All About Bench/Squat/DL Shirts

Training Powerlifting
41

[quote]fightingtiger wrote:
CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
Bench shirts in powerlifting are, IMO, like corked bats in baseball. Sure, a better bat might mean a few better hits, but a corked bat provides enough advantage that it takes something away from the sport.

Your analogy would be correct ONLY if every baseball player in the league were using a corked bat and the only people who gave a damn about that fact were those who had never played, never attended a game, and never even watched one on tv.[/quote]

If corked bats became legal, every player in the league WOULD use one, obviously.

And people would start giving a damn when every record suddenly was broken by 30%, while the newly corked batters tried to argue that it was “fair”.

42

[quote]Hanley wrote:

The sport gains no popularity because it’s fucking boring to watch.

Sad as I am to say it, unless you’re a lifter yourself and understand what goes into the training and how it feels it’s boring to watch.

Strongman’s great to watch, lots of running, lots of movement lots of heavy things people can assoicate with.

Olympic lifting’s great to watch, long bar travel, crazy body positino (rock bottom catch in the snatch!!) and you’ll see some great recoverys where they chase the bar around the platform from time to time.

What does powerlifting have? A big jacked guy lying or standing in the one position, moving a bend bar (which people just can’t concievably measure or understand what the weight feels like) and 10-20 inches of bar travel. Over and over again. It’s just not exciting to watch for someone who doesn’t get it.

It’s not the drugs and it’s not the gear, it’s the sport itself.[/quote]

That is so damn true. However, I wonder if the media outlets in the states would have a problem with the drugs if powerlifting were remotely marketable content. It seems like all sorts of sports are falling into the the anti-drug brainwash- wrestling, MMA, etc. It seems like only powerlifting and bodybuilding are predominantly non-tested at the top levels any more.

43

[quote]fightingtiger wrote:
Airtruth wrote:
SprinterOne wrote:
Before I started competing I thought equipped lifting was unfair and stupid. When I first began competing I did my first 3 meets raw. I now train exclusively for geared lifting.

My take on this is, if you don’t compete then your opinion doesn’t mean jack. Until you get in front of an audience and judges and compete against other very strong people then you don’t truly know.

Us non-competitors would happily keep our opinions to ourselves, except many of your friends question why the sport doesn’t gain popularity. How come ESPN doesn’t show it instead of video game competitions? How come there isn’t a higher reward for winning competitions? It sure would be nice to know if I’m waiting through a commercial to watch a guy bench a weight, or a shirt.

Is that what this is all about? A couple of powerlifters hoping for their sport to be more widely recognized?

Because I could have sworn for a minute there, it was about people thinking someone could bench 1000 lbs raw, oh wait…nevermind, it was about football players wearing lighter pads…ah, damn, wrong again, it was about a general concern for the health of the lifters because of the supposed dangers of lifting such unreal amounts of weight…wait…

In the two threads about this, there have been 6 different reasons following the phrases “The only thing that bothers me is…”, “I wouldnt have a problem with it…”.

If someone wants to bitch about video game competitions on a SPORTS network, fine, let them. I dont see how you can compare thinking that video game competitions on a sports network is comparable to bench shirts in powerlifting. Powerlifting is for and by the lifters…not for the keyboard warriors on some forums who bitch and moan about how equipped lifters are cheating.

This is like walking into an IFBB conference and launching into an anti-steroid tirade. Its useless. No one is going to listen to you because they dont care. Youre not changing anyones minds, so stop wasting your time complaining about it. If it were anything beyond a personal self-esteem issue, I think many of the people complaining about this would have stopped a long time ago.

Its not YOUR sport, its not YOUR decision to make, its not YOUR problem. Everyone just shut the fuck up about this already.[/quote]

LOLOLOLOLOL this has to be the funniest post I’ve ever seen on here. Your on an internet forum upset that people are discussing something… Oh wait your upset that people are not changing other peoples minds?

I wasn’t aware that thats what these great threads do on this site we are changing the minds of millions of people around the world who would’ve known. Okay lets kill this thread, and go back to the rest of the thousand mind changing threads.

