Bench Shirt Question (and I searched first)

[BigGreen]

I've searched past threads for an answer to this question, but couldn't come across the specifics (lots of other good info though). Anyway, I've made a decision to enter what is essentially a powerlifting meet of sorts. I started westside style training 6 weeks ago as a means to add some strength and maybe some thickness to my traditional bb'ing endeavors. HOwever, I've made what I consider to be great progress, am ecstatic about it, and as luck would have it, the (somewhat) local YMCA is holding a bench press contest in the near future in which limited accesories will be allowed (single ply shirts among them). It is a bench press extravaganza of sorts where the winner is determined not only by 1RM, but by a max-rep effort on 225 for the heavier weight classes and a 185 max-rep effort for the lighter classes. This brings about two questions for me that I'm hoping you guys and girls will answer:

1. As they are reasonably priced and allowed at the "meet", I'm thinking of ordering a basic Inzer bench shirt from monstermuscle (http://www.monstermuscle.com/bench-shirts.asp) for 40 bucks. However, insofar as the measurements are concerned, they aren't very helpful as to what exactly they want measured. I assume the arm measurement should be flexed (as it will likely be tensed during the lift) and the chest measurement is done in much the way I'm measured for suits and shirts (circumference at the nipple line with the tape measure tucked under my armpits as not to include the arms in the circumference). Furthermore, and i'm really guessing here, is the shoulder measurement just a circumference of the torso with arms by your side measured at the thickest point of the side delt?

2. As far as the maximal effort with 225 goes, I believe I'll have a slight advantage over some of the traditional strength guys that don't normally train in this rep range with any frequency, since my previous training for the last four years or so was very rep oriented. Is a bench shirt primarily for a one-rep max or does it have any value in a rep test (it will be allowed in both portions of the contest)?

Anyway, thanks for the help, both in the past and on this. I'm truly hoping that this little contest might represent a foray into more traditonal powerlifting meets, so I'm really pouring myself into this. Also, if anyone is adamant in their assertion that a bench shirt has no place in the meet/routine of someone only having a grand total of six weeks training deliberately as a powerlifter (i had, of course, maxxed on deadlifts, bench and squats in the past just for the heck of it...so it's not entirely brand new)...do let me know please. Lastly, if a simple bench shirt has no place in my training at present, since wraps of all varieties are allowed, is there any way to wrap the elbows (sorta like knee wraps for squats) that might give me a tiny push...i'd really like to perform well at this thing. Thanks.

[GRIMM]

Measurements should be taken Relaxed. Chest and shoulders at the widest part as well as arms. If i were you i would order directly from inzer. I don't see why people order through a middle man when they can talk directly to the manufacturer. 1-800-222-6897. I think Monster muscle tends to take a little longer than inzer from what i hear. Your shoulder and chest measurements are correct the way you have it.
As far as the 225 for reps with your shirt. If you can get 225 to touch without taking to much effort (ie. wearing yourself out on the negative.) you could use it but i don't think that it will work that way. Focus on using it for your max.
Any other questions feel free to ask.
Good Luck.

[BigGreen]

Interesting, I was unaware that one could order directly from Inzer. Almost every internet search turned up the "middlemen" as the means through which to purchase one. Also, I hear quite a bit about "getting it to touch", which is literally Greek to me. I assume it's such common vernacular for you guys that there's no need to qualify or explain it in any way, but could you enlighten me a bit? I'm thinking that it has something to do with the shirt being so tight that it actually requires some effort to get a lighter weight down to your chest...almost like doing a lying pulldown?? Gracias

[This Is Bench Day]

People will have their shirt fitted with a tightness that requires a certain weight to get the barbell all the way down to your chest. If you bench 300, your shirt will be much looser than a person who wants to be able to touch 500 lbs. And if a person with a shirt that takes 500 to touch, put less than 500 on the bar, they wouldn't be able to get it all the way down to the chest.

[BigGreen]

So I imagine what that if and when I were to order such a shirt they would ask what I generally hit as a max? Or, does knowing what your 1RM area is dictate what type of shirt you buy (single ply, double, denim, open back, etc). Do they assume that someone ordering the "beginner's" shirt is only benching in the 300's raw? THis part has somewhat confused me since I don't want to end up with a shirt (if indeed i go that route, as I'm leaning) that's either impossible to use or functionally useless due to one extreme or the other. So I guess what my question really is, is how do i insure I get a shirt that "works"?

[GRIMM]

A lot of the shirt stuff at first is a guessing game. I would give exact measurments and possibly even round up if it is say 50 and 1/2 inches to 51. Its trial and error for most.

[This Is Bench Day]

biggreen, like I said I haven't used a shirt yet, so I'm just telling you what I've read. ok, ultimately, its the tightness of the shirt that determines how much it's gonna take to touch. the poly vs denim and single vs double doesn't have so much to do with how much you can touch -- more like how much the shirt can support. For example... a single ply poly that somebody gets really tight so they can only touch 500, that's more likely to blow open on a max attempt and give less help on the actual press than a double denim that also takes 500 to touch. I.e. the guy might be only able to get 540 on his single poly and he'd blow it out, whereas with his double denim he might get 600 and not blow it out --- but they both take 500 to touch, see?

like GRIMM said, starting out on bench shirts is guess and check -- depending on what your'e getting, they may ask how much weight you're trying to touch... but ultimately they're not going to change anything about the shirt because of that number... they just may decide to send you a tighter or looser shirt. Like GRIMM said, try going a little on the loose side for your first one because then you can still use it and train with it and maybe even grow into it -- then as you gain more experience, then start pushing the limits of how tight you can go.

hope all that helps.

