I Benched 107.5 kg in Competition 3-16-08

[Overload]

haha  Purple would be sweet.  I almost went with a red/black combo.  I think I can work the whole red shirt blonde hair thing, although I spose it's not going to make much difference in my bench.  It's not like a figure suit lol.

I guess Titan only has the three different fits for larger sizes, over 40.  This should be interesting since she was suggesting a Size 46 regular (or 42 competition) for me and I ordered a 36.

Next on my list are boards and wooden blocks for my feet...I'm gonna try to get those together in the next week or two, and then I will be ready to rock and roll.   

I think I'm going with 2" boards for starters, BTW.

A 42 would probably fall off you...lol

the lady i know who set the state record weighed 181 and is 5'8" and was wearing a 42.

the 36 should be good for you.

[Overload]

That "3 different types" thing was a suprise to me too.

Must be something they just put on their website for show, and then they'll just figure out from the measurements what size to send?

Anyway, seems like ripitup's got things moving on well now.

Next thing we'll hear from her, are the complaints of how tight the shirt was and how much it hurted. 

We've all been there, and all thought it was impossible to lift in those fcuking strait jackets.


I remember on a few occasions panicking, not being able to remove the shirt, the fingers numbing up.

...ah, what a sweet sport.

So true on all points. the first time i used a shirt i was like how the hell am i supposed to bench in this thing?...lol

ahhh...the hands going numb feeling while waiting for your next lift, what a fun feeling! then the wrist wraps and your hands are numb...hahahha

as much as i enjoy the shirts, the first thing i say after my last press is "get this fucker off me now"!

[Luv2Hurt]

What is the benefit of the elbow tuck.....more triceps involvement?

[Vet]

What is the benefit of the elbow tuck.....more triceps involvement?

So you can touch the weight. 

[rockyfortune]

What kind of room are you in? Doesn't look like a gym. Also, are you you familiar with Gary Sinise? He cut off his legs for the role of Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump. He had them sewed back on after the movie was filmed, just something to think about.  225 at a BW of 70 would be pretty sweet!

that's some dedication to cut your own legs off for a part..i'm assuming he got paid extra for that?

[Hedgehog]

What is the benefit of the elbow tuck.....more triceps involvement?

As Vet stated, it's to get the bar down.

After awhile, you'll hopefully find a midway, between flaring out with the elbows and tucking them in.

Because the more the elbows flare, the more poundage you'll get from the shirt, but that in itself takes a lot of strength to hold the bar down that path.

Regardless, the barbell has to be lowered to the chest (lowest point is the lowest part of the sternum) and not the belly.

[ripitupbaby]

As Vet stated, it's to get the bar down.

After awhile, you'll hopefully find a midway, between flaring out with the elbows and tucking them in.

Because the more the elbows flare, the more poundage you'll get from the shirt, but that in itself takes a lot of strength to hold the bar down that path.

Regardless, the barbell has to be lowered to the chest (lowest point is the lowest part of the sternum) and not the belly.

I actually had no idea why I wanted to tuck the elbows.  I thought it had something to do with getting more power on the way up.
I am not really understanding this, but I bet I will once I get my shirt and try to get the bar down with it.

 

[ripitupbaby]

So I've ordered my shirt, I got my workouts pretty set, and I am pretty much ready to start training for the bench meet...except that I am training alone for the next 3-4 weeks.  My husband usually trains with me and spots me, etc. but he's tied up with some stuff and won't be back in the gym till mid-October.  I train at a gym that is pretty empty most of the time, so it's hard for me to find a spotter, and even when I do, it's not usually someone who I can trust knows what they are doing.

I am kind of in-limbo for a few weeks and am not sure what I should do about my training in the mean time. 
Should I just stick with the BB workouts?  That's essentially a five day split, including a day of shoulders and a day of arms.  How can I go about making some progress for the next few weeks on my own? 
If any of you guys train alone, how do you do it??

[Vet]

So I've ordered my shirt, I got my workouts pretty set, and I am pretty much ready to start training for the bench meet...except that I am training alone for the next 3-4 weeks.  My husband usually trains with me and spots me, etc. but he's tied up with some stuff and won't be back in the gym till mid-October.  I train at a gym that is pretty empty most of the time, so it's hard for me to find a spotter, and even when I do, it's not usually someone who I can trust knows what they are doing.

I am kind of in-limbo for a few weeks and am not sure what I should do about my training in the mean time. 
Should I just stick with the BB workouts?  That's essentially a five day split, including a day of shoulders and a day of arms.  How can I go about making some progress for the next few weeks on my own? 
If any of you guys train alone, how do you do it??