44

[quote]Pinto wrote:
Hanley wrote:

The sport gains no popularity because it’s fucking boring to watch.

Sad as I am to say it, unless you’re a lifter yourself and understand what goes into the training and how it feels it’s boring to watch.

Strongman’s great to watch, lots of running, lots of movement lots of heavy things people can assoicate with.

Olympic lifting’s great to watch, long bar travel, crazy body positino (rock bottom catch in the snatch!!) and you’ll see some great recoverys where they chase the bar around the platform from time to time.

What does powerlifting have? A big jacked guy lying or standing in the one position, moving a bend bar (which people just can’t concievably measure or understand what the weight feels like) and 10-20 inches of bar travel. Over and over again. It’s just not exciting to watch for someone who doesn’t get it.

It’s not the drugs and it’s not the gear, it’s the sport itself.

That is so damn true. However, I wonder if the media outlets in the states would have a problem with the drugs if powerlifting were remotely marketable content. It seems like all sorts of sports are falling into the the anti-drug brainwash- wrestling, MMA, etc. It seems like only powerlifting and bodybuilding are predominantly non-tested at the top levels any more.[/quote]

It’s not the sport, its whats around the sport. Theres some boring ass sports on ESPN sometimes. I know I’m about to offend some people but bass fishing, my hair just doesn’t tingle, poker? I really need to sit and watch some geek trying to act like hard ass. One time they even had poker golf. wtf? If they marketed it correctly they could have a show that can compete with guys playing video games.

Have a 5 minute segment on the new wolverine titanium 5ply interlaced bench shirt, then another 5 minutes on how Larry Cons used powerlifting to ward off a life a crime, sure we can watch powerlifting. BUT noooooo powerlifters start crying why does anyone care what we do when someone gives there opinion… mmmm I don’t know maybe their just coming down off the roids.

45

  1. Can everyone who’s discussing in this thread state if they have used a bench shirt or not? I’ll go first, I don’t know what it’s like to bench in a shirt and I’ve never competed in a powerlifting meet.

  2. Why is the argument ALWAYS about bench shirts and never squat suits? Does anyone else think the fact that the bench press is held as the “holy grail” to all weight training people(and non) that they get so worked up about it?

  3. When people say something along the lines of “oh but he really benches xxx” Are you serious? The bench press only has rules in powerlifting competitions, if they say a lifter can wear a double ply shirt then that’s a bench press, not an equipped press or whatever was suggested earlier.

Let’s try to use some common sense here please.

46

[quote]scottiscool wrote:

  1. Can everyone who’s discussing in this thread state if they have used a bench shirt or not? I’ll go first, I don’t know what it’s like to bench in a shirt and I’ve never competed in a powerlifting meet.

  2. Why is the argument ALWAYS about bench shirts and never squat suits? Does anyone else think the fact that the bench press is held as the “holy grail” to all weight training people(and non) that they get so worked up about it?

  3. When people say something along the lines of “oh but he really benches xxx” Are you serious? The bench press only has rules in powerlifting competitions, if they say a lifter can wear a double ply shirt then that’s a bench press, not an equipped press or whatever was suggested earlier.

Let’s try to use some common sense here please.
[/quote]

soooo basically your trying to say a bench press with a bench shirt is the same as a bench press without?

If someone told me that they squatted a 1000lbs, then someone else said they could never squat 1000lbs without the suit then I would ask the squatter is that true? Then discuss, not the case instead alot of the discussion is there form when they squat since that seems to have the biggest effect.

47

[quote]Airtruth wrote:
SprinterOne wrote:
Before I started competing I thought equipped lifting was unfair and stupid. When I first began competing I did my first 3 meets raw. I now train exclusively for geared lifting.

My take on this is, if you don’t compete then your opinion doesn’t mean jack. Until you get in front of an audience and judges and compete against other very strong people then you don’t truly know.

