Advice on purchasing and utilizing a bench shirt...

[justin bittner]

Hey guys,
I'm looking into purchasing a bench shirt to help me compete with the others in the 165 class. I've always lifted raw and haven't worn a shirt in about 8 years.
I was hoping some seasoned vets on here could give me some insight on what shirt to purchase... Inzer or Titan... Single? Double? I don't know that much about them. What kind of gains should be expected? I realize that experience is a huge factor, but a shirt SHOULD do something. Right now I'm around 370 or 380. What are the pros and cons of each shirt?

Also, is there a technique that helps get the most out of using a shirt? Keeping elbows in, pausing at a certain spot on your chest, etc.
I truly appreciate all of your help.
Justin

[Shawn Rainey]

Hey Justin,

Finaly gonna goto a shirt again huh, well ill see if I can help ya out. I have recently gone to a titan super katana. its about 180 dollars but def. worth every penny. This shirt I have found you need to bring the bar very low to be effective and to tuck your elbows to get the bar to touch. I am thinking about buying another 1 or 2 of them of diffrent sizes to diffrent fits and training shirts. They are amazing. I havent used inzer in 10 years but ive heard some of there new shirts are pritty good. But I had massive problems getting suits to fit me from them. seems like the people on the phone when ordering cant seem to get it right. But there are alot of lifters using them still so im sure there shirts are still good. My girl friend and friend bolth use Titan F6's and there good shirts too at 100 dollars. there not as agressive as the katana but still give ya 50 to 100 lbs with the right training and practice in them. The main diffrence in shirts as they get more agressive and more plys and such is the pressure it puts on your body. its somthing you have to build up too for most people. I learnd that the hard way when I tryed a 2 ply shirt for the 1st time. the pressure of the shirt almost made me black out. if it wasnt for the spotters pulling it off me I would have been serously injured. so if you havent had a shirt in a long time I would probly sujest a single ply F6 or Fury from titain depending on if your a flat bencher or an arched back bencher. f6 for arched and fury for flat. the f6 you have to bring the bar to your upper belly to touch and the Fury is at the chest area maybe a inch below your nipples(estmate).

how is your tricep strength? and how powerfull is your lock out. Reason I ask is with the new bench shirts it is even more important than ever to have a very powerfull top half of your bench and strong lats for controling the decent of the bar to you chest or stomic. bolth of these are very improtent because once you start getting into decent shirts technique plays a major role in exicuting heavy benching. Just thought I would through that out there so you know what to concentrate on in your training to use your shirt to its maxium benift. So lots of tri's and back. and I could go into legs and shoulders and how they relate to a shirt training ect if you want. but I hope this helps and if you have any questions or coments ill be sure to try to help. Good luck Justin and im sure I will see you at worlds this year!

Shawn Rainey

[TracyLundin]

Justin,

Talk to Ken Anderson... I've bought three shirts from him so far and have been extremely happy with the results. Just remember that it will take time to get used to the shirt and break it in. If you lived in the Salem/Keizer area you could come over and work out with us. We're always looking for a few good people to lift with... The Super Katana are pretty aggressive and might take a bit of weight to touch. Make sure to look and see which ones are okay to use if you are going to lift WABDL. Take care!!

Tracy Lundin

[Shawn Rainey]

Justin,

Talk to Ken Anderson... I've bought three shirts from him so far and have been extremely happy with the results. Just remember that it will take time to get used to the shirt and break it in. If you lived in the Salem/Keizer area you could come over and work out with us. We're always looking for a few good people to lift with... The Super Katana are pretty aggressive and might take a bit of weight to touch. Make sure to look and see which ones are okay to use if you are going to lift WABDL. Take care!!

Tracy Lundin

opps maybe I should have told him where to get thous shirts lol..

yeah what tracy said talk to ken... just google anderson powerlifting.

[justin bittner]

Lol...
Thanks Shawn for the input.

It is too bad that I'm 5000 miles away in Pa. It would be nice to meet a few local veteran people to try out lifting with a shirt. A few people at some meets that I've been to seem to be worse off with a shirt. I don't want to be one of those people lol.

[Jeffrey Begue]

Justin,
Not sure where your at in PA but your welcome at our place any session to learn the shirt. Were an hour south of Cleveland in Ohio. You can e-mail me at begue29@msn.com if interested. We usually do max effort chest on Sunday afternoons.

[justin bittner]

Hey Jeff,
I appreciate the invite. I am an hour east of pittsburgh in somerset, so I'm a little ways away, but I won't say no just yet...