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Where does one find the basic bench shirts described in the article? I went to the Inzer website but didn't see (or don't know what it looks like) a shirt that doesn't involve stuffing your body in it and looking ridiculous.
Last edited by stef; 12-30-2009 at 01:17 PM. Reason: Post moved to new thread for discussion.
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I don't think Inzer's basic Blast shirt looks ridiculous at all.
There's "training tight", "competition tight" and then there's "meet tight." I'd take training tight and go one size above that. It will be too loose to give you any real pounds and any competitive powerlifters you ask would say you're wasting your money. That's fine; you just want to give your shoulders a little support (and the reality is that any support will give you a couple of pounds).
Inzer's sizing instructions say to measure around your shoulders at their widest point, then add 2 to that figure. I'm a little over 48" around my delts and that would mean a 50 would be nice and snug; a 44 or 46 might be appropriate for getting the most out of the shirt in a meet (once I'd learned to use it), but would require help to get on. For my purposes I'd go one larger than the recommended 50 and get a 52 (which I've already done actually).
Heh...
I wonder what a "press shirt" would look like, lol.
Probably be pretty hard to take off...
Sorry. Not trying to hijack the thread. Just had a funny thought of someone walking around the gym with their arms sticking straight up in the air...
*Edited for grammar. I is good wit wudds.
Thanks for the detailed explanation, Gary.
Good one, JCavin. That is a very funny image.
Also note that a Blast Shirt is kind of like a Bench Shirt on training wheels. Most Powerlifters would laugh at it but it will give you shoulder support.
I've tweaked my shoulders so many times that I've been considering exactly this solution. I've got loose shoulders so any time I wiggle at all during the lift I end up with achy tendons.
I touch on the risibility of the shirt among powerlifters in my article. Wearing a Blast shirt to a meet is kind of like showing up at a drag race with your go-cart.
"A Blast shirt? That you were able to put on by yourself?! Hahahahahaha!"
This is NOT for competition. In fact, if the Rehband athletic shirt didn't cost so much, I'd try and probably recommend that instead of even dipping into the bench shirt waters.
Again, it's like the neoprene sleeves and compression shorts I wear to squat. Gives me less than five lbs on my lift, but allows me to train harder, longer and in much greater comfort. A teensy bit of compression, support and warmth around a joint will amaze you.
By the way, if you find the shirt a pain to put on, then you may want to do a little digging into cutting the back halfway up or down. Google is your friend here.
Edit: And DON'T put up vids of yourself training in a loose shirt on Youtube. You'll never hear the end of it from the Youtube jocks about how your shirt's too loose and you're not using it properly, etc. If you do, you may want to disallow random comments (I don't know why everybody doesn't filter the comments for their vids0).
Last edited by Gary Gibson; 12-30-2009 at 04:45 PM.
So would you wear this shirt for your entire workout, or just slip it on for the bench portion? I'm just wondering if I have to change wardrobes during my workout? :-)
I have an Inzer HD Blast shirt and an HD Erector Shirt. Unless Inzer is hiding something from customers who order online, they only have one "tightness" for each brand. Gary, correct me if they offer this to telephone orders or if you know how to get those fits from them. Titan uses those designations and offers their stock product in any of those 3 ranges of restriction, support, discomfort and oxygen deprivation (which, IMO is all worth it for a bigger bench at a meet). But if you're going with the Standard Blast, or any other shirt from Inzer and want it fairly "loose", your best bet is to order it too large.
Don't know how much a loose shirt will give you, but know that it will be a pain to put on alone. Will also be a pain to put on with someone who is unfamiliar with them. If you buy one, Google and YouTube it while you wait for it to arrive so you'll know what to expect.
Never worn a Standard Blast, but all you can do in an HD Blast is bench press or anything else that keeps your hands up and in front of you. No rowing, chinning, pulling, or overhead pressing is possible in mine, nor in my Titan Fury (which is about 2-3 sizes too big for me). I wouldn't recommend keeping it on for your whole workout.