Tapered belts

[augeleven]

So my belt is the pioneer training belt that maxbarbell sells.
https://www.maxbarbell.com/collections/ ... lt-treated

When I bought it, I thought it was still a "powerlifting belt" but with a smallish taper, as opposed to the weightlifting belts I've seen that are like 6" in the back and 3" in the front.

I don't have mine in front of me, but I think it is 4'' for most of the belt and 3" in the front. I'm never in a rush to spend money, but am I wasting my time/life/vital lifting essence with this belt?

[Hanley]

but am I wasting my time/life/vital lifting essence with this belt?

No. Tapered belts are much nicer for pulls.

[Cody]

I don't care for tapered belts.

[Skid]

I use a 13mm SBD lever belt and the only thing I don't like about it, or any other lever belt, is that the excess belt is on the inside vs the outside like with a prong belt. At the end of the belt there is an abrupt difference of 1/2 inch that can be slightly uncomfortable depending where it sits. I don't know why that part of the belt isn't tapered down at least in 1/2.

[LexAnderson]

I don't mind a tapered belt for pulling, I have a 3in belt for pulling and love it.

[vanslix]

I have a 3in belt for pulling and love it.

I love my 3in belt, too.

[mgil]

I use a 13mm SBD lever belt and the only thing I don't like about it, or any other lever belt, is that the excess belt is on the inside vs the outside like with a prong belt. At the end of the belt there is an abrupt difference of 1/2 inch that can be slightly uncomfortable depending where it sits. I don't know why that part of the belt isn't tapered down at least in 1/2.

I think Pioneer will thin the end of the belt on request based on feedback Matt got from Chris Duffin.

[topfen]

I am thinking about buying a 3-3.5" tapered one too, as I cannot get a sub 4" belt locally. I know that is going to be beneficial for deadlifting and cleaning as it is, being part of the no torso crew. Possibly for rowing, too.

Are tapered belts useless for squats and presses?

Some weightlifters do some of their strength work at my gym and they seem to do just fine with tapered belts on heavy squats and strict presses.

[Hanley]

Are tapered belts useless for squats and presses?

They're perfectly fine. I'd certainly rather squat and press in a 3-4" taper than a uniformly wide 3".

[augeleven]

I measured the front part of the taper as 2.5” Last night I did one of my squat sets with my tapered belt backwards, so that I had the 4” in the front to push against. Big difference!
I may wait until Christmas, or I may reward myself with a new belt if I slim down to the point where I run out of holes.

[augeleven]

No, but it was a bit of a struggle getting it off.
I don’t think i’ll do it all the time. My diy (read: cheapskate) brain is wondering what I could use to tuck underneath the belt that would approximate the nontapered width. Probably a bad idea though, although that generally doesn’t stop me from trying something.

I like the idea of going to a big box store and trying out their cheap version of a belt for fit, then getting the real deal from a reputable maker

[OCG]

The 6.5mm plain 4" that Pioneer sells is also great for pulling (and benching). It has a bit of give and stretch to it and it's thin enough it doesn't get in the way.

A 6" tapered to 3" would also probably not be that hard for Matt to do, considering he already has 3" buckles on hand. Shit, now I want to try one.