Searching For A New Powerlifting Belt

So the search for a new belt to replace my previous competition belt (I bought it at a discount when registering for the MPA competition last November) has begun. The term competition belt itself is a misnomer; I use it for training too (for my last sets of deadlifts/squats/military presses; you're a pussy if you wear it for bicep curls).

And if you really want to wear it doing light stuff, get away from the power racks before weights heavier than your bodyweight are thrown at you.

It's like the difference between a low resolution screen and a Retina (or other synonym) grade screen; you can't go back. With the cheap belts out there, you can make any posture you want and screw up your posture easily during those heavy lifts. Even with the belt that tore apart the other day, the support it gave was not comparable; just by wearing it you'd already have a Valsalva. When bending down, the belt does not yield and will pinch and eat your skin and bruise it up. When doing military presses, you won't hyperextend too much; the belt's too thick and stiff. The safety benefit is too big. And you really want to know more on the details, the best resource is of course EliteFTS.

“If you wear your belt while doing curls, make sure that you’re wearing color coordinated fingerless gloves. Straps are optional for this.”

Do you see the trend there?

Anyways, I'm thinking of competing in an IPF-sanctioned tournament in the future from advice of fellow lifter Kenneth Kaden Chin (being a drug-tested federation is a significant draw). So I've started my search and this came up from a local Malaysian reseller (who apparently even supplies the big commercial gyms too). It looks strong; of course it would as it's Eleiko. Bull effing strong. Can beat and kill a thousand men strong. But then, look at that price. I think my back hurt just seeing the price.

That's like 6 times the price of my previous belt!

I'm definitely gonna try to get in touch with them and see if I can get a special price.

Random Thoughts (10/3/18)

1) I just attended a course on advanced hemodynamic monitoring sponsored by Edwards Lifesciences. It was pretty valuable especially when the ClearSight technology was demonstrated. Seeing accurate beat to beat BP monitoring via a tiny cuff on a finger, with (assumed correct) cardiac output measurements is nothing short of amazing (so are the prices for the technology). This totally changes the game in terms of negating the need for arterial lines, especially if you want that more careful management of awake but not so healthy patients undergoing surgery (they’re not so good for monitoring critically ill patients). But there’s something I wish that the organizers could have done better: when having interactive Q&A sessions, please go through the stuff with the clinical expert beforehand; quite a number of the questions were based on outright wrong assumptions or not relevant to even day-to-day practice (nobody cares if the heart has a high extraction ratio at rest or not; in clinical practice you want to preserve the coronary perfusion pressure regardless). There was a few instances where the clinical expert did not appear amused.

Beat to beat BP, SVRI, CI (and others) with just this

2) I was thinking of writing down ideas on how to move forward with my studying methodology, but I think I'll wait until the FCAI written results come out first. But I have a few ideas and things to focus on.

3) Competition-grade powerlifting belts are wide and thick, to the point whenever I do deadlifts/squats one problem I encounter is that there's some difficulty getting to the bottom position as the belt literally eats into my stomach fat. No worries now, as my stomach clearly won after just 3 months (during 2nd rep of 6 of 180 kg deadlifts):

The stitching actually remained intact!

The belt, costing I think RM 200 in comparison to the cheap RM 70 typical gym belt, completely tore apart in its leather, leaving no room for repairs. Looks like an excuse to upgrade to an IPF-grade belt. If I compete in future in IPF-sactioned events, I get the advantage of avoiding steroid-laden competitors (winners are tested) but no room for weight manipulation (weigh-ins are done immediately pre-competition).

More importantly, I didn't lose focus and lose my back posture when my stomach popped the belt .

4) I really want to work on editing the videos of my win in the Tony Roma's Rib Eating Contest last November, but there's no time then. Now that exams are over I can hopefully edit and publish it (the way I did during the MPA Meet that same month).