Jack Shirt Break-in and First Impressions

Monday, I finally got my hands on the Metal Jack shirt for the first time. Here’s how it went, and my thoughts.

To be honest, I really had no interest in the Jack until just a couple of weeks ago. I was sure it was a great product and all, but given the progress I was making in the Ace, I really had no intention of changing what was obviously working. My training partner, Anthony, finally convinced me that it would be worth trying it out, if nothing else, to have a spare shirt in case of a blowout, or an over-bloat. My Ace really doesn’t have much margin for error right now and a spare with a little more give to it could prove to be an asset.

I knew from past reviews that the arms were tighter on the Jack than on the Ace, although the sizes should be close. When I placed the two shirts side by side, I also noticed the chest plate was slightly smaller. I attributed this to the fact that my Ace is well broken-in at this point and the Jack is designed to stretch more.

When I went to put it on, I couldn’t get it over my forearms. Since I generally need to cut shirt sleeves anyway, this was my first move. To avoid trashing the shirt, I just took off a quarter inch at a time. I probably took off about an inch and a half total, and might do more depending on how the break-in goes over the next couple of weeks. I also put plastic bags on my arms to get it to slide up easier.

My training partners were really happy about the straps behind each sleeve. These make it way easier for them to pull help me pull the thing on.

I used the exact same warm-up progression I always do, but I put the shirt on at 365 instead of the usual 405 just to get another rep in it. I took this down to a 3-board.

I had a lot of trouble getting my hands in place on the bar, so after this rep, I wet it down, then placed it on a bench. Ferret and I each placed a barbell through one of the sleeves and levered the sleeves and chest plate apart like you can see in the pic.

405 to the 3-board felt much better.

Throughout the rest of the session, I needed to take the shirt off between sets because I was losing circulation to my arms.

Next up was 455 pounds to a 2-board. It took a lot to touch and was not the cleanest rep I’ve ever done.

I decided on 495 to a 2-board as my last set. Since I’m still on the mend from my back issues and this was just the first break-in session, there was no need to go heavier. It was actually pretty hard to touch the board, so I decided to repeat it.

I wore the collar a little higher on my second, and the weight came right down, with plenty of pop on the way up.

Here’s some video of the second rep with 495.

As far as a first break-in session goes, I thought it went well. It’s still way too soon to tell if the Jack will be my meet shirt, but it’s certainly worth giving it an honest shot. One thing I learned from dialing in the Ace is that this stuff takes time and patience.

If you follow the log, you might remember that I loved the Ace at first, then hated it, then tried a bunch of other shirts that didn’t work, grudgingly went back to it, then set back to back PRs at my next two meets, including my first 600 pound bench. Since I know I already have a shirt that works for me, I can afford to take my time figuring out the Jack.

For assistance, I did some hammer strength rows. I used less weight than normal, (2 plates per side) and focused on squeezing the hell out of my upper back.

Next up were rear delt raises. Did 4 sets of 15 with 20s

I finished up with triceps pushdowns with a fat handle.