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darksidefitness
09-29-2012, 03:24 AM
Found this in internet and I know that we have some powerlifter, newbies and people interested in bench shirts...I know this article will help our technique



Bench press shirt technique


“Mistakes and how to avoid them”


By Ian Smalley


Anyone who has ever chosen the road to frustration known as shirted benching knows that there is a fine line between doing it correctly and dumping. Its kind of like a golf swing. The more you focus on technique and execution, the better you swing. The harder and farther you try to hit the ball the worse you get. The perfect golf swing feels smooth and effortless, and so does the perfect shirted press. Like the weight isn’t even there. Here are some things that can go wrong on your path to perfect bench pressing and how to fix them.

1. CCollapsing – If you're bench pressing flat backed then go ahead and move on to number two. For the rest of you this will kill your bench faster than anything. Most bench shirts that are worth anything are constructed for arched benching. Meaning that the sleeves were attached at an angle condusive to loading at 25 to 45 degrees. If you drop below the intended sleeve angle the shirt will become pretty useless. Often times it will still hold the weight, but have no energy stored for the press and the bar will stall a couple of inches off of your sternum. Collapsing is usually due to a lack of tightness in the upper back/lats. It is this tightness that holds your shoulders underneath you and your shoulder blades tucked. If you lose that tightness your upper body will fall, then it doesn’t really matter how high you push your belly up because the shirt is already de-loaded. At meets you’ll often here guys yelling “stay up” or “belly up” while their guy is lowering the bar. This is to ensure correct body position so that the shirt will do its job. So stay tight and focus on driving your sternum up to the ceiling and you should not have a problem.

2. HHeaving- This is when you throw the weight back at the rack instead of bench pressing it upward. Heaving is the result of one of two things. Either you’ve collapsed and the bar is too low down your body, and your only move is to get it going back towards your face instead of up (because you have no leverage), or you’ve cocked your wrists open on the decent, which puts your elbows out in front of the weight. When you press, the weight must drift back instead of up so you can get your elbows back into alignment under the bar to lock it out. Either way the result is the same. You'll either dump on your face or press into the rack. No good. To fix this problem do two things. #1 just stay up and don’t collapse, having correct body position will ensure the shirt loads correctly and the weight pops up, and #2 keep you wrists and elbows in alignment. Your elbows will go in the opposite direction as your hands to counter balance the weight. If the weight falls back into your palm, your elbows will jut out in front. Make sure the line between the top of your hand and your elbow is always perpendicular to the floor and you will avoid heaving.

3. OOvertucking – As you take the weight out and break at the elbows the shirt will begin to load and take the weight. One way to sabotage this is to over tuck your elbows, or bring them too close to your sides. Tucking is a part of the powerlifting bench press, it's what saves your chest and front delts from being torn apart when the weight gets heavy. However, when wearing a shirt the more you tuck the more tension you take out of the shirt. To prove my point, next time you put on your shirt, get set up and take the weight out. Now try to lower the bar with your elbows OUT. Unless your shirt is totally worn out you will probably make it about 2-3 inches and the weight will cease to move. This is true no matter how much weight you have on the bar. Now, in contrast take the weight out and immediately tuck your elbows all the way to your sides. The weight will drop like a shot and you’ll get pinned. The shirt is completely deloaded .

So with shirted bench pressing, the correct way to approach this is to take the weight out, break at the elbows and tuck VERY SLOWLY. This keeps you tight and in control, and keeps the shirt loaded through out the movement. About two inches off of the sternum the weight should stop and the shirt should lock up. At this point you can either raise your head and roll up towards the bar and let it touch your belly (which is what fat guys do) or row the weight straight down and crush the bubble (which is what skinny guys do). Fat guy way is easier -but that’s their reward for having a big belly. Skinny guy way is harder, but that’s your fault for being skinny….and by the way, fat guy way doesn’t work for skinny guy. Skinny guy will always collapse as he rolls up because he doesn’t have the body mass to keep the shirt loaded. If fat guy collapses, the shirt doesn’t know the difference because his belly’s so big. And fat guys can’t arch anyway. Hope that helps.

