally dived into the world of fitness and Bodybuilding and are ready to put in those extra reps, among other things, you’re probably doing some sort of research on a Weight Lifting Belt as well. You’ve probably asked around or have read a couple of blogs online explaining how it works on parts of your body you never knew you had, if you’re a beginner anyway. So let’s try and put all you’ve read or heard into black and white.

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Why belt?

Before we delve into ‘why’ you need a belt, let’s educate you on a few misconceptions about the Weight Lifting Belt.

Let’s assume you are in fact a beginner, and compare you to, well, a toddler. A child will either take too long to learn to walk on his/her own or will harm himself/herself along the way right? You need to guide him/her through the entire process. You need to be there for ‘support’. You need to be there for ‘direction’. And you being there does not mean that you’re making him/her dependent or weak. It means you’re there to make sure it’s done right.

A lot of people, professionals at that, go on about how a Weight Lifting Belt will make you dependent and how it actually weakens your back’s ability to hold on its own.

FAKE NEWS! It’s simple science. It’s simple biology (without those atrociously termed body parts).

Here’s what happens when you’re trying to give it all you got:

You breathe in and hold your breath, which builds pressure between your chest and the stomach, making your back stiff.

You then exert that accumulated pressure where needed by exhaling slowly but forcefully by tightening the muscles on the inside of your neck.

A lot of that pressure goes to waste in trying to maintain your form because no matter how much you stiffen yourself, you’re still pretty flexible.

So what a Weight Lifting Belt does is it increases that pressure and keeps it restricted in that area so that your body can focus all that pressure on where you need it.

But keep in mind these belts are only helpful when you need that extra pressure on top of the maximum you’re about to put in. For anything less than that they’re pointless. And for exercises where flexibility is key, they do the opposite.

What belt?

A Weight Lifting Belt is supposed to be of the same width all around, which is usually 4 inches considering the average torso size.

What separates a good belt from the bad is all in the construction. You’ll find an affordable Weight Lifting Belt made of synthetic material with either a Velcro strap or an okay-ish steel buckle, but there’s only so much such cost effective construction will be able to sustain. Belts with proper leather, durable buckles, and thorough stitching tilt considerably more towards the expensive side, starting from around a 100 bucks.

RDX gives you the best in class belts with reliable materials put together in a comfortable and durable form, all under 50 dollars. You’ll be able to get all the benefits of an expensive belt, that fine leather, intimidating design, and sensible durable buckles, in half the price.

Here are three of RDX’s star products:

RDX 4 Inch Leather Gym Belt