... i have never ever said... that shirted benches are cheat benches...
i am really questioning the logic?
and if you notice the thread said 170 guy benched 700...
not 170 guy benches 400.. so yes people do try to pass off these shirted lifts as real
.. but still my question is what is the point of benching in a shirt....
it's just the nature of the sport now. if you want to compete geared, compete geared. personally, i much prefer lifting raw. geared lifting hurts like hell, requires way too much assistance (three spotters on your bench and squat, for example) and the injury potential is monumental.
you are right about the lockout,
the i see it, doing a shirted bench is like doing a partial rep.
100% right. it is, to an extent. and that's why you have to have MASSIVELY strong triceps if you want a big shirted bench. like i said, i raw bench around 365. off of a 3-board i can handle 405 for a set of 3. a friend of mine can get around 330 but off of boards he has a hard time with 315. not a lot of lockout strength on him, he's the type who gets the bar up most of the way then struggles to finish it, i'm the other way around.