Lifting Gear > Lifting Belts > Stoic Powerlifting Belt Review

Stoic Powerlifting Belt Review

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QUICK OVERVIEW

Features

Materials

Quality

Price

What We Like

  • High quality leather
  • Simple and clean design
  • Easy to use prong system
  • Great support during lifts

What We Don't Like

  • Needs time to break in
  • Buckle may wear

Having a leather powerlifting belt in your arsenal is critical for progressing in the gym. Once your lifts get to respectable numbers, a stiff belt will help you smash plateaus like butter. You'll love the support and stability of powerlifting belts which helps you lift more.

The Stoic Powerlifting Belt is a great value belt. We researched and read multiple reviews to provide you an in-depth article of all the features. I also tested the Stoic Powerlifting Belt during my workout to give you an idea of what you can expect during your lifts. Continue reading for all the details!

Stoic Powerlifting Belt Review

Stoic is an online fitness company which is part of Lift Unlimited. If you’re a powerlifter, Stoic will ring a bell to you because of its brand awareness. The company partners with various powerlifting organizations in the US.

In fact, all Stoic products are IPF (International Powerlifting Federation) and USAP (USA Powerlifting) certified. The company uses many of their users as brand ambassadors. Looking at their Instagram profile, there are countless lifters wearing Stoic products. Stoic believes progression and learning gives life meaning and purpose. Whether its mental or physical progress, Stoic helps customers reach their potential.

How does the Stoic Powerlifting Belt measure up to others?

Other weightlifting companies usually have a catalog of belts to offer for customers. But not Stoic. Instead, Stoic offers their powerlifting belt made of high-quality materials. After hours of research and testing we present you a full review on the Stoic Powerlifting Belt. You will have all the information you need to make a confident decision on your next weight lifting belt.

Who Is This Product For?

Looking on their comprehensive website, Stoic offers many powerlifting accessories. They offer wrist wraps, knee sleeves, and even singlets for elite competitive powerlifters. Stoic’s customers are powerlifters or strength athletes looking to enter competitions. If you’re a recreational lifter, Stoic’s products will offer more than enough value to your arsenal.

What I found really cool about Stoic is how they operate as a business. They use the finest and most expensive raw materials for the powerlifting belt. To help offset the cost of these materials to their customers, the belt has little markup. The result is a premium powerlifting belt with a lower price range. You get tremendous value with this belt.

If you’re a heavy lifter, the Stoic Powerlifting Belt will be perfect for you. Stoic products are ready for heavy use right out of the box. Even if you’re a strength athlete looking for a belt with great quality this belt will serve your purpose.

What's Included?

Taking the Stoic belt out of the box, you immediately notice the simple design. Sleek and a very discreet logo that doesn’t take away from the look of the belt. The belt is one uniform piece of top grain leather. The leather has a vegetable tan finish which increases the durability of the belt.

I like how natural the belt looks. The Stoic Powerlifting belt is thick and built tough. Stoic offers 3 different thickness for their belts: 6.5mm, 10mm, and 13mm. We got the 10mm variant and there is only a smaller layer of suede on the external layers.

The suede layer gives the belt a soft and comfortable feel. The added suede helps give the belt a non slip and water resistant surface. This is super important during your heavy lifts to prevent your belt from slipping.

For powerlifters, the thickness combined with the uniform 4 inch width of the belt will be ideal. The uniform width keeps your back and core secure during heavy lifts. If you’re squatting properly, you will breath in and brace as you go down in your movement. The bracing helps create a tight and solid structure to keep the weight up.

The purpose of a weight lifting belt is to provide a surface to push against during lifts. As you brace, the intra-abdominal pressure increases. The pressure creates rigid support for your lift. With the level of thickness and width of the Stoic Powerlifting Belt, you’ll be able to lift 10-15% more weight.

The leather and suede have beautiful Nylon stitching to keep everything together. The stitching is quadruple layers all around. This will help give you security during lifts. The stitches are tight and aren’t easy to pull apart.

Overview of the Features

This Stoic Powerlifting Belt is like the Iron Bull Strength belt. I take the belt out of the box and it feels secure and durable. The belt is heavy, I would say at least 3 pounds. I look forward to using this belt during my lifts because it can take some abuse.