[RRogers]

Bench shirts are very kewl, and I have used a few of them over the years. One thing that I would suggest is that using a bench shirt to get stronger is probably not your best solution. In my opinion you should use a bench shirt enough to learn its groove for a competition but no more than that. Bench in the RAW for the most part to strengthen everything and your shirt will add 50-100 pounds as you ramp up for a contest. Shirts should be relatively tight through the chest but not so tight that you can't get the weight down to touch without pulling it down. I saw a guy do that with 500 pounds and the shirt blew as he was pulling down and he was absolutely crushed. If you get a Titan F-6 or Fury you will probably have trouble getting the arms to fit. I am 5'10", 225 pounds, 19 1/2" arms, and a Titan 52 F-6 is horrible to get past my elbows. And this shirt is loose enough that I can get 225 down without any issues. Still it is a life, and limb, saver when you get past 450 and things start to creak. BTW, if you don't learn the groove of the shirt it CAN cause you to lift lower poundages than benching without the shirt.... MUST LEARN THE GROOVE

[RRogers]

Oh hey I forgot... make sure your shirt is allowed by the federation that you are lifting in. USAPL and IPF generally only allow single ply poly and they even call out the make and model that they support and nothing else. They WILL gear check before a contest and if your gear doesn't fly you can't use it, period. Titan's, Inzer's, and Metal's in single ply poly are almost always accepted in all federations.

So I imagine what that if and when I were to order such a shirt they would ask what I generally hit as a max? Or, does knowing what your 1RM area is dictate what type of shirt you buy (single ply, double, denim, open back, etc). Do they assume that someone ordering the "beginner's" shirt is only benching in the 300's raw? THis part has somewhat confused me since I don't want to end up with a shirt (if indeed i go that route, as I'm leaning) that's either impossible to use or functionally useless due to one extreme or the other. So I guess what my question really is, is how do i insure I get a shirt that "works"?

[phreezer]

You need to learn how to bench in a shirt before you compete in it... I've never seen anyone who can bench as much in a shirt the first time as they can raw... There is a technique to learning them...and it takes a fair amount of practice.. And one more thing.. YOu should learn how much you can do on rack lockouts.. if you can't lockout 500lbs doing rack lock outs.. you won't lock out your bench in the comp.. the shirt only helps in the lower half of the movement.. the top half is pretty much your tri-ceps.. so make sure they are strong enough to handle the weight.. Do board presses (3-4 board) and do rack lockouts.. If you can get with a Powerlifter do so... someone who can teach you proper technique is vital.

[power65]

Good Sound Advice From RRogers & Phreezer:

You will need to practice in the shirt. Don't think that you're going to order this shirt (Even a lower level shirt) and you're going to improve in your bench press. You really have to learn the natural groove of the shirt as it pertains to you and how the shirt fits you. "Groove" means the path on which the bar travels on it's way up. No one I know ever benched more in a bench shirt than they did raw until after several workouts. And I have trained with 10's of great powerlifters. The problem with our sport rightnow is they we have all become too reliable on gear anyway. But that's another story.

Second, If you can get 225 down to touch your chest I don't think your shirt is fit properly anyway. Even with the basic type shirts I've never been able to get 225 to touch.

And like mentioned previously, order directly from Inzer. As a matte of fact don't order online at all. Call Inzer directly and talk to someone as you are placing your order. It sounds like you have a ton of questions and Inzer is great about answering them. Inzer is the MOST customer friendly company I have ever dealt with. I even have been to there facility and had them work with me and they made me a few custom shirts. These people are great. And they didn't even charge me anything extra for doing. That's customer satisfaction for you. Plus, when you order from Inzer you get your shirt within a couple of days. I HAVE HAD SOME BAD EXPERIENCES WITH MONSTER MUSCLE RIGHTNOW. I PLACED A ORDER WITH THEM THREE WEEKS AGO FOR SOME BASIC TYPE OF STUFF AND STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED IT. AND WHEN YOU CALL THEM YOU CAN'T EVER GET ANYONE TO TALK TO. The person you do get can take your order, but can't answer any questions.

Good Luck.

[goodtobeapimp]

You need to learn how to bench in a shirt before you compete in it... I've never seen anyone who can bench as much in a shirt the first time as they can raw... There is a technique to learning them...and it takes a fair amount of practice.. And one more thing.. YOu should learn how much you can do on rack lockouts.. if you can't lockout 500lbs doing rack lock outs.. you won't lock out your bench in the comp.. the shirt only helps in the lower half of the movement.. the top half is pretty much your tri-ceps.. so make sure they are strong enough to handle the weight.. Do board presses (3-4 board) and do rack lockouts.. If you can get with a Powerlifter do so... someone who can teach you proper technique is vital.

Totally agreed. It takes awhile to find your sweet spot. Your technique will compliment your strength so much that it's worth holding out on meets and just learning how to use a shirt. So many people I know think its just something they will throw on and add 100lbs...It just doesnt work that way. A good arch,hitting low, and a good shirt will add a ton. It not just strength that makes the top powerlifters what they are. They really know what they hell they are doing with these things..Learning yourself is vital in one of these things.