The Best Way to Put On a Lifting Belt! (and a secret weapon)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 05/26/23)

A lifting belt is an extremely useful tool for your strength training, and within a month or two of starting to train, you should be using one regularly. Putting on a lifting belt, however, can be a bit tricky, so let’s sort this out.

How to Do It
There is one way - that’s right, just one - to put on a belt correctly, and it involves the upright of your squat rack. The photos here show a double-prong belt in use, but the method works just as well for single prong belts (in fact, it’s slightly easier). The steps are below, and to learn it even quicker and better, watch the included video.

  1. Put the nose of your belt through the buckle and wrap the nose of the belt around the upright.

  2. Lean away from the upright. Be sure to lean away so that your hips move away from the rack as well (Figure 1); don’t lean away like you’re trying to avoid a punch (Figure 2).

  3. Twist your body away from the rack. For example, if the nose of the belt came around the right side of your body, twist to your left (Figure 3). This will tighten up the belt.

  4. Put the prong(s) through the appropriate hole(s).

Taking off the belt is much the same as putting it on - wrap the nose around the rack, lean away, twist to loosen, and then remove the prong(s).

Squat Stands vs Squat Racks
If you have a squat stand (free-standing, two uprights) instead of a squat rack (anchored to the floor, four uprights), it may tip toward you when you lean away. This is bad. However, it’s an easy problem to solve. Simply place your foot down on the far side of the floor support, and you’ll be able to keep the squat stand anchored in place.

Secret Weapon
I told you there’s only one way to put on a belt, and this is true . . . mostly. If you’re at a meet, you might not have a squat rack handy when you’re about to step on the competition platform. Oh, you’ll have plenty of racks in the warm-up room, but there will quite possibly be none near the competition platform. Here’s what you do (and again, watch the video above to see this in action):

  1. Put the nose of your belt through the buckle.

  2. Place the pointed end of a screwdriver through one of the holes of the belt (Figure 4).

  3. Grab that end of the screwdriver (don’t impale yourself), and pull back, treating the screwdriver as a lever (Figure 5). This will get the belt as tight as you like.

How Tight Should Your Belt Be?
When you’re new to wearing a lifting belt, it should be uncomfortably tight. If it’s comfortable to wear and easy to wiggle around, it’s merely a fashion accessory. Don’t let your belt be a fashion accessory. With practice, what was uncomfortably tight at the beginning will simply feel correct.

Need to Buy a Belt? Watch This First.
If you’re getting ready to buy a lifting belt, I’d recommend watching the included video here to get a good sense of what to look for when purchasing one. You’ll also find some links below to a few belts we recommend to our members.

Belts
My belt is from Best Belts, and I’d love to recommend them to you, but as of May 2023, they're backlogged and aren't taking orders, so with that in mind, here are a few belt options we often recommend:

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

What’s in Your Gym Bag? A Quick & Dirty Guide to Personal Lifting Gear

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

What gear should you have in your gym bag (or at home) when it’s time to train? Let’s dive in, and we’ll provide plenty of additional resources for each item along the way.

Heads up - the last item in this article is the most important, so keep reading.

Lifting Shoes
Lifting shoes have a rigid, non-compressible sole, a slightly elevated heel, and one or two metatarsal straps. They provide an extremely solid base of support and therefore permit efficient force transfer between you and the floor.

Big deal. Big. Huge.

For a more in-depth treatment of lifting shoes and the rationale for using them, click on the article below or watch the included video.

LIFTING SHOES: The Complete Guide to the Best and WORST Shoes! (Lifting Gear Series)

A number of manufacturers make quality lifting shoes - Nike, Do-Win, Inov-8, and Adidas are just a few of the more well-known brands. Below are some of the shoe recommendations and links we usually send to new members as a starting point for shopping:

Note: I would not recommend the Adidas Powerlift or any other lifting shoe with a compressed foam sole. The Powerlift is fairly popular due to its price point and is certainly still better than non-lifting shoe options, but the sole is not as rigid as we’d like, and quite simply, there are better options (such as its sibling, the Adidas Adipower 3).

A final note - Chuck Taylors are not lifting shoes. They are squishy and therefore provide lousy force transfer between you and the floor. Walk in Chucks. Don’t lift in Chucks.

Lifting Belt
A quality lifting belt helps you provide rigidity and stability when lifting. As a result, it allows you to have efficient force transfer from the things generating force in a given lift all the way to the barbell - e.g., transferring force from the hips and the legs in the squat through your rigid midsection (i.e., trunk) up to the barbell sitting on your back.

Some people can use a belt with a 4” width, and some people need a 3” belt (or even a 2.5” belt). For more information on belt widths as well as everything else belt-related, check out the article below or watch the included video.

LIFTING BELTS: The Complete Guide and What NOT to Get! (Lifting Gear Series)

A quality belt will last years - possibly your entire training career - so invest in a good one. With this in mind, here are a few belt options we typically recommend:

Knee Sleeves
Most people will come to appreciate and benefit from knee sleeves at some point in their lifting careers. They provide warmth and compression to the knees (specifically for squatting), and your knees will probably appreciate this greatly.

Sleeves are typically made of neoprene and most often come in 5 mm or 7 mm thicknesses. Skip the 5 mm option and go with the 7 mm sleeves.

