I saw this video on Yahoo! Sports and it is pretty impressive. A high school kid benching 700 pounds. In the article they compared the kid to former Dallas Cowboy Larry Allen, who holds the NFL record of a 700 pound bench. There are a couple differences; however. The HS kid is using a bench shirt; whereas, Larry Allen benched his 700 pounds RAW.
Inzer Bench Shirt
Bench shirts are usually made of polyester, denim, or canvas and come in single- or multi-ply thicknesses and were developed sometime in the 1980’s as a tool to help prevent injuries to the deltoid’s and pec’s during heavy bench workouts. However, it was discovered that lifters could also lift a lot more weight because of these shirts.
I don’t personally use a bench shirt, and never have. And it is a hotly contested topic among power lifters. With that said, I am not against those using bench shirts. I can understand the reasons, those beyond injury prevention.
Motivation is the most important thing to lifters, IMO. You have to maintain some level of motivation to continue to lift heavy objects. During your lifting career, you will experience many ups and downs in your motivation. If you don’t have enough up’s, you can find yourself turning your back on the gym.
Lifting shirts can provide additional motivation. Your confidence will increase because you aren’t as worried about injury and the weight will continue to go up as you learn and master the bench shirt technique, thus increasing your motivation.
Scot Mendelson
On May 22, 2005, Scot Mendelson set the record for the highest RAW bench press of 715 pounds. He also holds the record (in the 275-pound class) in the assisted (bench shirt), with a press of 1,031, which he did in 2009. Ryan Kennelly holds the record in the assisted bench with a lift of 1,075.
I put the year the record was broken for a reason. I find it interesting that Mendelson broke the record in 2005 and it hasn’t been touched since. I can’t help but think the main reason for that is because a majority of power lifters are converting to assisted benches because that is where the big numbers happen and as a result, there is more money to be made. That’s all the motivation you need right there.
I lift alone…in my basement. If I didn’t, I would be more interested in “gearing up”. It takes at least one other person (maybe even two) to even assist you putting on the shirt. So, unless my wife agrees to it…it’s probably not in my cards. Although, the form and technique required to master the shirt and get the best out of it is something I would enjoy taking head on.
One last note. Larry Allen’s 700-pound bench would not have counted in a lifting contest; whereas the HS kids would have. Larry basically bounced the weight off his chest with no pause.
Treats for Kodi 