I train alone quite a bit---my wife is the emergency surgeon at her job, so its not uncommon for us to start a workout, but she'll have to leave because she gets called into work.   This will leave me benching/squatting serious weight from time to time without a spotter.   

My advice is to learn to use a powerrack.  The rack is your very good friend if you are by yourself.  If your gym will let you, set up a set of spotter chains too.   Not only that, if you are worried about squats, learn to "dump" the bar.   It'll save you one day. 

[ripitupbaby]

I train alone quite a bit---my wife is the emergency surgeon at her job, so its not uncommon for us to start a workout, but she'll have to leave because she gets called into work.   This will leave me benching/squatting serious weight from time to time without a spotter.   

My advice is to learn to use a powerrack.  The rack is your very good friend if you are by yourself.  If your gym will let you, set up a set of spotter chains too.   Not only that, if you are worried about squats, learn to "dump" the bar.   It'll save you one day. 

haha  I've dumped the bar twice and gotten stuck under the Smith Machine twice.  One time with the bar and both times on the Smith have been when I am out of town, at a random gym where I don't know anyone.  It's kind of embarassing when some guy has to run over and rescue me.   

I'm not gonna use the Smith machine, I don't think I like it anymore.  It's been bothering my shoulder.
We've got one power rack, I've never set up a bench in it, but I'll give it a try. 
It's just hard to figure out how to really get these workouts done without a spotter, esp for negatives, etc.  I just don't want to lose the next month floundering around, not really doing much of anything but going through the motions.

[Overload]

A good spotter and/or training partner is worth it's weight in gold.

My confidence goes out the window if i have to bench heavy alone, i've dumped the bar on my chest before and it is always in the back of my mind. if i have to train alone i go much lighter and focus on speed and explosive power.

Doing shirt work is impossible without a good spotter.

i'd stick with your powerlifting program but go light enough to where you can feel comfortable with the weight. you still have a while before your meet.

[Vet]

A good spotter and/or training partner is worth it's weight in gold.

My confidence goes out the window if i have to bench heavy alone, i've dumped the bar on my chest before and it is always in the back of my mind. if i have to train alone i go much lighter and focus on speed and explosive power.

Doing shirt work is impossible without a good spotter.

i'd stick with your powerlifting program but go light enough to where you can feel comfortable with the weight. you still have a while before your meet.

For me its the exact opposite---My wife is literally less than half my size.... so even with her spotting me despite the fact that she's strong as hell there is a time where my weights push over her limits.   She's also wonderful for reminding me that she MIGHT not be able to get the weight off if I miss it.  needless to say I know my limits, know what I can and cant handle with control and believe it or not, i"ve never been seriously injured training by myself or with a lightweight training partner.  The adrenalin rush from the knowledge that she might not pull it off me helps quite a bit.   

The worst for me was the one time I got pinned under a 4 board with 600+ on the bar---she pulled the plates off while I held the bar.  I figure its good for static strength  .  I did tweak my shoulder that time, but it wasn't serious.  The thing you have to remember is any powerlifter in reasonable condition isn't going to die instantly if they get pinned.  They can continue to breath while a weaker assistant pulls the weight off or they wiggle out from under the rack or chain that's caught the weight. 


having a spotter to help wtih the liftoff definately helps with shirt work.   But if worse comes to worse, you can get by without it. 

[Hedgehog]

I feel you, definitely. The stiff benchpress shirts have changed a lot.


 Fortunately, we got plenty of ER racks with safety bars in our gym, which in many cases have saved lives or prevented very serious injuries.

This stuff usually happens when you get to 400+ benchpresses. The spotters just don't have the time to react.

Thankfully for ripitup, she won't be lifting that kind of weight. Not yet anyway.

If she got a good spotter, she will be fine.

[ripitupbaby]

Hi Guys,
So here's the update....

I sucked it up and decided to move forward with the workouts sans training partner.
-I did the two heavy workouts last Thursday and this past Monday.  For workout #1, I used 145 pounds as my heavy weight and 185 for the negatives (I'll increase that next time, but this was my first time doing real negs).
The negatives burned the SHIT out of my front shoulders and triceps.  I quickly discovered that incline DB presses are NOT necessary during this workout, so I will be switching that up next time.  I was SOOOOOOO sore for like 4 days, still kinda sore Monday when I did workout #2 (too sore to do it on Sunday lol).  Seriously, I was like WTF.   
-Yesterday, I did my first light workout (125 pounds) which felt easy.  I did some side and rear delt DB work too.  I'll do light workout #2 on Monday.  I haven't put the board presses into workout #2 yet, I've just been doing straight bench press, bc I haven't gotten the boards yet and I really don't want to do these by myself. 

