Some people have very strong opinions whether or not you should use knee wraps, weight belts, or wrist straps during training sessions. For instance, some people believe that, for safety reasons, you’d be a fool not to use knee wraps, weight belts, and even wrist straps. On the other hand, others are convinced that, in order to give your joints, tendons, and muscles proper stimulation during each exercise, you should never use them. The problem is that they both use medical or scientific “facts” to back up their views. Personally, I try to steer clear of any debates or arguments with anyone who is too certain. How can I possibly disagree with them? They have scientific “evidence” backing their claims. Trying to convince them otherwise when they are fortified with their “book knowledge” would be a challenge, that’s for sure. Convincing them to think any differently is just not going to happen in most cases. And it’s really not worth my time arguing this point.
I recommend using whichever method gives you the best results. In the past, I used knee wraps and weight belts when I trained heavily because I loved the feeling of certainty and confidence they gave me. These are the feelings and emotions I must have in order to lift the heavy weight required to get my body to build new muscle. You’ve probably already noticed from reading my work that I am very big into the mindset needed to train at peak performance. I strongly believe that much of your success is determined by your mental attitude. The positive and confident state-of-mind you are in while doing a particular exercise will enable you to use all the experience, information, strategies, and methods you have accumulated over the years to their fullest.
I have become more confident in my abilities and never use a weight belt or knee wraps any longer. However, I always use wrist straps for all “pulling” type exercises. This is because it is easy to allow the strength in your arms to take over when training some body parts (like your back, for example). This is a common occurrence because of the grip strength that’s required to hold the bars while performing certain back exercises. You can take that wasted physical pressure off of your arms and wasted mental focus needed just trying to grip the bar—and put them onto your back muscles where they belong simply by using wrist straps.