Us non-competitors would happily keep our opinions to ourselves, except many of your friends question why the sport doesn’t gain popularity. How come ESPN doesn’t show it instead of video game competitions? How come there isn’t a higher reward for winning competitions? It sure would be nice to know if I’m waiting through a commercial to watch a guy bench a weight, or a shirt.[/quote]

If you don’t compete, why do you even care? Honestly, why do you care? That would be like me saying dog shows should change their rules, even though I have no idea what really goes on in a dog show and don’t watch them.

48

[quote]Airtruth wrote:
scottiscool wrote:

  1. Can everyone who’s discussing in this thread state if they have used a bench shirt or not? I’ll go first, I don’t know what it’s like to bench in a shirt and I’ve never competed in a powerlifting meet.

  2. Why is the argument ALWAYS about bench shirts and never squat suits? Does anyone else think the fact that the bench press is held as the “holy grail” to all weight training people(and non) that they get so worked up about it?

  3. When people say something along the lines of “oh but he really benches xxx” Are you serious? The bench press only has rules in powerlifting competitions, if they say a lifter can wear a double ply shirt then that’s a bench press, not an equipped press or whatever was suggested earlier.

Let’s try to use some common sense here please.

soooo basically your trying to say a bench press with a bench shirt is the same as a bench press without?

If someone told me that they squatted a 1000lbs, then someone else said they could never squat 1000lbs without the suit then I would ask the squatter is that true? Then discuss, not the case instead alot of the discussion is there form when they squat since that seems to have the biggest effect.
[/quote]

So is that the real issue here, the real reason your bothered? Because a powerlifter in a shirt says “I can bench X?” but without the shirt they couldn’t? So what, that isn’t fair because you bench without a shirt?

49

It’s pretty simple. People want to know how they stack up against one another. It’s human nature.

If I tell someone that I can bench 275, then most people are going to say “oh, I can bench more than that” or “wow, that’s pretty strong”. Either way, they are comparing their lift to yours.

The reason people care about bench shirts is because most people (non-powerlifters) don’t use them and they can no longer compare their unequipped numbers to someone wearing a shirt. In their eyes it becomes an unfair advantage, even though they aren’t the ones competing.

No one cares about squat suits, because only about 10% of the average gym goers ever actually squat. And only 10% of them actually get down to parallel, the rest can compare their damn 1/4 squats to one another. No one squats, or deadlifts for that matter, because it’s too hard, to exhausting, and it makes their legs too damn sore to jog their 10 minutes at 5.0mph on the treadmill so they can burn off that bag of Doritos they had on the way to the gym.

I actually thought this would be an informative thread about bench shirts, and instead it’s the same old argument over and over again.

50

everyone competes…i’d say most people who lift always compare themselves to other lifters…even if they don’t compete in sanctioned meets…

51

[quote]CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
Bench shirts in powerlifting are, IMO, like corked bats in baseball. Sure, a better bat might mean a few better hits, but a corked bat provides enough advantage that it takes something away from the sport.[/quote]

Actually, more like the aluminum bats they use in college vs the wood in the majors. Everyone who is competing in the league is on equal footing. Unless you’re benching raw in a shirted meet, but that’s your choice.

And to everyone bitching about non-lifters running around saying “some dude benches 1036”, chill out. So what if they don’t realize it’s with a shirt? It doesn’t matter. If they’re trying to compare it to a raw bench, then you can always enlighten them; until I came to this site I had never heard of a bench shirt and didn’t realize the impact it had.

52

i would like to see an article all about powerlifting gear shits ,suits,belts and breifs

53

My favorite shirts are the ones with the hydraulic lifts built right in.

54

[quote]agr117 wrote:
If you don’t compete, why do you even care? Honestly, why do you care?

everyone competes…i’d say most people who lift always compare themselves to other lifters…even if they don’t compete in sanctioned meets…

[/quote]

Its not the same though. When I bench in a meet, I cannot move my feet laterally, my hands cannot be past a certain distance, I have to wait for a press command on my chest, etc, etc.

This cannot be compared to a gym bench press. If Billy Bench goes to max out and his foot moves 1 inch to the side while he’s benching, he and his buddies will still count it. I would have too when I was just a gym rat too. But in competition it is no different from the bar being picked up off your chest from being stapled.

