bench shirt question???

[stullsy]

i have been strictly a raw lifter and just bought a bench shirt b/c my bench is getting up into the weight to were i dont wanna risk injury but i wanna keep increasing my bench.

i recently bought a inzer heavy duty closed back bench shirt and tried it out today and im actually benching less with the shirt than i am without it.

is this just me needing to get the groove and wear the shirt in first or am i maybe putting it on wrong or something?

i get hellish power from the bottom but halfway through and near lockout it becomes harder.

 

[AE14]

it will take time to get into the normal groove with the shirt. Once you, you will notice fairly solid movement in weight

 

[pmiller383]

Your grove and set up are probably off, and if you having trouble with the lock out you may be getting yourself way out of position. Some people may disagree with this but you might want to try working down on boards to learn the groove and break in the shirt. Also make sure the shirt is fully seated and staying in place during the press.

 

[SRS2000]

It's tough to tell without seeing some video. One problem may be that you are not pushing hard enough out of the bottom. It's easy to kind of let the shirt get the weight started and then try to take over part of the way up. This usually leads to stalling in the mid-range. I did this for years in the shirt until I started consciously thinking to "fire your triceps" from the very bottom of the movement.

 

[stullsy]

Your grove and set up are probably off, and if you having trouble with the lock out you may be getting yourself way out of position. Some people may disagree with this but you might want to try working down on boards to learn the groove and break in the shirt. Also make sure the shirt is fully seated and staying in place during the press.

well it feels like i cant get enough tension in my lats and traps b/c the shirt is so tight. when i bring the weight down i try to tuck my elbows but its like the shirt doesnt want me to.

 

[SRS2000]

well it feels like i cant get enough tension in my lats and traps b/c the shirt is so tight. when i bring the weight down i try to tuck my elbows but its like the shirt doesnt want me to.

Sounds like you need more upper back and lat work to keep your shoulders and back in good position in the shirt. I've seen this before with people who haven't used a shirt before. The shirt wants to pull your shoulders forward and you have to keep them pulled back. Think about pushing yourself up to meet the bar instead of letting the bar come down. This may help keep you in better position.

 

[stullsy]

Sounds like you need more upper back and lat work to keep your shoulders and back in good position in the shirt. I've seen this before with people who haven't used a shirt before. The shirt wants to pull your shoulders forward and you have to keep them pulled back. Think about pushing yourself up to meet the bar instead of letting the bar come down. This may help keep you in better position.

ok, thanks for the suggestions, ill try to remember about the pushing yourself up to meet the bar thing.

I tell ya what I use to bash bench shirts and thought that dudes only used them b.c it made their bench about 100-200 lbs heavier, but i gotta say there is more science and form to it using a shirt than not using one.

 

[Chubbie]

Your grove and set up are probably off, and if you having trouble with the lock out you may be getting yourself way out of position. Some people may disagree with this but you might want to try working down on boards to learn the groove and break in the shirt. Also make sure the shirt is fully seated and staying in place during the press.

This is exactly what I did and it help me. I also used reverse band presses, both raw and shirted, to help learn my groove. Board work is a must for shirted pressing in my opinion.