Το ακούω πολύ συχνά αυτό; Όμως έχει λογική; Είναι σαν λένε ότι οι κοιλιακοί και οι ραχιαίοι "νεκρώνουν" και παύουν να λειτουργούν ισομετρικά με τη χρήση ζώνης.
Παρακάτω παραθέτω ένα απόσπασμα από το βιβλίο Επιστήμη και Μύθοι για τη Διατροφή και την Άσκηση του Jamie Hale:
"Κάποιοι γυμναστές και προπονητές συμβουλεύουν τους αθλητές τους να μην φοράνε ζώνη λόγω της επίδρασής τους στους μύες του κορμού. Συγκεκριμένα, ισχυρίζονται πως το να φορά κανείς ζώνη μειώνει την δύναμη των κοιλιακών μυών, λόγω της αυξημένης ενδοκοιλιακής πίεσης της ζώνης. Επίσης υπάρχει η πεποίθηση πως αυτό βάζει περισσότερο στρες στους δίσκους της σπονδυλικής στήλης και προωθεί τον τραυματισμό τους.
Σύμφωνα με το βιβλίο του Mell Siff Fact and Fallacies of Fitness (2000), έρευνες που έχουν χρησιμοποιήσει ηλεκτρομυογράφημα και άλλες ειδικές συσκευές, η χρήση της ζώνης μπορεί να προκαλέσει συνθήκες αύξησης, παρά μείωσης της δύναμης των κοιλιακών. Η εξωτερική πίεση που ασκείται στους κοιλιακούς από την ζώνη αυξάνει την πίεση και κατά συνέπεια δυναμώνει τον κορμό.
Συνιστώ την χρήση ζώνης σποραδικά (σε φορτία ανώτερα του 85% του 1RM τις περισσότερες φορές). Μην μάθετε να στηρίζεστε στην ζώνη όμως για να βγάλει εκείνη την δουλειά.
Ξέρω ότι όλοι έχουν δει τύπους που φορούν την ζώνη τους πριν καν μπουν στο γυμναστήριο (ώστε να σιγουρευτούν πως ο κόσμος ξέρει πως κάνουν βάρη και πως δεν μασάνε). Αυτό δείχνει ανοησία εκ μέ-ρους τους και δεν βελτιώνει την δύναμη του κορμού."
Παραθέτω και ένα απόσπασμα από το βιβλίο Starting Strength του Mark Rippetoe σχετικά με τη χρήση ζώνης:
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"Belts
Less obvious is the role of belts and knee wraps. A properly designed and adjusted belt is
useful as a safety device when you're squatting heavy weights. A belt protects the spine by
increasing the amount of pressure that can be applied to it by the muscles that support it. The belt
itself reinforces the "cylinder" of the ab muscles around the spine. At the same time, the belt acts as
a proprioceptive cue for a harder abdominal muscle contraction: you can actually squeeze harder
with a belt on than you can without one, just as you can push harder against a loaded barbell than
you can against a broomstick. This effect ultimately produces both stronger abs, due to the stronger
isometric contraction facilitated by the belt, and a stronger squat, due to the heavier loads made
possible by the more stable spine.
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Increased pressure against the spine is necessary for the safety and efficiency of the lift. The belt facilitates
this increase by providing a platform for proprioceptive feedback for increased abdominal muscle contraction. Pushing
against the resistance of the belt makes for a harder abdominal contraction. And the volumetric containment it provides
allows an increase in pressure in the abdominal and thoracic cavities.
A suit is different in that it actually enables you to lift weights that are heavier than those you
can lift without the suit. With a suit, some of the kinetic energy of the descending, bar-loaded,
eccentric contraction is stored as elastic energy in the suit material and in the compressed skin and
muscle under the suit. That energy is then made available to the lifter as he rebounds up, so the suit
is in fact an artificial aid. It has been argued that the belt is too, but a belt does not function across a
joint going into a sequence of flexion, stretch reflex, and extension, like a suit does. Spinal support
and safety are necessary for our general strength training purposes, while a squat 30% heavier than
that which can be done unaided is not. Leave the squat suit for later, when you're entered in the
meet.
