Belts and Straps?

[Gordion]

What's the general consensus on belts and straps? How well does training with a belt carry over to testing without a belt?

Let's say you always train squats with a belt, test without, and hit 300lbs max. If you repeated the scenario but trained squats belt-less, would your end max be lower? Would you get stronger overall because you're lifting more with a belt?

[Barkadion]

I bet this is going to be very personal thread and you will get very different responds.

Apart from goal driven approach.. I hate belts and straps personally. Just not my cup of tea. And I don't see any reason introducing it into the mix. Get yourself good grip routine and mind your technique and you won't need that. Well.. my training goals are very basic and general.

It also can be dangerous. I saw guys being drugged by bar with rich straps and poor DL technique.

And it might be completely different for you if you are training for different reasons (PL meet, yada yada yada)...

[RugbyGuy]

I wear a belt when I get to 85% or higher on squats and deadlifts because I can feel myself bracing much better. I don't use straps unless I'm doing rows, or high rep deadlifts. But, YMMV.

[Green2Blue]

I used to be very anti-gear. I'd lift barefoot with no belts, straps, wraps, sleeves, straps, or what have you. If you're truly strong you don't need that stuff right? The older and stronger I get the more I change my mind.

What changed my mind about belts is this article right here.

http://strengtheory.com/the-belt-bible/

I'm still very anti-strap though. There's no excuse for it in my opinion (that's all this one is, opinion). If your grip is your weak point you need to strengthen your grip.

[J-Madd]

Great article G2B. That piece and this one have made me rethink my late aversion to belts:

http://startingstrength.com/article/the ... e_deadlift

[grouchyjarhead]

I use a belt for my work sets. No straps or wraps otherwise.

[mikhou]

I'm with RugbyGuy. I use a belt when I get over 85% on squats, but I use a belt for all of my deadlift work sets. The reason for this is that I've only started using a belt in the last few months after tweaking my lower back on a deadlift. Just having the belt reminds me to brace my abs. I don't think that the belt itself is necessary for my lower back, but the reminder to brace was very important to me as I "rebuilt" my deadlift.

I don't use straps. I will use a mixed grip on deadlifts, but if I can't hold onto it then I probably shouldn't be deadlifting it. (Take this for what it's worth because my deadlift is not that high.)

[WallBilly]

I use a belt on my last warm-up set and the work sets of squats and deads. Rippetoe was the reason. Not just the article that J-Madd referenced, but also his arguments in the Starting Strength book.

Straps . . . OK, I'll open the can of worms.

I get the "work on your damned grip strength!" comments. Sure, I'd like to be able to deadlift without straps. But . . .

If I'm pulling X pounds, and my grip starts to go, but the rest of me can handle 50 pounds more than X, or 5 more reps with X, I feel like I'm cheating myself. So I go strapless until the work sets, then I use them, and I don't feel guilty about it. Deads are a full-body exercise, not a grip strength exercise.

My grip strength has improved because of the au naturel warm-up sets.

[grouchyjarhead]

I always did double overhand on my warm up sets until I had to switch to a mixed grip. Between those and farmer's walks, I never lost a deadlift with a barbell due to my grip and my best pull was 545 @ 181. Farmer's walks are still an undervalued exercise in my opinion.

[J-Madd]

I always did double overhand on my warm up sets until I had to switch to a mixed grip. Between those and farmer's walks, I never lost a deadlift with a barbell due to my grip and my best pull was 545 @ 181. Farmer's walks are still an undervalued exercise in my opinion.

This is exactly how I've proceeded (and our ultimate numbers are very close too!). Anytime I've ever tried straps on a DL type movement, I have felt like my hands wore going to be torn from my wrists.