(That was not really directed at you agr117, just using you for my point)

They really are different lifts. One is a competition bench press and the other a gym lift.

I would also be curious to know how many actual lifters the bashers know in real life. I still challenge everyone that hates bench shirts so much to go watch someone lift in one, and better yet TRAIN in one so they can see what the deal is. Lifting in a shirt is extremely difficult.

I’ll be putting mine on in about 45 minutes. :wink:

And for the record, I get way more out of briefs and a squat suit than any bench shirt I’ve ever used. 00ps.

55

[quote]Modi wrote:
It’s pretty simple. People want to know how they stack up against one another. It’s human nature.

If I tell someone that I can bench 275, then most people are going to say “oh, I can bench more than that” or “wow, that’s pretty strong”. Either way, they are comparing their lift to yours.

The reason people care about bench shirts is because most people (non-powerlifters) don’t use them and they can no longer compare their unequipped numbers to someone wearing a shirt. In their eyes it becomes an unfair advantage, even though they aren’t the ones competing.[/quote]

So most people bench like you bench in a contest? Ass on the bench, feet on the floor, pause at the chest, etc.? Is it fair for someone to say they bench 300 when they bounce the bar off their chest and raise their ass a foot high? Should everyone bench the same exact way so we can all compare our benches?

56

[quote]Hanley wrote:

The sport gains no popularity because it’s fucking boring to watch.

Sad as I am to say it, unless you’re a lifter yourself and understand what goes into the training and how it feels it’s boring to watch.

Strongman’s great to watch, lots of running, lots of movement lots of heavy things people can assoicate with.

Olympic lifting’s great to watch, long bar travel, crazy body positino (rock bottom catch in the snatch!!) and you’ll see some great recoverys where they chase the bar around the platform from time to time.

What does powerlifting have? A big jacked guy lying or standing in the one position, moving a bend bar (which people just can’t concievably measure or understand what the weight feels like) and 10-20 inches of bar travel. Over and over again. It’s just not exciting to watch for someone who doesn’t get it.

It’s not the drugs and it’s not the gear, it’s the sport itself.[/quote]

I would watch it. Strongman is obviously heavily edited, with all the boring stuff cut out. If they did this with powerlifting I would watch. Some smoke, cool music and good announcers would probably work wonders.

57

[quote]SprinterOne wrote:
Modi wrote:
It’s pretty simple. People want to know how they stack up against one another. It’s human nature.

If I tell someone that I can bench 275, then most people are going to say “oh, I can bench more than that” or “wow, that’s pretty strong”. Either way, they are comparing their lift to yours.

The reason people care about bench shirts is because most people (non-powerlifters) don’t use them and they can no longer compare their unequipped numbers to someone wearing a shirt. In their eyes it becomes an unfair advantage, even though they aren’t the ones competing.

So most people bench like you bench in a contest? Ass on the bench, feet on the floor, pause at the chest, etc.? Is it fair for someone to say they bench 300 when they bounce the bar off their chest and raise their ass a foot high? Should everyone bench the same exact way so we can all compare our benches?
[/quote]

Yes, let’s get everyone at our gyms to bench the same way. Then we call all walk around with our dicks out comparing lengths, oops, I mean comparing bench numbers.

The average Jackass that bounces the bar off his chest and raises his ass a foot off the bench probably isn’t pressing enough to worry about comparing his bench to mine or anyone else with a semi-respectable bench here. Personally I get a kick out these guys.

Look, bottom line is I have nothing at all against equipment. That’s a huge part of the sport. I compete in a very small part that doesn’t use equipment. I’m in the minority. I’m only competing against the guys who aren’t using equipment, so it doesn’t really matter to me whether someone is getting 50lbs or 300lbs out of their shirt. I’m not competing with them.

