Bench Shirt

[Cobin]

I don't powerlift, but I am gonna work on my bench form and do it PL style, would a bench shirt help raise the poundage on my bench? Even if I don't powerlift, just trying to get a stronger bench raw.

http://www.monstermuscle.com/bench-shirts.asp

what one would be best for somone that never owned a bench shirt before?
Thanks

 

[natural-mike]

My friend. You may have opened a can of worms here.

To put it simply, I highly advise against you purchasing a bench shirt if your goals are as listed below.

You will need to Powerlift to benefit from the shirt and why buy the shirt if you do not plan on competing.

To reap the benefits of the shirt you will need to develop lock out strength and tricep strength. That can be achieved by doing a "Powerlifting" style routine. You cannot jsut throw a shirt on and be the man. The shirt will put you in a groove that you are very unfamiliar with and you may have flaws in your form, a Powerlifting bench form is quite different.

There is certain equipment I would recommend for people even if they never plan to compete or even Powerlift at all.

Groove Briefs can give excellent hip support for people with problematic hips or wide stance squats.

Wraps (wrist or knee) can have their place in any routine.

A good Powerlifters belt can also help when going heavy.

You DO NOT buy a bench shirt to increase your raw bench, that is a case of your goals and principles getting a bit jumbled up.

Save the cash and go take some girlie out, you'll probably get more out of teh girlie than the bench shirt .

Regards,
The Natural One

 

[Cobin]

Didn't mean to piss anyone off, I am considering PL in the future, for right now I am working with more compound movments to get my overall strength up, once again didn't mean to make you mad. Sorry.

 

[TheProject]

I agree with natural-mike.

The first time I put on a shirt, which admittedly was not fitted for me, I benched less than I would have raw. It's completely different than benching raw.

Are you already benching like a PL, or are you getting ready to?

 

[Cobin]

I am still working on form, I want to get it down as good as I can, but I wasn't planning on getting a shirt till december, cause thats when I will have money, and hopefully the PL style of bench down.

 

[TheProject]

Okay, was just going to mention that your bench may drop a little due to the form change.

Who knows, by December you may want to compete, and then a shirt would be justified!

 

[Cobin]

Really trying to increase bench in many ways, doing more compound movements and working the triceps harder, eating like a horse. I am sure I made some progress so far haven't done a 1rpm in alittle bit, I am gonna go do some research on what kids my age are benching at my weight. Give me a chance to set a goal for myself. Or maybe Jeremy can tell me, he saw some others at his competition, how much were they benching at 150-180pd weight class jeremy?

 

[TheProject]

I apologize if you've already posted this but...

What specific exercises are you doing for your tris and lats?

 

[jeremys]

i didnt see any others our age at the meet i was at. if you weigh 150-180 and bench 215 raw, you've got a great start

 

[Cobin]

I weigh 150 right now, 215 was a pain to get up, I can't do it super quick but I got it up on my own. Tris, I am doing dips, close grip bench and sometimes skull crushers, lats I am writing out a new split for that, was thinking chins and rows along with deadlifts for good overall back development, I just read something on PL competitions, how their runned, how you should eat/warmup before and during the competition, seems like its alot of fun, I am gonna look for a comp far away from now ( 6-8months) and see if I can get some support to give it a go.


This was the article by the way:http://www.cyberpump.com/training/powerfaq/powerfaq22.html

 

[natural-mike]

Cobin,

My absolute apologies if you thought I was mad. No anger here, just much love, especially for your wallet. No way should you apologize, in fact I do if I seemed a bit harsh.

My point really was to inform that you shouldn't rush right into a shirt. Many people, including myself do not do a full powerlifting style routine. Although Westside is highly touted on this board, its not the only methodology out there.

My opinion is quite simply.."try it". If it works, or you enjoy it, go with it.

Also, as far as benching goes, I highly recommend board presses. There is no excuse not to do these you can go to the lumber yard and get 2 x 6 boards for like a dollar. I have turned guys in my gym who strictly bodybuild on to these and we all agree, your bench and tricep strength as well as tricep size will go up.

Lastly, old chap, never apologize for asking a question here. Everybody here was a beginner at one point in time, well except for powerlifterjay and Irish, I believe they were born pro's who bench 600.

Later,
The Natural

 

[TheProject]

Tris, I am doing dips, close grip bench and sometimes skull crushers, lats I am writing out a new split for that, was thinking chins and rows along with deadlifts for good overall back development

For tris, you may want to add: rolling dumbbell extensions, elbows out extensions, and JM presses. The form on JM's is tricky, but I think adding those into your rotation would help. I would also drop the dips and skullcrushers, as I have been told those are better for size rather than strength.

For lats, I'd suggest adding close-grip lat pulldowns and chest supported rows.

Just my .02...I'm sure the more veteran powerlifters would have more valuable input.

 

[Cobin]

Thanks, I will look into all those things.


I can see the looks I get when I walk into gold's gym with 3-4 boards to benchpress. Wonder if they would even let me bring them in.