“Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”
When I first moved to Wichita Falls, I weighed 195 pounds. I began the linear progression, and ate a lot of food. I ate six eggs every morning, beef quesadillas, a gallon of milk a day, and lots of other stuff. For two or three months I ate those six eggs. It started to get monotonous, so I started trying to put things on them to mask the taste. I tried at least five different kinds of salsa. All were good (I’m in Texas, after all), but each one would turn bland after the second bottle.
It wasn’t long before I started to loathe eggs. It became a struggle to wolf them down every morning. Soon, I hated them. Despised them. I couldn’t have them in my mouth because trying to swallow them nearly produced a gag reflex. That was the damndest thing ever; I had been eating at least three or four eggs every day for the past three years, and now they were suddenly becoming grotesque.
This has happened periodically with food throughout this year. It’s natural to start disliking something because it is repetitive and monotonous. In fact, my friends Chris and AC have both become jaded with eggs too. In my case, I had to start eating something else. For a while I just ate cheeseburger patties for breakfast (with barbecue sauce). I started eating eggs again a few months later, but always with bacon.
Weird set backs are going to happen when you are strength training. You might start hating food that you have always loved. Whatever. Just make a change and keep eating.
Josh refuses to get off the scale until it goes up. Randy didn’t have the heart to tell him he was already holding the bag.
Oh, and just so you guys know, my abs are still sore (on Sunday) from front squatting and rack pulls on Friday night. With my belt. Because it makes my abs go to sleep.
“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.”
–Douglas Adams
Like every Friday, it is PR Friday. Post this week’s PR’s to the comments. Remember that you can PR in lifting, eating, and gaining bodyweight. I clean and jerked 155 kg for the first time on Monday and squatted 465x5x3 on Tuesday. My program needs to be carefully tweaked because I am wandering into the realm of a slight overtraining. I snatched 120 (previous meet PR) Thursday on a very tired back and set of shoulders. Those body parts didn’t have any steam, and I missed 125 twice.
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Yesterday I talked about what goes on physiologically when a belt is worn during lifting. This process is very different than wearing other gear, like a squat suit or knee wraps. The suit and/or wraps aid the movement of a particular joint while the belt improves the stability and strength of the trunk. This is a very important distinction, and is the reason why powerlifting is separated into raw and equipped divisions and/or federations.
Before addressing other belt related topics, I want to make a bold, clarifying statement. If your goal is to get stronger (and you have been lifting longer than two months) and you refuse to wear a belt, you are a fucking idiot. I’m sorry I’m not sorry. Look, not only are the abdominals working harder, but the pressure is increased within the trunk which stabilizes and strengthens the spine. This makes you stronger, and it is usable strength. The first time someone wears their belt in a serious training session (especially when pressing and deadlifting), their abs get sore. Not to mention the work sets are handled easier than without the belt. The belt is not something that you use to “bust out of a training rut”, it is a tool that you use to get stronger, and if you aren’t wearing one, then you aren’t serious about your training.
What kind of belt should I use?
When you are experienced wearing belts, you will probably use a different belt depending on the exercise. However, in general, your belt will have the same width all the way around since the most important articulation with your body happens in the front on the abdominals. Most of us will use belts that are four inches wide, yet some of you with short torsos will need to have three inch belts (you will know this if the four inch belt is jabbing into your lower rib(s)). If a belt is more narrow in the front than in the back, then (as Rippetoe famously said in his book) the manufacturers don’t know how the belt works.
If you are in the market for a belt, then check out EliteFTS. I don’t have any kind of monetary relationship with EliteFTS (shit, I don’t get paid to type anything), nor have I ever met Dave Tate or Jim Wendler (although I hear they are good guys from close friends), but they have really fucking good products, especially the belts.
I use one of the Retro Series Power Belts that Rip gave to me. I love it. Every PR I have had in the squat and press occurred with that belt around my waist (notables are pressing 205x5x5, squatting 500 for 5 singles, squatting 485×5, and squatting 465x5x3 in the linear progression). The Retro Series is 10 to 11 mm thick, which is thinner than the Power Belt that is between 12 and 13 mm. Both style of belts are completely customizable; length, thickness (depending on the series), one or two prongs, and color. All of the belts are high quality suede with smooth roller buckles — I couldn’t comprehend any other brand of belt being better than the EFS line.
The only drawback with these belts (including the Retro series), is that they may be a bit thick for some people to get in a good pulling position with. In such a case, you could always use a thinner leather belt (pictured below). A suede or leather belt is probably too big to use for the Olympic lifts and we (at the WFAC) like to use regular velcro belts (pictured below). The brand is Harbinger and they are sold here in town at Academy Sports.
L to R: suede, velcro, and leather belts
Pictured above are the belts that I will use depending on what lift I am doing. The suede belt is and EFS Retro Series suede belt that I squat and press in. The one in the middle is the velcro belt that I use when I clean and jerk (it’s actually Rip’s belt), and the one on the right is one of the many leather belts hanging on the wall in the gym that I will use when I am pulling (rack pull, haltings, deadlift etc.).
