Newb questions. about power equipment

[OldManStrength]

How about the cool looking shoes I see people wearing. some sites have slippers for Dead lifting. ? I just use regular running or cross trainers when I lift.

Are the special shoes, or slippers required by power Lifting orgs.?

 

[BrotherIron]

I'm not a pl, rarely lift over a hundred pounds. For what it's worth though. I wear both a lever belt and the EFS knee sleeves. They have both a "heavy" and a "super heavy" sleeve. I like the lever belt because I can get it a little bit tighter than the buckle by myself. The problem, I'm on my third lever in two years. The metal keeps breaking.

You can order another buckle from liftinglarge.com. A quality buckle will cost you 40 bucks or thereabouts but then you don't have t replace the entire belt. I wear a toro lever and I replaced the buckle after the 1st year wearing it b/c the buckle broke. The new buckle on it has lasted over 4 years.

 

[monsoon]

Yes, I've bought two replacement buckles already. Third one is not chromed which I hope will make it a little tougher

 

[BrotherIron]

How about the cool looking shoes I see people wearing. some sites have slippers for Dead lifting. ? I just use regular running or cross trainers when I lift.

Are the special shoes, or slippers required by power Lifting orgs.?

Never wear running shoes. The soles don't deform/compress evenly and therefore will/can cause knee problems. Chucks at a minimum when you squat and OHP. You can pull in socks but if you plan on doing a meet, yes you'd need to buy a pair of DL slippers or wrestling shoes.

 

[Ramrod]

A Belt, Chalk, Wrist and Knee wraps is all you truly need.

If you buy a Belt. go with a 13mm Prong Belt. A good one will last you for ever. Pioneer Fitness and Belt Belt have nice ones. I have a belt from both. I have also had a 10mm Lever belt. Broke one lever and stripped the thread on 2nd lever... SOLD the belt.

 

[porky little keg]

A belt should be a 10-20 year investment. Wait the 6 weeks...... or, go EliteFTS if you need something now. Their service is way better than Inzer's.

For shoes it depends what you like, but never a soft running shoe. I prefer a flatter shoe and do really well in a pair of high top DCs. Lots of guys wear chucks or PF Flyers. Plenty of big squats done in flat soled Adidas too... if you want a heel check out some of the solid sole crossfit shoes or a dedicated Oly lifting shoe. All that softness in a running shoe is just instability and liability under weight.

The biggest thing to keep in mind though comes from Louie Simmons " Don't have a 10 cent squat and $100 shoes" ...... get the basic gear you need and spend a few years putting in work before you start to worry about anything. Getting 5% better wraps or shoes doesn't mean much when you're just starting out. Invest in decent gear and leave it alone.

 

[OldManStrength]

Thank you all for the input, so I pulled the trigger on a RDX 10mil lever belt. will be here Tuesday. My thinking I can beat the crap out of it for the next year, and if I make it to a PL meet, next spring, Ill invest in an approved belt at that time.I got a compresion cuff for my left elbow, and some chalk...

I would rather put the money into food for me for the next few week, than an expensive belt right now.

 

[The_Northman1522]

Ok fellas... so I was watching George Leeman pull 800lbs for 8 reps on the tube... as I'm watching this first thing is holly shit, that man is a beast. Then I started thinking....

Why does he place his weight belt up around his sternum. Or what looks like his upper abs. ? What am I missing, or is this a new fad? His preference? is there something I don't know about?

Second is the shorts suit he is wearing. I have seen a lot of power lifters use these. Do they help with the lifts in anyway. ? Help support stuff..? or just another fashion statement.? I have been lifting all these years with out the cool shorts suit thing.

Then the question hit me, should I get me one of these fancy suits to dead lift and squat in? .... and should i be wearing my lifting belt up above my stomach muscles.?

Thanks for the input... guy...

He has a spor hernia on his upper abs. It's to keep it from blasting out.

Rangers lead the way