These three problems probably count for 90% of dumps or missed lifts. If you are conscious of these mistakes when they happen then you can work in training to reverse the causes, and be ob the road to better bench pressing.

PAiN
09-29-2012, 04:54 PM
Great post bro!

2nd2no1
09-29-2012, 07:56 PM
Awesome info Thanks....

BIGBOSS
09-30-2012, 12:14 AM
Good post! This is new news to me!! Never heard of bench shirts until now. Actually considering investing in one of these.

darksidefitness
09-30-2012, 12:17 AM
^^^Is a great tool for powerlifting....Is worth it depending on your type of training and goals. ^^^

bugse2342
09-30-2012, 02:00 AM
Good read, man I love this board

metromuscle
09-30-2012, 04:14 PM
When I competed in powerlifting, I always used a bench shirt. It can be a hot topic at times--the use of a shirt in competition vs. raw such as the argument with shirts becoming so sophisticated it's the shirt doing the work and not the person. That aside, I fouond all of that info above is dead-on, especially about the position of the elbows,etc. which I've experienced first hand. I've always been a flat bencher and have found it almost completely impossible to arch, which seems necessary with almost all bench shirt designs. I do know that Titan makes a shirt espec. designed for those like myself that bench flat, and may invest in one soon.

darksidefitness
09-30-2012, 04:49 PM
I do arch my back but and by doing this, I feel a lot stronger. The shirt indeed is a hot topic specially when people don't know why, what or how a shirt works...Is an excellent tool and just another way of competition. But in fact...Titan has both shirts; arch back and flat back .

metromuscle
10-01-2012, 04:53 PM
I think it's just easier for some people to "arch" than others. For myself I've tried everything to keep the arch yet keep the butt on the bench which as we all know has to be there in competition. Even tried laying on a PVC pipe to get used to arching the back which was nothing short of torture. Perhaps that's why companies like Titan added the flat bench shirt to their line. I have other equipment from Titan Support and have to say they're a first class outfit with good prices as well.

Dath
10-06-2012, 03:02 PM
Really great and informative post DSF!!!
Thanks man.

darksidefitness
11-13-2012, 03:49 PM
The article forgot to mention "Bench shirt size". IT SUPPOSE TO BE TIGHT!!! People use a way bigger size and that prevent the shirt from work properly.

superdave
06-02-2013, 12:34 AM
good read

cb1
06-02-2013, 01:46 AM
I have a love/hate affair with shirts. I have tried about every shirt out there in the last 20yrs. I am a very poor candidate for wearing a shirt. I have long arms and even raw I fail about halfway up. The guys that rock the shirts are short armed with alot of strength toward the middle to top. The shirts are very dificult to learn,size,adjust and use 100%. I have had the best luck with the Titan Katana.

cb1
06-02-2013, 01:50 AM
Just wanted to add. If you are not wanting to compete in a shirt but you want one to bench heavier for training. I highly recoment the Slingshot from Mark Bell or Titans ram. With my personal preference being the SS and I have both. These things are way easier to use, dont chew you up or take alot of effort to get on.

TexxGearsRep
06-02-2013, 11:45 AM
Thanks! Great information!

Shortwhitesprinter
06-03-2013, 11:16 PM
Second that...I use Marks slingshot ...has kept my shoulders healthy...over the years form wear and tear...

darksidefitness
06-10-2013, 07:44 PM
Sling shots are good (all three) but not compare to a shirt. The pressure, groove and all the rituals that is a bench shirt...

Gopro
06-10-2013, 08:13 PM
Good read. Love to learn new stuff!

cb1
06-11-2013, 02:15 AM
Sling shots are good (all three) but not compare to a shirt. The pressure, groove and all the rituals that is a bench shirt...