How do I learn how to wear a belt and where is it worn?
A belt should be worn on the last few warm-up sets before the work set(s), and it is best to learn how to wear one while squatting first. If it is thrown on at the work set, the body won’t be used to it being there and it will probably feel a bit weird (especially if it is your first time). When you are on your last couple warm-up sets, put the belt on so that it sits above your anterior superior iliac spine, or your hip bone. The top of the belt should not press against the last rib; I have seen someone bust up their costal cartilage wearing it here.
Tighten the belt so that it is moderately tight. Note that this does not read “as tight as you can fucking make it”. Just tight enough so that your abs press into it a bit. Do the warm-up set as normal. If the belt is sliding around during the set, then it is probably too loose. When you get to your work set, you may opt to keep it at the same hole, or you may want to tighten it by one more hole. The main consideration is that you don’t want to wear the belt too tight. If you have to “squeeze up” into the belt, then it is too tight and this will be counter-productive for the set. However, you may have to use an external object to help you tighten the belt appropriately; we use the edge of our power racks to hold the end of the belt against with our hands as we turn our bodies to the side — most people do this.
The more you wear the belt, the more you understand how tight you need it to be. If you slip your fingers into the crease between the upper portion of the belt and your abdominals, then it should be snug. If you can’t even get your fingers in the crease, then it is probably too tight. I keep trying to clarify belt tightness because I know some of you are going to freak out and not know if you have the belt on correctly. Trust me, you’ll figure it out over time. As a general rule, a more experienced belt wearer can wear their belt tighter, and they will intuitively know what is “too tight”.
The belt is worn in the same place for the squat and press, yet the deadlift may dictate a different placement. Rip likes to wear a thinner belt (like the leather one pictured above) lower in the front and higher in the back. I will have AC and Chris comment on how they like to wear their belts since Chris can deadlift over 600 and AC pulled 569 at his meet a few weeks ago. When I clean and jerk, I wear the velcro belt in the same way that I wear the suede belt for squatting/pressing. I can’t wear a belt when I snatch, because the bar routinely hits the belt after I hit my belly in the jump (I have a pretty vertical bar path). I have worn the velcro belt when bench pressing before (because of mild to moderate lumbar issues because of a car accident, it helped my back when I arched it while benching). Typically the belt is tightened when lying down instead of standing up before bench pressing.
I have seen some people (via the interweb) wear their belt higher when pulling. For example, Konstantinovs, who is stronger than three week old piss, wears his belt at the halfway point between his sternum and hip bones. Get experienced with the belt before experimenting like this, because he is obviously a professional.
I have x existing injury, should I be wearing a belt?
Uh, yes. If you have any kind of low back injuries, then you should have started wearing a belt yesterday. The worst case scenario would be a spondylolisthesis. People with this ordeal have the potential to be crippled by back extensions or reverse hypers, but can and should squat and deadlift in order to keep the structures of their spine intact. They absolutely should be wearing a belt since we learned yesterday how it supports and strengthens the spine. I have worked with many people that have had bulging discs (I think I have one in my neck) in their lumbar spine, and it would behoove these people to get their low back strong by squatting and deadlifting — with a belt of course.
Most of this information is available in Starting Strength. I learned how to wear a belt from Rip, and have taught many people to do so based on that lesson as well as my experiences. I am sure that there may be some differences in powerlifting or strongman competitions, and I admit that I am inexperienced in these matters. However, for general strength training purposes, the belt will be worn as described here.
Here is a video of Konstantinovs pulling 939 completely raw. Ask him if he could have gotten that strong without wearing a belt.
If I had to guess, there has been a sharp increase in the number of people that strength train in the past few years. The majority of these people have limited experience with getting stronger. Compound this with all of the new experts in the “functional fitness” community, and you have a lot of misconception on what methods, exercises, and equipment would best be used to get stronger. One of the more irritating topics is whether or not to wear a belt.
It is basic knowledge among strong people that a belt makes you stronger, but the exact mechanism that accomplishes this is not well known. However, the “functional fitness” community likes to make outrageous claims and fairy tails to not wear a belt. We won’t be addressing any of them here; it isn’t worth acknowledging illogical rubbish.
To understand why a belt works, we must understand what is occurring physiologically during a heavy lift. If you have been taught correctly, then you already take a big, deep breath and hold it throughout the lift. This big breath of air increases the intra-thoracic pressure and subsequently the intra-abdominal pressure. This pressure acts like a pneumatic brace against the anterior portion of the spine while the erectors of the back brace it from the posterior. This increases the support of the spine, and more support means more strength.
The belt’s purpose is to constrict the abdominals to give them something to contract against. This contraction of the abdominals with an appropriately tightened belt is like trying to increase the volume in a non-expansible container — it increases the pressure even more. Not only is it helping to increase the intra-abdominal and thoracic pressure more than without the belt, but the abdominals also contract harder into the belt to do so. More pressure is more support which means more strength to do the task at hand.
