Originally Posted by hannukah harry

yeah, powerlifters do it. but if you watch them lift, you'll also usually see that they're breathing properly when they're doing it. if you're just lifting weights for health or body building, then there's no reason that you would even really need a weight belt unless you've got a bad back when you start.

you're trying to use a small subset of weight lifting to validate your point, but it (your point on breathing) doesn't really hold true even for them. not only that, but weight belts are only really used for exercises like squats where your back needs stabilization. you don't need one when you bench press or curl, when you do leg extentions or hamstring curls. it could be argued whether their necessary for leg presses.