We have all heard the questions, comments, insults and criticisms when a big lift is made in geared powerlifting. “Yeah but what can you do raw?” “I could do that too with a forklift lifting it for me.” “How much does that shirt/suit add?” My response is that you don’t ask Dale Earnhardt what he runs in the 100 meter dash. Nor do you ask a pole vaulter what they do in the high jump. It’s a totally different sport. My wife, Rae-Ann Coughenour Miller has the all-time world record in both single ply and unlimited bench press. We have no idea what she could bench raw off her chest in a competition. Why? We don’t care. I can tell you that the equipment definitely helps. No, it doesn’t do the weight for you. If you want to find out if it adds 200 lbs to your bench press, try it out. Work your way up to 200 pounds over your max and see what happens. Many a lifter has thought this just to abandon ship like it’s on fire after the maiden voyage. Rae-Ann’s first time in a bench press shirt was around 2001. She did half a rep and told us to rack the weight. She swore at me and said it was the stupidest thing she ever tried. So, with that said some of you might still want to step over to The Dark Side. Here are five mistakes raw lifters make when switching to gear.
1. Using hand me down equipment that doesn’t fit your body style or lifting mechanics. I’m not an expert on what shirt, suit, briefs work with certain body types. I have used almost every shirt made in the last 25 years. I have a 7ft wingspan. Certain shirts are better for long arms. Just like certain shirts are good for barrel chests, short arms, big shoulders. Also where you touch the bar on the bench or whether you squat wide or close stance. Are you a conventional or sumo deadlifter? How flexible are your hips? Do you grab the bar on the bench all the way out or closer? Do you carry the bar high or low on your back in the squat? If you are using your buddies hand me down squat suit and he squats close and you squat wide, you may be in for a rough and painful squat session. So do some research and if you can’t figure it out call Ted Kohler at Battle Ready Gear. He will know and loves helping lifters. Even with band shirts there are thing and ways they can be tailored to suit your needs.
2. Starting off with gear that is too advanced for your expertise. Yes, we all want to throw on that triple Squat Squat suit and 3 ply briefs with grid stitching with the stiffest knee wraps made on Earth. We know we will lift massive weight. This mindset leads to a frustrating and painful time. It’s like getting in a drag race when you have never even driven a lawn mower. If I personally have made one giant mistake in my lifting career this was it. Back in the 90s and early 2000’s gear pretty much was single ply and the earliest version was glorified Under Armour. So the thought was to get the tightest and thickest version you could. Hence more pop off the chest or out of the hole. Today’s materials used are far more advanced and give much more support and assistance than its predecessors. What should you do then? You should start with single ply shirt/briefs/suit kind of loose. Something you can touch or reach depth with. I know this doesn’t sound fun. Everyone just wants to go balls out from Jump Street. My response to this is that it’s a process (this will be a reoccurring theme). I read an article by Ryan Kennelly once and he said to get really good in your worst gear. That builds a foundation. Then as you advance tighten it up. Take a ½ inch off the arms, chest panel, hips or tighten those straps up. When you have mastered it, then go to the more radical gear. Each level you go has a different groove, feel and its own frustrations. Also, to add to this instead of training to get stronger, people just go a size smaller gear or another ply. I have made this mistake a lot myself. If you are 20 lbs away from your goal then work your tail off to get it. Adding more layers or going radically tighter could mean bombs away at your next meet if you can’t touch, get depth or grab the bar.
3. Your spotter has his/her hands on the bar during your training. This is the single biggest thing that men do when they spot women in gear. It’s most prevalent on the bench press. I am guilty of this myself at times. I never used to touch the bar at all but my wife is over 20 years competing and has had a litany of injuries. I will say that it’s something I try never to do. So why does it matter if your hands are on the bar as long as you aren’t helping? The reason is because there is a groove that the lifter has to stay in. When they are lifting they have to learn to fight to stay in that grove. If your hands are on that bar, they stay in the groove. They don’t know what to do to get back in it. I see it 1000 times on social media. Then I say to myself “this person is going to bomb out of their meet.” 9 times out of 10 I’m right. It doesn’t matter if its poly, canvas, or band material spotters stay close but let your lifter fight. Your hands won’t be there in the meet. Practice how you play.
4. Too much too fast. With the advent of band shirts and these amazing suit and briefs people are lifting weights never humanly imagined. The band shirts in particular are really changing the game. Naturally a lot of raw lifters with big numbers say to themselves “Hey I lift more than that person raw. I’m stronger so I’ll put one on and break all the records.” Then 6 months later they are injured. Or worse yet they keep injuring themselves over and over and are done all together. Say you bench 500 lbs raw. In your mind you can probably bench 700, 800 or more in the shirt. Here’s the problem. You and the shirt may have the potential for that and more. But going form handling weights in the 400’s is a different galaxy from 700 and above. It’s not just the muscles that have to be trained. It’s your joints, your bones, your lungs, your heart and even your brain, too. Handling weights that heavy fries you. It fries you physically and mentally. The pressure from the compression of the gear coupled with the pain of the weight can bring even the toughest meathead to their knees. Ever see all-time world record holder Jimmy Kolb after he gets done with a bench? He looks like a car was just sitting on his chest. Probably because a car WAS just sitting on his chest. Remember all those 800 lbs deadlifters back a few years ago? Where are they now? D-O-N-E. Too much, too soon. So I’m not telling you to crawl at a snail’s pace but tread with caution. My wife went from a 535 lbs single ply bench in 2018 to a 650 lbs bench in 2023. That’s 5 years and she still has issues from handling that weight even though she gone through the long process.
5. Board presses for the bench shirt. Now if you scroll my Instagram you are going to see a lot of heavy board presses in a shirt. Tons. The net result is me bombing out of every geared meet from 2011 to my very last meet a few years ago. But I was amazing at board pressing. If they gave out trophies for them then my house would be overrun with them. Board presses definitely have their place. Many people use them as an overload or to break in a shirt. Rae-Ann used to use them every week. One week with the shirt the next week the same board raw. She however is very skilled at touching in a shirt. It doesn’t matter what shirt either. Trust me I’m very jealous of how proficient she is. When we got the band shirts I got rid of the boards. Now looking back we should have gotten rid of them a long time ago. I want everyone to hear this next statement. Your number one goal in a shirt or squat suit or deadlift suit is to get lifts in the meet. You must practice getting depth or touching in order to become good at it. If you never train that way then you better bring a horseshoe and a rabbit’s foot with you to your competition because you will need all the luck you can get. Master the form first. Perfect the touching, the depth, the cues, the breathing, the bar path before you try and overload. We switched to reverse bands and it’s made a world of difference. We start with the heaviest band and work your way down to a mini over your training cycle. There are people who use boards and have been very successful. I would just say to not become a great board presser at the expense of becoming a great bencher.
Now that I have given away all the secrets I expect to see the resurgence in geared lifting increase even more. I expect all time world records fall. When I go to meets I want to see a plethora of bite marks on lifter’s bodies from the gear. Just remember slow and steady wins the race. In case you didn’t remember what I said earlier, IT’S A PROCESS. #ShakeTheGround
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