We can use all the analogies in the world, wood vs aluminum bats, track spikes, football equipment, titanium clubs vs wood clubs, whatever you want. But here’s the deal. There are dozens of federations out there. They all have different rules. If you’re against using equipment, there are federations for you, if you’re against double or triple ply, there are federations for you, if you’re against drug testing, there are federations for you, if you’re against squatting to parallel, there are federations for you (just checking to see who’s still reading).

Find a federation that you like the rules in, and get out there and compete. If you aren’t competing, then you can sit around and compare you gym numbers to everyone else’s. You can compare 1/4 squats, bounced presses, hitched deadlifts, I really don’t care.

58

[quote]Modi wrote:
SprinterOne wrote:
Modi wrote:
It’s pretty simple. People want to know how they stack up against one another. It’s human nature.

If I tell someone that I can bench 275, then most people are going to say “oh, I can bench more than that” or “wow, that’s pretty strong”. Either way, they are comparing their lift to yours.

The reason people care about bench shirts is because most people (non-powerlifters) don’t use them and they can no longer compare their unequipped numbers to someone wearing a shirt. In their eyes it becomes an unfair advantage, even though they aren’t the ones competing.

So most people bench like you bench in a contest? Ass on the bench, feet on the floor, pause at the chest, etc.? Is it fair for someone to say they bench 300 when they bounce the bar off their chest and raise their ass a foot high? Should everyone bench the same exact way so we can all compare our benches?

Yes, let’s get everyone at our gyms to bench the same way. Then we call all walk around with our dicks out comparing lengths, oops, I mean comparing bench numbers.

The average Jackass that bounces the bar off his chest and raises his ass a foot off the bench probably isn’t pressing enough to worry about comparing his bench to mine or anyone else with a semi-respectable bench here. Personally I get a kick out these guys.

Look, bottom line is I have nothing at all against equipment. That’s a huge part of the sport. I compete in a very small part that doesn’t use equipment. I’m in the minority. I’m only competing against the guys who aren’t using equipment, so it doesn’t really matter to me whether someone is getting 50lbs or 300lbs out of their shirt. I’m not competing with them.

We can use all the analogies in the world, wood vs aluminum bats, track spikes, football equipment, titanium clubs vs wood clubs, whatever you want. But here’s the deal. There are dozens of federations out there. They all have different rules. If you’re against using equipment, there are federations for you, if you’re against double or triple ply, there are federations for you, if you’re against drug testing, there are federations for you, if you’re against squatting to parallel, there are federations for you (just checking to see who’s still reading).

Find a federation that you like the rules in, and get out there and compete. If you aren’t competing, then you can sit around and compare you gym numbers to everyone else’s. You can compare 1/4 squats, bounced presses, hitched deadlifts, I really don’t care.

[/quote]

good post

haha, I was

:wink:

59

[quote]thesixteenth wrote:
CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
Bench shirts in powerlifting are, IMO, like corked bats in baseball. Sure, a better bat might mean a few better hits, but a corked bat provides enough advantage that it takes something away from the sport.

Actually, more like the aluminum bats they use in college vs the wood in the majors. Everyone who is competing in the league is on equal footing. Unless you’re benching raw in a shirted meet, but that’s your choice.

And to everyone bitching about non-lifters running around saying “some dude benches 1036”, chill out. So what if they don’t realize it’s with a shirt? It doesn’t matter. If they’re trying to compare it to a raw bench, then you can always enlighten them; until I came to this site I had never heard of a bench shirt and didn’t realize the impact it had.

[/quote]

Have you ever heard of someone hitting 30% more home runs in college baseball using an aluminum bat (as compared to the majors using wood)?

Cause that’d be about the same as a 900lb raw bench going up 300 pounds thanks to the right shirt.

60

[quote]Airtruth wrote:

soooo basically your trying to say a bench press with a bench shirt is the same as a bench press without?

If someone told me that they squatted a 1000lbs, then someone else said they could never squat 1000lbs without the suit then I would ask the squatter is that true? Then discuss, not the case instead alot of the discussion is there form when they squat since that seems to have the biggest effect.
[/quote]

I sat here and tried to type a response but this isn’t going to change any minds and settle the gear debate. Everyone just lift how they want and stop bitching about how other people lift.