You might be wondering to yourself why is Konstantinov, arguably one of the best deadlifters in the world, wearing his belt so high in this deadlift video.

Well, to the untrained eye, his belt is WAY TOO high and he is going to get injured.

BUT,

Upon further inspection, you can see that through the years, Konstantinov has:

– perfected his deadlift form

– isolated and created strength and rigidity in the segments (lower lumbar L2-S1) of his spine that REQUIRE stability

– built up strength, thickness and muscle hypertrophy in the musculature surrounding* the spine in the area that resists anterior SHEAR forces under load.

* Most notably the longissimus thoracis.

When the spine is neutral the pennation of the longissimus aligns at approximately 45 degress to resist shear force, ie. protect your back and provide the stiffness to deadlift or squat without injury.

So, Konstantinov is using the belt correctly for his body type (antrhopometry).  He is bracing his abdominals outward via a powerful isometric contraction and utilizing intra-abdominal pressure to push out against the belt, which is aligned across the musculature taking the load, ie. the thoracic portion of the longissimus (one of the spinal erectors).

References:

Mcgill – Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance

Eric Cressey & Mike Robertson

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