Belt made my deadlift feel worse; belt problem or form pro

sanguine

New member
Hello, today I used my thick Spud Inc belt during squats and deadlifts. Squatting with it felt pretty intuitive and normal, but it made my deadlifts feel awkward, like I couldnt use the movement pattern I typically use or something. I actually rocked forward onto the balls of my feet and had my heels come off the ground for a quick moment, so I decided to back off the belted deadlifts and examine things closer.

Is this difficulty revealing some sort of problem with my deadlift form? Maybe I am used to rounding my back at the bottom of the lift, and the belt is preventing this mistake, thus throwing me out of my habituated pattern? Im pretty sure the belt I bought was in fact marketed as a deadlift belt, so it seems odd that it felt good on squats but so awkward during deads.

But at the same time, elitefts.com sells a belt that is half as thick as thier normal belt, and the website says that being thinner makes it better for deadlifts. This Spud inc belt I have is very thick and just seemed to be getting in the way/preventing me from moving through the range of motion im accustomed to, as mentioned above.

So in short, my question: Is my deadlift wrong or is the belt wrong for me?
 
We can't tell you if your deadlift form is bad without seeing it. Do you pull conventional or sumo? Some people have issues conventional with it.
 
Yeah I was doing conventional style, didnt try sumo with the belt; I guess thats reassuring that some other people have had issues doing conventional with a belt. I was mostly just wondering if that was a common finding upon trying to use a belt.

I was worried that the belt was showing me that Ive been putting too much lower back muscles into it and not enough glute/hip strength. Seems like a big belt could inhibit some of that lower back flexion, which I suppose is technically a good thing? Just feels difficult if its not what your used to.

Also, it makes sense that sumo would be easier with it, as it involves a much more erect torso right? Does sumo allow people to pull more weight?
 
sanguine said:
Also, it makes sense that sumo would be easier with it, as it involves a much more erect torso right? Does sumo allow people to pull more weight?
Click to expand...

That more depends on your build and your leverages.
Generally, if you are built or better at squatting, a sumo stance can be perhaps more beneficial since you use the legs a bit more. Conventional pulling has more lower back involvement since you are not as upright.

I never or rarely use a belt to conventional DL. I have tried them, but they just don't feel right and seem limiting to me in some sense and they don't give me much more anyway.
I have not tried that many, (wide, narrow, wearing higher etc) but I seem to do okay without using one.
As Sean said, without a vid or seeing your pulling form, it is hard to say what is happening, or how your form fares using or not using a belt.
 
a belt alters a small degree how you lift. it will take a bit of time to get used to it. and put it on early while warming up so the heavy weights dont throw you off as much.
 
Could also be belt and torso size. I couldn't conventional pull in my economy belt to save my life. I have a 10mm APT belt and I can deadlift in it fine. It can be a bitch to get low if the belt is too big.

Once again, all speculation without a vid. Just a thought.
 
Personally, I deadlift with a conventional stance, and I don't use a belt for the aforementioned reasons. Most people who do use a belt opt for a much thinner sized belt. For an example from a pro, see how Stan uses a different belt from his squats for his deadlift. Invalid Link Removed
 
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