For a more in-depth treatment on knee sleeves, check out the article below or watch the included video.

KNEE SLEEVES: The Complete Guide and the BEST Way to Put Them On (Lifting Gear Series)

Below are a few solid options for sleeves that we commonly recommend to our members:

Wrist Wraps
Wrist wraps (or simply “wraps”) provide support for your wrists, come in pairs, and each wrap typically includes a thumb loop at one end, the elastic body of the wrap, and then a velcro closure system at the other end of the wrap.

Since wraps provide stability to the wrist joint, they are very useful for pressing movements (e.g., press and bench press) and are also sometimes used when snatching, cleaning, or jerking.

For more information on wrist wraps, check out the article below or watch the included video.

WRIST WRAPS: The Complete Guide and How NOT to Put Them On! (Lifting Gear Series)

18” and 24” are the most common lengths, and here are some solid options:

Lifting Straps
Straps (not to be confused with wraps) are very useful for pulling movements such as deadlifts, rows, and possibly even snatches (don’t ever use them for cleans - it’s a good way to break a wrist).

When you start training, perform all of your deadlift work sets with either a hook grip or a mixed grip (and chalk, of course). Over time, however, you’ll find that straps can be a useful tool when training the pulls.

You can easily make your own straps in about 2 minutes, and we cover that in the video below (these are the straps that I use and that we make for our members).

If you prefer to buy your straps instead of making them yourself, IronMind provides some good options:

Here’s a quick video that covers how to use straps:

A final note on straps - don’t purchase or use cloth straps. They will eventually tear, and it will inevitably happen at a very unfortunate moment.

Fractional Plates
You’ll want to make smaller jumps on the press and the bench press over time, i.e., smaller than the typical 5 lb jump permitted by two 2.5 lb plates. Females and older lifters will also want to make smaller jumps on the squat and deadlift, and such increments are also useful for the Olympic lifts. 

With this in mind, get yourself a set of fractional plates. We cover this more in the video below:

We have several sets of the 44Sport fractional plates (click here) at Testify, and they are used daily. They are a solid option, but there are many other choices out there as well.

Chalk
If you train, use chalk. Chalk absorbs the natural moisture and oils of your hands (and that of whatever doofus used the bar before you at the commercial gym) so that you have better friction - much better friction - between you and the barbell.

If you deadlift without chalk, stop kidding yourself. You’re not training - you’re just wasting time in the gym.

If your gym doesn’t provide chalk, bring your own. If your gym doesn’t allow chalk, sneak it in anyway or find another gym. It’s that important. The difference between chalk and no-chalk on your deadlift may well be over 100 lb.

We use Spider Chalk (click here) at Testify as the blocks are very dense and remain intact longer than other brands. If you need to be sneaky about your chalk use, I’d recommend liquid chalk (click here).

Training Log
Your training log is your most important piece of equipment.

Everything else - shoes, belt, wraps, barbell, etc. - can be replaced, but your training log contains your personal training history. It’s the one thing that can’t be replaced.

Because your log contains your history and thus where you’ve been (in the training sense), it’s also the guide to where you want to go.

A simple composition notebook will serve you very well (click here), and below are two articles and a video to get you started on properly keeping a training log.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

How to Deadlift Correctly in 1 Minute (EASY to Learn)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Learn correct technique for the deadlift in 60 seconds. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers how to deadlift safely, effectively, and efficiently.

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

How to EASILY Put on Your Lifting Belt (the 2 simple tips that change everything...)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Do you struggle to put your lifting belt on correctly and easily? Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers gives you two quick tips to make your life easier.

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

NEVER Make This Belt Mistake Again! (fast fix)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Don’t make this mistake with your belt. For that matter, don’t make this mistake with your wrist wraps, either.

What error is this, you say? We’re talking about the simple mistake of forgetting to use your belt or your wrist wraps when training.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Self, how could I possibly forget my exquisitely crafted lifting belt or my amazing wrist wraps?” And yet, if it hasn’t happened to you already, rest assured - it will. At some point, you’ll finish a set (either a work set or a heavy warm-up set), you’ll sit down, and you’ll think, “Man, that was much harder than I expected it to be!”

Then, you’ll glance around and realize, “Oh. There’s my belt - I forgot to wear it.”

With this in mind, how can you make sure that you remember your belt (or your wraps) for your next set?

You’ll never forget your belt and wraps again.

The solution is extraordinarily simple - when you complete a set, remove your belt as usual and hang it right over your barbell. You can do the same with your wrist wraps as well. The next time you approach the bar to lift, you won’t forget to use your belt and wraps since you’ll see them as you approach the bar, and you’ll have to move them out of the way to use the bar. 

It’s a simple, effective, and efficient tactic, and as always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

I Forgot My Belt! (Simple Lifting Trick)

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 01/08/20)

Do you ever forget to put your belt on for your heavier sets? Perhaps you forget to wear your wrist wraps every once in a while?

Problem solved

These types of situations tend to occur more often when you’re a newer lifter, but even an experienced lifter can forget a belt or wrist wraps every now and then.

If you find yourself in one of the above situations from time to time, try this: hang your belt and wrist wraps on your barbell between sets.

By doing so, you’ll be forced to grab them before starting your next set, and the problem is solved. The next time you lift, give it a try. Hope this helps!

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?