The belt is tough and not flimsy at all. The materials are of high quality and the craftsmanship is clear. The belt has an old-school look with forever quality that will last you a long time. Luckily, the belt comes with a lifetime guarantee for any replacements.

Stoic stays true to their values by bringing you the best quality of materials for a great price. There are other belts that offer similar value, but this belt has a reputation backing it.

The design of the belt is for function not looks. The clean finish does give the belt a sleek final product. But, there are no other extra layers that try to fill the inner layers of the belt.

The fastening system is a single prong buckle. Nothing too fancy here. No advanced double prong bridge. No patent lever buckle. The belt is identical to a fashion belt you’d have at home. Stoic continues their use of top materials in their choice of metal for the prong buckle. Made of stainless steel, the buckle is built to last.

The closure system is easy to use and won’t get in the way during your lifts. Remember to use our sizing guide to help you determine the best measurement for your belt. Getting the wrong belt size can result in a loose or tight belt. Your belt should be tight enough that you can slip your fingers into the space between the belt and your torso.

The prong buckle system is permanently in place with heavy duty rivets. Although, some reviews indicate it can wear over time. But, if you use your belt correctly and not abuse it your belt should last. Since the belt is leather, it will take some time to break in. As with any belt, the more you use your belt, the easier it is to use. Considering the thickness and build, give it 2-3 weeks for the belt edges to soften.

How to Use this Weight Lifting Belt

As I researched about this belt, I became excited about using it during my lifts.

Like I have done with other reviews, I tested the belt during my regular workout. I used the belt with my squats and deadlifts.

I wore a shirt during my lifts and found the belt to be tight. When I got to the bottom of my movement, the belt’s rough edges dug into my skin. As I mentioned earlier, you need to break this belt in over the course of many workouts.

The showcase of this belt is the top-quality leather. The leather gave me strong support around my core and back. I can easily see myself pushing my weight limits with this belt. With the belt, I can generate a large amount of intra-abdominal pressure during my braces.

Although, I paid a high price for this belt and I didn’t feel the belt was cheap at all. This belt is worth every dollar. I never once felt insecure during my lifts. The uniform width really helped create a consistent level of support during my lifts.

After a few uses, the belt didn’t fray at the edges of the belt. This is a great sign for any weight lifting belt. The first sign of a cheap belt is how it reacts to multiple uses. I mentioned the belt did dig into my hips during my lifts. Sometimes this can be a good sign because the opposite would be bad for your bracing power. A powerlifting belt not stiff enough is a dangerous situation to put your back into.

I performed some clean and jerks as well as power cleans with the Stoic Powerlifting Belt. The movements were difficult to perform but not impossible. Again, the belt is stiff, but you will get used to it. I would appreciate some more mobility with an Olympic style weight lifting belt. You may like this belt for your Olympic movements. But I prefer something more dynamic like the Eleiko weight lifting belt.

Alternatives

The Stoic Powerlifting Belt may not be in your price range. This belt is heavy duty and the price reflects the craftsmanship. For a more budget friendly option, check out the Iron Bull Strength belts which have great build. I would also recommend the Ader belt which is good for powerlifting.

The belt won’t be ideal for you if you’re an athlete doing more dynamic lifts such as Olympic movements. Instead, I recommend the Dark Iron Fitness belt that is thinner and durable.

Conclusion

Stoic is a brand powerhouse. Many lifters in the industry can attest to Stoic’s reputation. Powerlifters and weightlifters alike love how involved Stoic is in the industry. Further, Stoic puts countless hours of design into their powerlifting belt.

From the raw materials to customer service, Stoic’s Powerlifting Belt is a superb product. The build and construction are comparable to Inzer or SBD belts. You’ll lift more and feel secure with the Stoic belt. It's no wonder how Stoic got such a following considering their robust belts.

You’ll be ready to smash PRs and break plateaus with the Stoic Powerlifting Belt.

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Wasim Kagzi

Hi! I’m Wasim Kagzi and this is where my team and I write and research about everything fitness. On MuscleLead we share all the helpful tips, techniques, and advice we've learned over the years. Personally, I've been lifting for more than 10 years and hope to eventually become a Certified Personal Trainer. My goal is to compete in weightlifting and train to be the strongest version of myself.

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