You can see Mark Dimiduk’s abs bulging into his belt here
The belt will allow heavier weights to be handled, and then heavier weights can be handled un-belted too — more than if you had not worn the belt to begin with. In other words, it makes you stronger whether you want to believe it or not. If a lifter chooses not to wear a belt while knowing this, then they are choosing to not allow their trunk to become as strong as it could. In other words, anybody who is serious about getting stronger will wear one.
I was having this conversation with two lifters at the gym yesterday, and after explaining the belt’s purpose, I said, “So, just wear the fucking belt, ok? Please?” It would be silly not to (especially because our gym has lots of them hanging on the wall).
Tomorrow we will talk about where to buy belts, what to look for, and how to learn how to start wearing one on your own.
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Here is a flashback video from a few months ago. Rip tells a pretty cool story about 70’s Big co-captain, Doug Young.
“Damn it man, I’m trying to save an innocent life!”
“I love ya, always have.”
Dude – killer website. I enjoy all the humor and content…great for motivation on slow days.
I do have a question though: I’ve always had really bad knees. My father and grandfather have both had knee surgery to repair bad knees. After trying crossfit and barely being able to walk after some wods (double unders, box jumps, etc really kill the knees), I went to the doc to get x-rays, and I pretty much have no cartilage in my knee joints and have bad tendinitis of the patellae tendon. I don’t want to give up though as I think building more strength in the hamstrings and quads will really help my knee stability and keep my knees from hurting so bad.
Have you had any clients with issues like this? What type of stretching or exercises would you have them do before or after a squat day to help the knee rehab a bit more and keep them lifting without having to take days off for the knee to recover?
–Joey
I’ve responded to Joey, but I thought the topic was worthy of discussion. Here are a few points.
The fact that Joey’s father and grandfather have bad knees is irrelevant. The development of the skeletal anatomy is primarily dependent on its mechanical environment. This means that it is an individualized thing, and thus the familial problems are coincidental.
Doing a bunch of ridiculous things in a conditioning workout when unadapted can yield some problematic consequences. Be aware of this if you are training/coaching others, or if you are trying stuff out on your own.
A lack of cartilage is not something I would classify in the category “awesome”.
If Joey learns how to squat with the method that we teach, then his pain may go away entirely. The squat, when done correctly, is a knee neutral exercise; the net anterior/posterior force acting on the knee is equal because the hamstrings pull back on the tibia (when hip driving) while the quadriceps pull anteriorly via the patellar tendon, patella, and patellar ligament to extend the knee. All of these structures are strengthened accordingly.
As far as the patellar tendonitis is concerned, it depends on where the tendonitis is. Stretching the quadriceps can help decrease any potential tendonitis above the patella, which is typically a symptom of letting the knees slide forward at the bottom of the squat.
There is a limited amount of information on Joey, but his pain will probably go away if the structures adapt to the strength training. Assuming he has problems six weeks from now, many people have found that heating their knees prior to squatting helps warm them up for the ensuing activity. Many have also found that icing their knees after squatting does not really help much. This is probably due to tendons having poor vascularization, thus their lack of response to ice. But this all depends on what problem a particular person is experiencing.
The best stretches for the quadriceps are any that have the knee in complete flexion while the hip is in extension. Remember, the rectus femoris (one of the quadriceps) crosses both the knee joint and the hip joint. It extends the knee and flexes the hip, so reversing those movements will elongate the muscle belly. You can help extend your hip whether you are standing or kneeling by flexing the gluteals (or ass cheek) on the same side as the quadriceps you are trying to stretch.
While this summary is not comprehensive, hopefully it has helped Joey a little bit, helped anybody else that may have experienced a similar issue, or helped all you healthy people think about the complicated shit that goes on when you train.
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Jim wants to know what you think about his breakfast. So much that he made a video.
I’d probably have some more eggnog and less milk, since it will have some more calories (albeit more filling). It depends on what your body can handle though. Send pictures or videos here. I can’t guarantee they will go up, but I’ll make an effort. The more creative you are, the better the chances.
Thomasz (correct spelling) sent me a picture of his recent grocery rampage. We are going to get accused of leading and feeding a militia.
* – free range
1lb Strip Steak*
1lb Top Round
3lb Flank Steak*
1lb Beef Stew Cubes
2lb Sea Trout
1lb Salmon
3.5lb Ribeye Roast*
4.6lb Sirloin Roast*
9lb Chick Breast
1gal Whole Milk (I’m already 225 so I though I’d only do GOMAD on training days)
2lb Sardines
2lb Pork Loin
Assorted vegetables, and a total of 4lb of almonds, walnuts, and pecans.
Food.
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I was perusing through AC’s Facebook, and decided to show you guys some before and after pictures of his quest to 70’s Big. I did not ask for his permission.
AC (Freddie Mercury?) and Norman before.
Norman and AC after. Moot!
Milk is not just for babies. Or perverts.
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Anybody know a good place to get singlets? I would prefer a red, white, and blue one so I can rock my socks and headband. I may or may not drape an American flag over my shoulders only to have my assistant delicately take it off prior to chalking up.
