On Lifting Gear

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by Bill

Powerlifting gear (shirts, suits, etc.) is a topic that causes a bit of debate among people that use it and those that do not. It really is a personal choice and people using powerlifting gear are not competing against those who do not, so it is kind of irrelevant when you really think about it. It sort of gets down to an ego issue, as people using powerlifting gear are lifting far more weight than those who do not, so it probably causes those who do not to feel they need to explain why their numbers are lower.
Your decision as to if you will or will not use any powerlifting gear should be based on factors such as your desire to compete, your level of experience at lifting, your overall health and your ego. Let's look at the factors individually.

Desire To Compete

If you wan to compete, you should research what sorts of competitions are available in your area. There aren't as many raw meets around as their are ones where gear is permitted, so this might be a factor to consider, albeit a minor one.

Level Of Experience

If you're overall years of experience in weight lifting in general are few, you would be advised to build up a good core of strength. All the lifting gear in the world will not make up for a weak core, and the weak core will come back to haunt you at very inconvenient times!

Health

I mention health because powerlifting gear has supportive qualities that are helpful to people who are suffering from shoulder problems, and give extra support to the hips. Im not saying it will fend off that rotator cuff surgery you need, but if you get some irritation when you lift, powerlifting gear can help alleviate that.

Ego

A guy benching 450 lbs raw is doing a hell of a bench! But a guy in a bench shirt doing a 600+ lb bench is just more impressive. Let's be honest. Seeing a bar bend under the weight of all those plates looks cool. You know it, I know it, and everyone knows it. Wearing gear is the key to the HUGE lifts, and it is a hell of an ego boost to have the entire gym fall silent and have all eyes turn your way when you lift. Nobody gets into powerlifting for "better health", they get into it to lift some damn heavy weights and to look cool doing it.

Why Not To Wear Gear

I honestly can't think of any reason not to, other than having a weak core... and even then it's just a matter of strengthening yourself and then wearing gear. If I may rant for a moment, I'd like to say that raw lifters are the equivalent of natural bodybuilders. They're usually whiners and excuse makers. You cant get through a conversation without hearing about how they could lift that much if they wore "all that stuff" (as if it were that easy), much like a natural bodybuilder will complain that they could be that big if they took "all those drugs".
Do it, don't do it, whatever. Just shut up about it.
I'm not against raw lifters, I'm just against excuse making.
Rant over.

What Gear To Wear

For bench pressing, you'll want to look into getting a used shirt (see the article "Finding Your Groove" for details) and good wrist wraps. Cheap-o wraps from a local sporting goods store will serve you well at first if you're on a budget, but be advised that a very good pair of Inzer wrist wraps might not be a whole lot more, and will be useful for a long, long time, where as the cheap wraps will need to be replaced frequently and you will get to the point where they just don't give you enough support anymore. In the long run its probably cheaper to plunk down $20 for a good pair of wrist wraps up front, and trust me, you'll need wrist wraps. They are invaluable for bench pressing, and are helpful in deadlifting.


For squatting you'll want to pick up a pair of squat briefs initially. I don't recommend groove briefs, as they offer little in the line of support and even if they give you a little hip support you'll quickly decide you want an actual squat brief that will give you the support you desperately want. After getting that hang of your briefs, you'll probably want to invest in a squat suit (if you want to compete you'll DEFIANTLY want to invest in a suit). Follow the same rules in the "Learning Your Groove" article when buying a squat suit...

For deadlifting, many people use their squat suit as a deadlift suit. This will depend on your particular deadlifting technique, so get the squat suit first and see if it will work for you before you go to the expense of a separate deadlift suit. It isn't easy to deadlift in a suit, and its a little bit of a tricky technique, but it is the key to a truly huge deadlift.

Other than that, the must have is a lifting belt. This is an area where you should be investing in something good. You probably will need to order one, as the ones in the sporting goods stores aren't worth the thin, low grade leather they're made of. Inzer and Cardillo are two of the larger manufacturers and they both make fine belts. There are a lot of different types available, but be sure to get one made with powerlifting in mind. There is a difference. A powerlifting belt will cost you between $50-$100. The $50 will do you quite well, so don't feel the need to spend $100 on a belt unless you really want to. Barring extreme weight gain/loss, a belt will last you for many, many years.

As you progress in your squat weight you'll want to purchase some knee wraps. This is another item like the wrist wraps in that you might as well just spend a couple of dollars more initially to buy some good ones. The price difference isn't that big, but the quality difference is huge.

Other than that you'll want lifting chalk. If you order any of the above items, order some chalk at the same time, it can be hard to find outside of specialty stores, so save yourself the effort and aggravation.

That's really all you need. You'll undoubtedly find other things you WANT, but as far as the necessities go, that should have you in good shape for a good career in powerlifting. The things listed above will get you started and take you well into the intermediate stage of powerlifting, if not beyond that. The only other thing you need is good spotters, and they're so valuable that if you find somebody that has them, they would never sell them!