Bench Press Question

[w8lifterchick]

just read your reply, and the post you made about your first PL meet. sounds like you did pretty good for your first meet. i have never competed, although i want to. it is hard because i am in the military, and always moving around. i am about to go overseas and be stationed on a tropical island for a year. i plan on training hard while i am there, and then hopefully compete when i get back (which wont be until jan '06.) i sent you a PM about my lifts today. things went really well. luckily i found someone to spot me.
got another question. i currently lift raw. i dont own a shirt, but i have been thinking about getting one. if i dont plan on trying to compete for at least another year, do you think i should get one, and start training with it, or continue to lift raw?
also, i forgot to add earlier. im 24 yrs old, 5'10" and weigh 208.

I'm not becoming (he's prettier) but i have competed a few times- all raw. i own two bench shirts and will use one at my next competition. My advice is to get one now and train with it for the next year- hopefully you'll have a training partner to help you.
Different shirts are for different types of benchers and everyone has a different opinion on what you should start with, so do some research. if you can figure out what size you are (each manufacturer is different), you might be able to pick up a used one on ebay, the deepsquatter forum, or you can post a note here: http://www.weightliftingdiscussion.com/cgi-bin/wdb.cgi about what you want- there are a few used dealers there and they'll be able to figure out what might be best for you and your training style.
hope that helps,
me.

 

[Illuminati]

w8lifterchick, thanks for the advice. i dont know much about shirts, so i will have do some research. any suggestions on where to start looking?

also, Becoming said that i should post my workout from the day on here, so that maybe someone could learn from my experience. so here is what i did today:

today i tried the suspended max. i did this first as my ME movement. the top of the rack is about 7" so it almost fully deloades the bands (i was using the Average bands made by just stretch.) my sets went as follows 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3, 455xF, 435x2. then i went on to do regular bench with mini's working up to a triple max with 250 bar weight. i followed this up with some heavy rowing (chest supported rows, and then heavy seated rows) then lying db extensions (my tri's were killing me by then) and finished up with some heavy flat flies.

 

[w8lifterchick]

w8lifterchick, thanks for the advice. i dont know much about shirts, so i will have do some research. any suggestions on where to start looking?

also, Becoming said that i should post my workout from the day on here, so that maybe someone could learn from my experience. so here is what i did today:

today i tried the suspended max. i did this first as my ME movement. the top of the rack is about 7" so it almost fully deloades the bands (i was using the Average bands made by just stretch.) my sets went as follows 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3, 455xF, 435x2. then i went on to do regular bench with mini's working up to a triple max with 250 bar weight. i followed this up with some heavy rowing (chest supported rows, and then heavy seated rows) then lying db extensions (my tri's were killing me by then) and finished up with some heavy flat flies.

your workout looks good to me- you might want to start a new thread called "illuminati's training journal" or something. If you look at some of the other threads in this group- you'll see mine and parabellum's, although i slacked off a while ago and stopped posting my workouts here.
For bench shirt info, you can ask the manufacturers directly what's best for you (if you have a big arch or non at all- thats what makes the difference). Check out inzer, karins and crains. let me know if you need links.

 

[Becoming]

illuminati - that sounds like you have a good long term plan together... two things I learned recently - 1) don't underestimate the positive effects of rest/layoffs on your gains 2)get a spotter - they can keep an eye on your form and it really is hard to get set up well for the bench if you are lifting the bar off all by yourself...

Like w8lifter chick alludes - there is no substitute for time in a shirt if you are going to go shirted - I do work both raw and shirted as well (one shirted and one raw session per week MM style) I would get one and work on it for a while if you can...

as far as shirts go, it is a matter of personal preference, and benching style and hopefully having someone around who is familiar with it to help you....personally I like titan... I had a fury and it rocked (my raw max is in the 465-475 range and I was putting up 550 easy in practice - I could have had more but need more tri strength tried up to 585 pretty easily-but did not lockout) but it did take about a month to "break in"

I put a big run in my fury though (this is pretty uncommon and I think has something to do with the fact even my raw bench very low towards stomach, arms very close to sides) and they are replacing it with their new F6 which is supposed to have 0 break in time and good for high archers/low benchers like me... (titan has a 1 year guarantee which is nice)

The fury is hard to get on, it woudl be hopeless by yourself if you have a proper fit... It requires at least one and much better with 2 people helping especially the first time you put it on... I will see how the f6 goes (gets here in 2 weeks)

If you are going to go it alone, or with varying partners, I would reccommend more probably an inzer or karin single ply open back to start... I would NOT reccommend going double ply till you are smashing it in the single cause it applies a LOT more resistance...

I know a guy who trains by himself alot and he can just pop it (inzer single ply open back) on in 5 seconds and start hitting his lifts - they are convenient as hell and tho I think I get more out of my shirt, I do envy his ease of use!

My training buddies use fury, titan and karinDD so I have seen those in action...

I reccomend gettting the exact size you need the first time and break it in - no need to get the "beginner" shirt one size bigger - you will be past that stage in just a few weeks anyways...

I would try to find someone that knows what they are doing with the shirt etc by you to help you learn it the first couple of times... post up somewhere in the gym etc to see if there are any powerlifters by you - there has to be on a base of any size...

if they are not there you can always come back here and we will try to help you out - it is really just getting time to learn the shirt (by experiencing it) and I am sure we can give you some tips...

also get used to benching in a cage (powerrack) - this is indespensible when learning a shirt...


BTW w8lifterchick rocks and knows more than most dudes!

 

[Illuminati]

thanks for all the help. im gonna do some research on shirts today and see what i can find. i might have some questions, if i do, ill post 'em later today.
also, i gonna take w8lifterchick's advice, and start posting my workouts. hopefully people here can give me some input.