IPF benches havent gone up a lot since the introduction of shirts. But then agin, theirs are only single ply ones, and it was mainly to try and remove the older ‘druggie’ records.
what about the new druggie records?
Since the introduction of the bench shirts, the 90kg class (for eg) has increased 5-7.5kgs up to about 250kg, not a big gain considering some of the insane gains with ‘good’ shirts. Most of the old powerlifting records were set in the 1980s, and earlier with the likes of Kaz, they didnt get broken until the introduction of the shirts. Drug testing is very prolific in IPF now, adn unlike ‘other’ sports, there isnt that much money in powerlifting to avoid drug tests or take more expensive drugs. THe biggest bench in the ipf was jamie harris with 320 (almost 700), the biggest bench this year in the ipf was 300kg at 125+class, not a lot compare to certain american federations.
Where has anyone from westside said that everything else sucks? The fact that Louie Simmons has demostrated some innovative thinking in a field where too often everyone repeats the accepted mantra is teriffic. Conjugated peiodization & accomodating resistance are examples of free thinking that goes outside the box. My impressions of what I have seen and read is that the west side boys are confident in their approach to PL and offer a well thought out argument to why they think it works. If you believe in a concept or an idea there is nothing wrong in voicing your belief provided you are open minded and can listen to the other guy. We are all in this together, right?
A proper fitting Bench Shirt will barely let the opener come down and touch the chest. Oh and without all the supportive gear you know what would happen? The number of injuries would sky rocket! And about the judging it is very simple. Do your lifts the best you can do them correctily and stop talking smack. I wonder how many of the Westside haters can squat 700, 800, 900+ or bench over 600? I bet not many. These are just excuses for others lifting bigger than you!