A week ago I would have said no; however, I just hurt myself for the first time so I'm going to change my opinion. You have to take some things into consideration...
1) The weight you lift - Our bodies are only made to handle so much, and that goes double for things such as our wrists, lower back, knees, and grip. - We use straps so we can handle the weight we need to lift to stimulate our muscle fibers. When you're doing shrugs, you have to realize our hands weren't meant to hold 400+ pounds from a hanging bar.
2) Is it normal for a man to have 400+ lbs laying across his back? No. Sooner or later, as you increase the weight, you're going to get hurt if you don't protect your back.
There is not a single powerlifter I have ever seen that doesn't wear support when they're in competition lifting 800lbs+.
You need to take care of your joints, back, tendons, wrists, etc. - I say wrap them and strap them when working with heavy weight. Obviously it's not necessary for less weight, but it's important to take care of yourself.
I look around my gym, and all the big, old dudes in great shape take care of themselves...to me, it just kind of makes sense. I wish I was smarter. I've been out of the gym for a week now with a hurt back, and it's going to take at least another week to heal, I think. I will be wearing a belt from now on.