The shirt has ALOT more potential. The shirt is alot more dificult to learn, size, adjust and cost alot more money. Just about anyone can put on a slinger and bench 20-50lbs more after just a couple workouts.

darksidefitness
06-11-2013, 02:38 PM
^^^yeap^^^^What I said...I mean, what he said!!! You need to train in a shirt to learn how the shirt works. Every single brand has their own tweaking or form and no 1 shirt is equal to other.

Boltbreaker
06-28-2013, 06:31 PM
Wow this was a cool informative thread.. Sounds interesting..

darksidefitness
06-29-2013, 01:07 AM
Glad you like it. A lot of good "no shit" information here...straight from the source...

unforgiven
01-31-2015, 05:33 AM
Thanx good info

Big Irish
02-09-2015, 07:57 PM
I've used bench shirts over the years and I've found them to be somewhat of a crutch. I've seen guys use them religously and eventually they ended up having problems.

Besides the fact that they are a bitch to put on, they smell like death (because you're not supposed to wash them), and they bruise the fuck out of you. If used to often you can develop some bad habits. I do my workouts raw and rarely ever use a shirt. It's usually when I'm 3 - 4 weeks out from a meet that I will start working with the shirt (if I'm going to use one at all). And even then it's just to get a feel for it again.

I will say that out of the many shirts I've used the Titan Katana is my favorite. it's the only one I use now.

cmeliftheavy
04-17-2016, 12:19 PM
Good information, one of the things I am looking for is information on how to break the shirts in "train". I have competed in powerlifting meets "raw/C-Raw" and I am looking at transitionsing to single ply next session. From some of the research I have done, I see articles that speak on wetting the seems and inflating balls into the sleeves to stretch the seems out. This will aid in sinking the sleeves into the pits.
Anyone have additional data on how to break a shirt in? Besides time and training?

tidy2108
07-10-2016, 10:45 PM
Thanks for the post brother. Will look at this next workout.

Braveone
02-04-2017, 10:47 AM
Thank you brother. I've been an oversize (by one) shirt to help a bad shoulder stay in place. And using it so often. I notice many of the mistakes you mentioned. (and a few effortless lifts) accidental I'm sure lol. I know you shouldn't rep in a shirt. But the shoulder needs the support at this point. I also might add that where that bar lands out after the hand-off is crucial too. Thanks for the info. I'll put it to use in my comp shirt.

Drive
07-01-2017, 01:49 PM
I wish I would have known this 30 years ago. lol We were still figuring it out. It has become an increasable science. The equipment really is awesome, and has kept some of us old guys competing and reduced injuries. In my opinion it made the sport more interesting too.

Alterspanic132
07-22-2019, 12:09 PM
Awesome info Thanks....

mastermonster
11-15-2020, 12:03 AM
When I competed in powerlifting, I always used a bench shirt. It can be a hot topic at times--the use of a shirt in competition vs. raw such as the argument with shirts becoming so sophisticated it's the shirt doing the work and not the person. That aside, I fouond all of that info above is dead-on, especially about the position of the elbows,etc. which I've experienced first hand. I've always been a flat bencher and have found it almost completely impossible to arch, which seems necessary with almost all bench shirt designs. I do know that Titan makes a shirt espec. designed for those like myself that bench flat, and may invest in one soon.

Titan does make great equipment! I was sponsored by them for about 8 years. Great people to work with too. Their stuff is durable too. Doesn't wear out as fast as some others.

mastermonster
11-15-2020, 12:28 AM
The article forgot to mention "Bench shirt size". IT SUPPOSE TO BE TIGHT!!! People use a way bigger size and that prevent the shirt from work properly.

Right sizing is everything. You have to consider your individual build and not just your chest size. I had a 54 inch chest when I competed but wore a size 50 super katana shirt in single ply. I have a very deep rib cage and short upper arm and worked up to a huge arch. My raw bench stroke was <4". About 6 in a shirt. I used the widest legal grip. Because of all this and being able to use a much tighter shirt I had a tremendous carryover...424 lbs. raw and 639 single ply. If I'd tried to use a size 54 shirt with such a short stroke it would barely load up and had very little 'pop' off the chest. Hope this helps someone in sizing.