Where to put powerlifting belt

It mainly matters where it makes you feel strongest. You can wear it higher for deadlifts and for squats usually lower works better. If you are smaller try to get a 3’’ belt instead of one of the broader ones.

What is your why

Before we go into the details of where to put your powerlifting belt, let me ask you a couple of questions:

Why do you want to powerlift
Why do you want to get stronger
What happens when you do
What happens if you don’t

These questions will decide between your success and failure. Research shows that people who write down their goals and reflect on them are more likely to achieve them. So sit down and get it done. Many people think about their lives like this:

What do I want
How do I get it
Why do I want it

This is a good road to travel to insanity. What you want changes hundreds of times a day. If you make this the center of attention you will run in a hundred directions and arrive nowhere. Your resources will be spread thin and time scattered between too many activities. Something interesting happens when you flip these questions on their head:

Why do you want something
How do you get it
What needs to be done

This way your innermost desires will be at the center of your thoughts and actions. Your plans will become more cohesive and easier to execute. Success will be the logical outcome. If you want to know how this works on a psychological level read Daniel Kahneman's thinking fast and slow. Simon Sinek's TED talk on the golden circle will change your life.

Why to wear a belt

Wearing a belt does support your spine and makes it easier to build tension in your midsection. This especially helps for the squat and deadlift to lift more weight.

Belts have gone through many alterations in the sports of powerlifting and weightlifting. Without a belt, you will not perform your best in powerlifting.

Be careful to not overdo it. You also want to train without a belt to build the necessary core strength and stability. Otherwise a hernia can become more likely to happen.

Just at the Rips

One option to wear your belt is to wear it just below the rips. This is the high variation of wearing a belt. This option is popular for deadlifts as these sometimes can be strenuous on the belly region when the belt is too tight.

The downside of this version is that you do not get a lot of support for your lower back. Wearing the belt higher is often combined with sumo deadlifts.

Right in the middle

This is the easiest spot to wear it and most intuitive. This is also where most people where their belt. Just put it on and roll. Where it first lands is probably the middle of the road solution for you.

This version has the pro of mainly being the most comfortable and leaving the least amount of marks. The con is that it can get uncomfortable on a heavy deadlift. It can also get in the way of your sumo pulls.

Just above the hip bone

Depending on how you are built you might want to wear the belt low, just above the hip bone.

The advantage of wearing it there is that you get maximum lower back support. The biggest con is that the skin between the belt and hip bone can get pinched. This usually leaves bruises.