A bench shirt is a stiff supportive shirt, used to improve performance in the

bench press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...

, most often in

powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...

competitions. Bench shirts are usually made of polyester,

denim Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more Warp (weaving), warp threads. This twill weave produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. Denim, as it is recognized today, was f ...

, or

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

and come in single- or multi-ply thicknesses. The extremely tight fit of a bench shirt supports the weightlifter's shoulders and deltoid muscles. Different powerlifting federations have different rules governing allowed equipment—for example, the only supportive equipment allowed by the 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation for bench press is a leather belt, whereas the International Powerlifting Federation stipulates that support shirts must be "of one ply stretch material". As the same lifter's performance may vary significantly depending on the presence and design of a bench shirt (for example, Scot Mendelson has a shirted bench press record of 1030 lbs,All-Time Powerlifting Records
, ''Powerlifting Watch.'' while his unshirted best is 715 lbs), records across different federations or categories may not be directly comparable. A bench press performed without the usage of a bench shirt is referred to as a "raw" or "unequipped" lift.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bench Shirt Powerlifting Shirts Weight training equipment