Quote Originally Posted by Mr.B
Belts are a bad idea. I see lots of people using them but if you think about what the belt is for, it's just a bad idea.

A belt is there to support the muscles of the trunk to make sure you don't hurt yourself when you're lifting more weight then your midsection can properly control.... MORE WEIGHT THAN YOUR MIDSECTION CAN PROPERLY CONTROL... doesn't that send up a red flag? In essence, what a weight belt does is train you to hurt yourself. One day, you'll need to use the muscles you spent so many hours developing and you're gonna rip your torso in half because you've provided a "crutch" for the muscles in your lower back and abdomen for years all the while, building up legs that can support far more weight than you should ever handle safely. What's the point of a squat? To get stronger and develop functional strength? Or to see how much weight you can pick up? If your only goal is to squat more than anyone else, a belt may help you do that. But I don't know anyone who is in the gym for the sake of being able to squat a specific number of lbs.

And finally....

Quote Originally Posted by Joe_Ice
My max squat is 465 Lbs and I can rep 415 for 6
And you call yourself a weight lifter. :
If you can use a belt use a belt. It's there for safety. It'll also help get your technique right. if you have bad style and your not using a belt you could seriously damage your vertabre. Seriously your spine could comke out of your back. Using a belt will NOT stop your back muscles working.

The belt will make sure you are lifting the weight with the muscle and not the spine.