-I have been practicing the arch, wide grip, etc.  My back was super sore from arching (first time for that too) during my first heavy workout, and I completely tweeked it in between the shoulder blades.  I haven't had time to get to the chiro yet, so it still hurts but it's not terrible.

-My bench shirt arrived!  It's small!
We made attempt #1 to put the shirt on me over last weekend, but we were not successful.   
Hedge sent me a whole bunch of pointers on how to get it on, so we'll try again.

I'm outta town for the rest of the weekend but I'll give light workout #2 a go along with the shirt on Monday. 

Thank you all for your help.
 

[ripitupbaby]

OK GUYS, I ALMOST got the shirt on...and really, all I can say is YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.  This cannot be right.  This shirt HAS to be too small for me. 

The seams at the ends of the arms are ridiculous.  They are SO tight, it was incredibly painful to get it on my arms (thanks for the tips Hedge, they did work lol), and I barely got it over my elbows.  My right arm is considerably bigger than my left and was much harder.  My right arm turned purple and lost feeling after about 10 minutes.  My right arm even started to get a little cold.  WHY do the seams at the end of the arms have to be that tight?   
Should I be losing feeling in my arms?  WTF?!?!

Getting it over my head and shoulders and down my back was relatively easy compared to the arms.  We did not get it on 100% though...I don't think we completely set the neck.  But there is this seam or fold or something that cuts across my upper pec and is SO painful when I try to spread my arms apart or make a pressing movement.  It's hard to believe that even pressing in this shirt will be possible.

I am posting a few pictures of the shirt on me because I find it really hard to believe that this shirt is going to fit me and that I am going to be able to press in it. 
Seriously....Is this shirt the right size for me?  Can you see how it's cutting into my arms?  HOW do I get it up my arms a little more and get the neck set?? 
I'm willing to make a few more attempts to get it all the way on me, but seriously...wtf?!

 

[ripitupbaby]

I had seam marks on the backs of my arms and war wounds all over when i took it off.   

[danielson]

They are not meant for little women, they are made for men. Why are you using a shirt anyway?

[ripitupbaby]

They are not meant for little women, they are made for men. Why are you using a shirt anyway?

I want to see what I can do with a shirt, never tried one before.   

And if they are "made for men," then it should fit easier on a little woman.   

[danielson]

I want to see what I can do with a shirt, never tried one before.   

And if they are "made for men," then it should fit easier on a little woman.   

I meant that men wouldn't cry about a little pain Seriously though, don't cheat yourself, see what you can do shirtless. I have read that shirts can add over 200 pounds , so you would be pushing 25 pounds. Does that makes sense?

[ripitupbaby]

I meant that men wouldn't cry about a little pain Seriously though, don't cheat yourself, see what you can do shirtless. I have read that shirts can add over 200 pounds , so you would be pushing 25 pounds. Does that makes sense?

No, not really...If the shirt can add over 200 pounds (I don't think so), then I would be pushing around 400 pounds.   

[danielson]

No, not really...If the shirt can add over 200 pounds (I don't think so), then I would be pushing around 400 pounds.   

You know what I mean. If you really wanted to test yourself, you would try to get stronger, not try to get more sophisticated lifting devices.

[Overload]

Looks about right but it could be one size too small.

keep your hands out in front of you to help prevent the loss of circulation. that's why you see guys with their arms resting on someones shoulders when they are waiting for their turn to lift.

i'm usually bleeding after i take my tight competition shirt off.

Just wait until you try to touch in the shirt! talk about pressure.

i'd suggest trying a shirt one size larger.

are you using the slippers or a plastic bag to put it on? the slippers make a BIG difference.

[Overload]

No, not really...If the shirt can add over 200 pounds (I don't think so), then I would be pushing around 400 pounds.   

Some guys get more than 200 out of a single ply. lots of practice.

[danielson]

Some guys get more than 200 out of a single ply. lots of practice.

Than why use one to try 225? I am confused here. I hate shirts myself, I think it distorts the records, but that is neither here nor there. Why use a shirt to push 225?

[Overload]

Than why use one to try 225? I am confused here. I hate shirts myself, I think it distorts the records, but that is neither here nor there. Why use a shirt to push 225?

that is why there are RAW records and equipped records. some feds are single ply only, some allow canvas and multi ply,

it's all relative.

think of it as a percentage.

if i bench 480 raw and 590 with a shirt, what percentage improvement do i get?

if she benches 155 raw and 225 with a shirt, what percentage?

if Tiny meeker benches 630 raw and 946 with a shirt, what percentage?

get my drift? don't just look at the numbers but the relative improvement.

i have seen guys who bench 500+ raw only hit high 500 in a shirt. i've seen kids who bench 185 raw bench almost 300 in a shirt.