Wearing a belt for heavy bench

Just curious…how many of you wear your belt for heavy bench press? If you do wear your belt, in what way do you think it helps you?

I honestly do not use a belt when I bench. I think part of the problem is that I use a lever belt currently and although it fits snug during squats and deads, when I’m lying down, the belt is too loose for me to really use it effectively. I have in the past used a belt (prong) that was tightened enough to be useful and I still didn’t seem to notice much difference but it may also have been that I did not use it often enough to give it fair judgment.

I do it. I think it’s mostly a confidence booster. It’s a real struggle to get the belt tight enough while standing up to really compress all my bulk when I’m lying down. If I had a good workout partner they could help me tighten up after I lay on the bench I guess.

I like a little ritual and tension to get hyped up for a big lift.

I use a belt when benching. Like the other lifts, I think it helps to just get as tight as possible.

I don’t use one. I suspect someday I will, but it will probably have to be thinner than my DL/Squat/Press belt.

I definitely use one. It helps to get tight and hold the arch better, which stablizes the upper back on the bench. I can tell a big difference with and without it now, but it took time to get there.

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What Euby said.

What Euby and Brian said. Except, I felt a difference the first time I used it on the bench.

Thanks for the comments.

Nah, and honestly, I felt sort of douchey when I tried it. It’s not like I’m benching 400+ lbs and I’ve benched 320 lbs. without a belt so why use one? I’m doing fine without it. That’s not to say it’s useless or that people shouldn’t use a belt during bench presses but IMO it’s not needed at all and I think people should get to a decent max without it first. Then again, I’m going through a beltless training phase right now. I feel like people can use belts as a crutch . . . because I started to do that. The difference between my squatting strength with a belt and without a belt was large and that made me feel uncomfortable so I’m ditching the belt for a while.

Incline, sometimes. If I think of it.
Elbow sleeves are a far better placebo.

It’s not necessarily that I think I can bench more weight with the belt, at least not much more. I do feel more tight and secure in the lift, and when pushing a 1@8 or a 1RM it makes a difference to me.