Bench/Blast Shirts

[tiramisu]

I'm not sure what I'm looking for so I thought I'd ask.

I'm looking for a shirt to give me shoulder support that I can use for heavy training sets.

The blast shirts sounded like a good idea but I'm reading that putting it on by yourself sucks and I won't be getting help putting a shirt on at the gym.

The single ply open back or cut back bench shirts sound fairly easy to get into but I'm not sure that I'd get the shoulder support and my understanding is that it significantly changes the mechanics of the lift.

So I'm kind of stuck between an Inzer standard blast shirt a couple of sizes too big or a fury rage. Neither is exactly what I'm looking for but it's not clear that what I want exists.

Am I just confused? Should I be thinking blast shirt or single ply bench shirt?

thanks.
t.

[Talo]

http://www.prowriststraps.com/bench_press_powerlifting_shirt

This is the shirt I've got. It is a bit easier to put on by yourself ( easier but still hard ) because of the material in the back as it has some give to it.

I've only used it once in a meet and a few times during training practice. It's amazing how much 15-20lbs of body weight can effect what happens.

At 220 I benched 380 , then at 235 in the gym I had a hard time "touching" 405 , but easy to press..

I will say that over the years my shoulders have always held me out from increasing my numbers on the bench and with this shirt ( any shirt for that matter ) the shoulders do not hold you back at all. They actually felt way better after benching. The cuts under the armpits and chest are a different pain all together..:)

I can't really help you out because I've never used a blast shirt only a single ply. I have put on a double open back , but you will still want help getting the arms and shoulders in their tight. There are ways to do it on your own , but if your in the gym with anyone , just ask for help .... **** , your going to be getting strange looks anyways :D


Oh , baby powder will be your best friend .

[tiramisu]

That's a fairly serious shirt. If I go 4 sizes up ie 50 for a "46 and change" will it be adjustable enough that I can bench like a raw'ish bencher or is it still going to act like a serious powerlifter's shirt?

I want the shoulder support but I'm still trying to develop my raw bench press rather than crossing over to powerlifting. ... and then again I have no idea what I'm saying. I suppose I'm just going to have to jump in and figure it out at some point.

I suppose my naive concern is that shirted pressing sounds like it emphasizes lockout (triceps) rather than chest pressing with the shirts providing both stopping power and rebound close to the chest.

... the slightly more rational side of me says if you take a heavy weight and bench press it you'll get a good workout either way and it doesn't matter so pick a shirt, get on with it and stop fussing stupid details.

[Talo]

... the slightly more rational side of me says if you take a heavy weight and bench press it you'll get a good workout either way and it doesn't matter so pick a shirt, get on with it and stop fussing stupid details

There you go :D

4 sizes might be a bit too big. I've used a shirt ( can't remember the size ) for training at 230-235 and I could touch with 225 , so not too much support , then I dropped 10-15lbs and that same shirt I could touch with just the bar , so there was basically no stopping or rebound at all.

Sorry for talking weight and not sizes , but I don't have too much knowledge when it comes to gear. When I started using it I was just using hand me downs , so instead of me dishing out a few hundred for a shirt I just adjusted my weight , lol .

If you were to go with that one that I posted you will be happy and I also think that you shouldn't go any more than 1 or 2 sizes to big . You can also take your weight into effect. Since you are coming off a cut I'm not sure how much weight your going to put on .

One thing to remember and this is only my thinking . Training with a nice tight shirt will take your bench numbers up and it will even take your RAW numbers up . The hardest part I always found was the general shock to my CNS ( found this with squats too ) So once your use to handling 400 ( for example ) with a shirt it wont be such a shock when you do it without , pressing it is another story :)

Just dive in and get a good shirt your shoulders will thank you , I know mine did. Seriously it was like night and day when it came to benching and the lack of pain I was in after.

[Talo]

That blast shirt from Inzer does look interesting.

If I continue to do RAW events I might just have to sell what I've got ( squat and bench suit ) and pick one of these up.

[bobbyorr]

from my experience working in shirts, they will keep you healthy but not make you stronger .. they will test your strength but not improve it.... you can try the shirt... but i would rather do some over head work... for everyone that i have worked with, the over work keeps shoulders healthy... if you are doing 531 are you doing the military part of it?

[tiramisu]

from my experience working in shirts, they will keep you healthy but not make you stronger .. they will test your strength but not improve it.... you can try the shirt... but i would rather do some over head work... for everyone that i have worked with, the over work keeps shoulders healthy... if you are doing 531 are you doing the military part of it?

I've started the Triumvirate pretty much as prescribed... So Yes. For the last 10 months I've been doing DC and for some reason Dante doesn't seem to be a great fan of Shoulder strength. The outcome is a lot of trainees with shoulder injuries from benching which is then said to be a "bad" exercise. Go figure.

I'm also going to add face pulls and scapular depression exercises to my external rotator rehabs warmups.

[bobbyorr]

I've started the Triumvirate pretty much as prescribed... So Yes. For the last 10 months I've been doing DC and for some reason Dante doesn't seem to be a great fan of Shoulder strength. The outcome is a lot of trainees with shoulder injuries from benching which is then said to be a "bad" exercise. Go figure.

I'm also going to add face pulls and scapular depression exercises to my external rotator rehabs warmups.

good!!! good luck