March 25th, 2013 at 10:56 PM ^
What in the world is a bench press shirt?? How can a shirt possibly help you bench more?
Also, a spotter just seems utterly useless if you're trying to lift that much...
March 25th, 2013 at 11:04 PM ^
March 25th, 2013 at 11:04 PM ^
March 25th, 2013 at 11:05 PM ^
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bench_shirt
They've been known to add a hundred to a couple hundred pounds to a person's bench when used properly. No, I don't know how they work.
March 25th, 2013 at 11:12 PM ^
Also, per powerlifting standards, there are three spotters in an attempt. One behind the bench, and one per side.
Think rubberband....
March 26th, 2013 at 10:43 AM ^
I know that a major component of the bench shirt is that it stores/loads a lot of the energy involved in lowering the weight and then releases it when the person lifts, assisting with the lift. Basically, a big rubberband that helps you push the weight up (otherwise, you would lose that energy as the bar lowered).
March 25th, 2013 at 11:17 PM ^
Speaking of absurd powerlifting feats:
From the standpoint of ratio of bodyweight to weight lifting, pulling 715 lbs at 165 lbs BW is INSANE.
March 26th, 2013 at 12:47 AM ^
The guy moved the bar all of 3 inches... I'm 6'6" and when I do a bench, the thing moves almost 2 feet... Show me a guy bench 700 pounds for somewhere in the middle, say one foot and i'll be impressed.
Exactly, b/c if you were that guy, you'd be able to bench even more than 700lbs...
This is a common excuse people give for why they're weaker than someone who weighs less. Proportionally, I'm sure you're similar to him (lever length wise), however, some people have different length ratios that are sub/optimal for bench, squat or deads.
March 26th, 2013 at 12:49 AM ^
why would anyone want there body to look like that ? hes a stuby kid. Granted hes very very very strong but its just not practical mass. And not to mention hes so fat and huge he barely had to bring the bar down before he was on his way back up.
He's wearing a single ply bench press shirt. I'm no gear expert but it looks like a Katana. Depending on how much you train in the gear, you can probably get 150-250 pounds out of one, especially if you are able to touch the bar below your sternum as he did.
It's impressive; no doubt, but the open age single ply bench press record for his weight class is north of 800. Only two people have ever bench pressed 700 pounds without a shirt in competition, Big James Henderson and Scot Mendelson. And Scot has done north of 1000 pounds with a shirt on.
March 26th, 2013 at 10:17 AM ^
You're right on about the bench shirt adding serious weight to a one-rep max. Cool story bro: I actually lifted with the guy that holds the "clean" NC bench press record (no shirt) and he was doing reps with 600. It was impressive as hell. (And when I say "lifted with" I basically mean watched.)
It's funny how completely ignorant most of the comments on this thread are. "He's a midgot", "why would you ever want to look like that", "It's Texas", "Powerlifters can't run 200 yards", amongst other idiotic comments. I assume mostly people who have probably never heard of single ply, double ply, squat briefs, and knee wraps, let alone been under a bar.
The kid has a fairly impressive equipped bench for that age. When I saw the title, I immediately though BS because I (stupidly) assumed it was a raw bench. All in all, nice lift.
Whale bone spray?
Powerlifting is the sport for kids too fat to be on the bowling team.
March 26th, 2013 at 10:40 AM ^
It is impressive, but as others have noted 700 pounds even with a bench shirt seems pretty unlikely for a 17-year-old naturally. But even if that isn't the case, the fact he moved that bar about 6 inches to do it kind of diminishes a lot of these "huge lifts bra" that get posted on the Internet. You watch those world strongest men competitions and they lift cars and throw kegs over 30-foot walls and it becomes difficult to be impressed by moving a bar a couple of inches once.
Congrats to the kid, but that doesn't look nearly as healthy or impressive as others feats I've seen. And for the record, I'm a good 500lbs beyond him on the bench, so I'm not trying to wholly dismiss his accomplishments.
March 26th, 2013 at 10:55 AM ^
I didn't know Jake Blues lifted