A properly designed belt is the same width, usually 4 inches, all the way around. Many
millions of cheap, junky belts have been produced with 2-inch buckles and fronts, and either 4- or 6-
inch backs. These belts were designed by someone who did not understand how a belt works. For
the belt to function correctly, it must act around the complete circle, and there is no reason for it to be wider in the back than in the front. Four inches is about the widest belt that most people can get
between their ribs and hips. If you're shorter, or short-waisted, you may need to find a 3-inch belt.
Thickness is important in that a very thick, laminated suede belt feels very good under a big weight.
Its almost complete lack of stretch makes for a comfortable ride. Such belts are expensive, though,
and any good single-ply 4-inch leather belt with a good buckle will suffice. Even a well-made
Velcro belt is still better than no belt.
You may not need a belt at all for the early part of your training career, and if your abs are
strong and your back is uninjured, you may prefer to never use one. Very heavy weights have
certainly been lifted without one. This is a judgment call, but it is probably prudent to err on the side
of safety if there is any question at all about it or if you have previously injured your back. When a
belt is used, it should be used judiciously, possibly restricted to the last warm-up set and the work
sets. As a general rule, do not introduce a new variable into the work set - if you're going to wear a
belt in the work set, make sure you use it in the last warm-up set so that your movement pattern will
not be altered or your attention diverted under the heaviest weight of the day.
Using the belt correctly is a matter of practice. It must be worn in the right place at the right
tightness to be effective, and if it's wrong, it can actually screw up the lift it's designed to support.
Put it on around your natural waist (higher than you wear your pants) at a comfortable tightness,
take your squat stance, and squat down into the bottom position. The belt will adjust to the position
it wants to settle into, the place where it functions most effectively, and it will have done so before
the weight is a factor. In other words, don't let this position adjustment take place at the bottom of
the first rep you need the belt for - do it in advance. Stand back up and tighten the belt to the point
at which it adds a little pressure to the gut.
There is a common misconception about the use of a belt. Many people have heard that you
push the "stomach" out against the belt. Doing this, however, will usually result in spinal flexion,
the very thing we wear the belt to prevent from happening under a load. Just put the belt on tight,
forget it's there, and use your abs the way you would without it. The belt functions without your
having to actually "use" it, because the tightness it provides against the abs causes them to work
harder without your micromanagement of the situation.
The right amount of tightness is a matter of individual preference, but as a general rule, more
experienced lifters can wear a tighter belt than novices can. It is also quite possible to have a belt on
too tight. If you have to stretch up to get the belt's prong in that last hole, you will be less able to
exert pressure with your own abdominal musculature, since it must be contracted to actually
generate force. Try this once to see for yourself; when you do, you'll find that there is an optimum
tension on the belt, and that too tight is worse than too loose. You'll eventually find that your belt adjustment varies with your body weight, your underlying clothing, and even your hydration level;
if your belt is designed with holes close enough together to allow for fine adjustment, it will come in
handy.
Contrary to the new conventional wisdom regarding this, a belt will not prevent your trunk
from getting and staying strong. It is hard for the layperson - or for that matter, a coach who lacks
personal experience with very heavy squats - to understand this, but there is not one single relaxed
muscle group in the entire human body under a 600-pound squat; this statement most especially
applies to the muscles that are busy stabilizing the spine. It's not as if your trunk muscles just go to
sleep when you put on your belt. What actually happens is that the abs contract harder against the
external resistance provided by the belt than they can without it, in the same way that your arms can
contract harder when you curl a barbell than when you curl a broomstick. A belt does in fact help
you safely lift more weight than you would without one, since a tight back better supports more
weight when you're squatting, and squatting more weight allows you to do more work through the
range of motion and thus get stronger."
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