Support Belts and Buckling for Support Belts

A weight lifting support belt comprising:

• an elongate belt having a dead end region and a live end region;
• and
• buckling to releasably connect and secure said dead end region to said live end region,
• wherein said buckling comprises a first anchor portion fixed to said live end region, a second anchor portion configured to releasably engage apertures provided in said dead end region in a relaxed tightness condition and a locking mechanism operable to draw said first anchor portion towards said second anchor portion to cause a reduction in spacing between said first anchor portion and said second anchor portion to change a tightness condition of the weight lifting support belt from said relaxed tightness condition to a tightened closed condition,
• wherein said apertures provided in said dead end region are configured to provide at least one row of apertures disposed in spaced apart relation along said dead end region to define a plurality of progressively tighter second anchor portion engagement positions, and
• wherein said locking mechanism comprises a connecting arm having a first end and a second end and a separate lever arm having a first end and a second end,
• wherein said first end of said connecting arm is pivotally connected to said first anchor portion by a first pivot pin, said first end of said lever arm is pivotally connected to said second anchor portion by a second pivot pin and said connecting arm is pivotally connected to said lever arm by a third pivot pin disposed intermediate said first and second arms of said lever arm,
• wherein said lever arm is movable from a first position corresponding to said relaxed tightness condition to a second position to generate a pulling force that moves said first anchor portion towards said second anchor portion in a movement that is substantially circumferential with respect to said elongate belt to cause said reduction in spacing between said first and second anchor portions, whereby a wearer can progressively tighten the weight lifting support belt through progressively tighter tightened closed conditions without detaching the first anchor portion from the live end region of the belt by operating said locking mechanism to change the tightness condition of the weightlifting support belt from said tightened closed condition to said relaxed tightness condition, disengaging said second anchor portion from said at least one row of apertures and re-engaging said second anchor portion with said at least one row of apertures in a tighter one of said progressively tighter second anchor engagement positions and operating said locking mechanism to change the tightness condition of the weight lifting support belt from said relaxed tightness condition to said tightened closed condition.