The MONSTER GARAGE GYM/MAROSCHER COACHING LOG is a weekly Coaching Log by MGG owner, 2-Time WPC World Powerlifting Champion, Eric Maroscher, and is one of the Featured Coaching Logs at EliteFTS.
LIVE, LEARN and PASS ON.
MONSTER GARAGE GYM is one of the premier powerlifting gyms in the US.
THIS WEEK’S Monster Garage Gym/Maroscher Coaching Log: THE COMPLEXITY OF THE BENCH SHIRT
*NEW MGG COACHING LOG POSTED HERE EVERY WEEKEND!!!!
________________________________________
Initially a piece of safety gear to protect the lifter (like a belt and knee wraps), the bench shirt has changed, progressed and evolved into a highly sophisticated part of the geared lifters’ world. In the hands of an experienced shirted-lifter, the bench shirt can be an advantageous tool toward a larger total. In the hands of a lifter lacking that experience, guidance and user-know-how, the shirt can at best leave them shaking their head, or at worst, leave them injured.
When you get an opportunity, check out the early bench shirts of the 1980’s on YouTube. Not unlike knee wrap which serves to protect the lifter’s knees, the knee wrap also allows for the lifter to put up more weight when squatting. This was the original intent of the first generation bench shirts. In some cases, not much more than an ultra-super-tight sweat shirt, the shirts back then were easily slipped by the lifter, and the lifter could press the weight just like they did RAW, but the shirt being tighter, helped give the weight a little boost at the bottom and wham, protection and the ability to go a little bit heavier.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-pBttQ_6eo]
Fast forward to the early and mid-1990’s, the shirts were still all closed back shirts and the material of the most, then modern, shirts were canvas or denim. I recall competing at meets with two extra bench shirts in my bag as the canvas material would often blowout at the seams. We would travel with a little squirt bottle and after the inside of the shirt was sprinkled with baby powder to get it on over your forearms (pre-shirt slippers) we would spray the bench shirt at the seams where it would typically blow out in hopes of that making the material a little more pliable and giving.
As the era of the denim shirt in the mid-1990’s came about, the shirts blew out less frequently, and for the most part, you could utilize nearly the same RAW pressing technique with the bench shirt and add a nice chunk of weight to your press, thus your total.
Enter the early 2000’s and as the numbers on the bench reached in the 800’s and a few things begin to happen. First, huge numbers by the likes of guys like Anthony Clark (too young to know who he is….Google him now!) were being reached, and reached with increasing frequency. Also, instead of pec tears, guys forearms were starting to break. As the shirts had progressed from canvas to denim, we used to joke, the next generation of shirts would be made of kevlar. Well, that joke wasn’t so funny once the new polymer shirts came out and their tensile strength was such that the shirt would never blow and the weak point was now the lifter, and in many cases, the lifter’s forearm.
While all this was going on, a lawsuit was happening in the world of powerlifting between two giants in the sport (you can Google that too). This legal battle was so big that it kept the IPF worlds out of the US for a number of years. Without going into a huge backstory, part of the issue was about who owned the rights to the patent on the direction of the sleeves on a bench shirt. Old fashioned bench shirts had sleeves that like a regular shirt you wear around the house, and the sleeves were sewn so they pointed down from the shoulders. The new shirts had sleeves that pointed straight out from the chest, just like an astronaut's arms do on a space suit. The new, at that time, bench shirts that Ernie Frantz was designing had this space suit, arm’s pointing straight out design. The guys from the 1990’s who are still in the game will know exactly what I am talking about, and probably have their vintage Frantz bench shirt laying around somewhere, smelling like a combination of sweat and baby powder.
The new angle for the arms that Ernie helped design, took the stress off of the forearm and with the new polymer material that no longer would blow out, the bench records, one after one, began to fall and totals shot up which was one of the factors for the elite totals being changed during that time frame.
To make a long story short, the cut of the shirt, the advent of the open back shirt and the ability to really “jack” the shirt down for the bigger attempts, the chest plate and a ton of other nuances, transformed the bench shirt into a high-tech piece of gear that, when worn by a skilled bencher could add a couple of hundred pounds to their bench, but if worn by someone thinking they can put on a modern bench shirt, press the weight up with their same exact RAW form, can take that lifter right to the emergency room or dentist’s office as a modern shirt must be controlled, or it will not only control you, it will own you.
Bench day at the Monster Garage Gym is always a great thing to be a part of and to watch, but last week’s bench day was a thing to behold as Steve Brock, Matt Houser and Cooper Wage (three truly amazing benchers) were training bench and they were really spending time working with one another on the nuances of this piece of lifting gear. With each set the shirts were tweaked to meet the specific needs of the lifter and the specific weight on the bar. It was like a bench shirt seminar. I think with all of the lifters included on that day, some 5 types of bench shirts being worn, as there is no one right bench shirt for everyone, there is only what is right for you, and what is right for you today, might not be what is right for you two years from now.
The current state of powerlifting is split up with 90% of the sport of powerlifting being RAW lifting. This is a 180 degree flip from the era of the 1990’s when the changes in the shirt were coming fast and furious. Back then, lifters would help one another on with their shirts and the lifter took care of the rest. Today the shirts are complex, and that is regardless of the manufacturer.
The point of this coaching log is that if you are one of the 90% RAW lifters considering wearing a bench shirt, find a very knowledgeable shirted bencher and work with him/her, and work with them and the shirt, a lot. Work with the shirt a lot as the technique used for a shirted bench is its own animal vs the technique for a RAW bencher.
The accompanying video captures three gifted shirted benchers working together on their bench and coaching each other, as even the gifted shirted benchers require some side coaching to help them along the way. A great sharing of knowledge and a great display of brotherhood in powerlifting.
Wishing you the best in your training and competitions. Ever Onward, Eric Maroscher, Owner: MONSTER GARAGE GYM
Equipment featured in this week’s coaching log:
EliteFTS Deluxe Bench Press
EliteFTS Texas Power Bar
EliteFTS Proloc Collars
EliteFTS Sabertooth Bench Bar
You can find ALL of the prior EliteFTS/Maroscher Coaching Logs/articles HERE:
MONSTER GARAGE GYM uses Universal Nutrition/Animal supplements and EliteFTS powerlifting equipment.
YOU CAN’T KILL A MASTER LIFTER T-SHIRTS HERE:
________________________________________
You can follow Monster Garage Gym at:
MONSTER GARAGE GYM FACEBOOK
MONSTER GARAGE GYM TWITTER
MONSTER GARAGE GYM INSTAGRAM
MONSTER GARAGE GYM YOUTUBE CHANNEL
MONSTER GARAGE GYM STORE
MONSTER GARAGE GYM WEB PAGE