I know there are some people interested in how I'd be breaking in my bench shirt. It's been a while since I've been able to get in one because of the cartilage injury in my chest and the pressure that a shirt puts on it. I finally decided that it's time to get things going and break in the shirt while testing my body. Because of the way I'm going to be doing this, the break in process will be pretty long. This will ensure that my body adjusts and the shirt gets broken-in very well.

Here's what it will look like:

Week 1: 4 boards for 10-12 total reps - This week is already complete.
Week 2: 3 boards for 9-12 total reps
Week 3: Deload, probably raw floor press
Week 4: 3 boards again, slightly more weight for 9-12 total reps
Week 5: 2 boards for 8-10 total reps
Week 6: Deload, floor press or light work off the manpon
Week 7: 2 boards for 6 total reps and 1.5 boards for 2 total reps
Week 8: 1.5 boards for 2 reps and 1 board for 2-3 total reps
Week 9: Deload again, same as above
Week 10: 1 board for 2-4 total reps and half board for 2 total reps
Week 11: Work the shirt down to a touch set or two

This will only leave me a few weeks until my meet, but I will know the shirt is broken in very well. I'll be picking and choosing my percentage range to work in week-by-week and I'll be putting those in my log as I go. I'll also be picking Brian Carroll's brain on this as I go, the dude knows his stuff when it comes to these things.

Right now my best bench in a full meet is 625 pounds. As long as my sternum holds up, I'll be looking to better that significantly. Obviously, I will have to take things as they go. I'll also be including any little things I do to speed up the break-in process, such as wetting the shirt down to make it more pliable or trimming the sleeves. There will be video of some of this work when we have the extra hands to run the camera. The main focus when doing this break-in work will be form, without having that right, you have nothing.

So, this is a basic two weeks on/one week off setup and there's no magic to it. It's just a cautious way of getting things broken in and done right. Powerlifting isn't the short sprint, instant gratification sport that a lot of guys want it to be. It takes a lot of time, patience, and smarts to get everything right. Especially for those of us that aren't the most genetically gifted specimens. Ha!

If anyone has any questions feel free to shoot them my way. I love the input and feedback.