# Is using a "bench shirt" in bench pressing kinda-sorta cheating? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 7, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-a-bench-shirt-in-bench-pressing-kinda-sorta-cheating/355802 "2006-05-07T21:15:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-a-bench-shirt-in-bench-pressing-kinda-sorta-cheating/355802/1 "2006-05-07T21:15:20Z")
[Per this article if it’s acting as a spring why is it legal at all?](http://www.slate.com/id/2104915/) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-a-bench-shirt-in-bench-pressing-kinda-sorta-cheating/355802/2 "2006-05-07T21:31:22Z")
Not “kinda sorta” in my view. Yes. From your cite: > [@](#): > > “I would consider it cheating, it’s helping you mechanically. You might as well have a pulley,” he says Of course, I oppose super suits as well. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-a-bench-shirt-in-bench-pressing-kinda-sorta-cheating/355802/3 "2006-05-08T02:31:45Z")
Not at all. The winner of a powerlifting competition is not the strongest lifter; it’s the lifter who lifts the most weight in accordance with the rules of the organization sponsoring the competition. If they allow bench shirts, how can it be cheating? That said, I’d prefer that the records be kept separate (and that goes for the other lifts where special suits are available). ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-a-bench-shirt-in-bench-pressing-kinda-sorta-cheating/355802/4 "2006-05-08T02:47:11Z")
Not cheating but just stupid. Kind of like those hillbillys that race down a hill on a shovel. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-a-bench-shirt-in-bench-pressing-kinda-sorta-cheating/355802/5 "2006-05-08T03:09:38Z")
[Here’s a review of one bench shirt. It’s kind of interesting.](http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/cyberpump5.htm) ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-a-bench-shirt-in-bench-pressing-kinda-sorta-cheating/355802/6 "2006-05-08T03:16:03Z")
Here’s [an old thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=289673) about the world record bench press as of about a year and a half ago. There was some discussion about bench shirts in there. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-a-bench-shirt-in-bench-pressing-kinda-sorta-cheating/355802/7 "2006-05-08T19:42:53Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Per this article if it’s acting as a spring why is it legal at all?](http://www.slate.com/id/2104915/) Legal is what the sponsoring organization says is Legal. Anything unnatural that enhances performance, e.g. steroids, special shirts, etc. should get the rewards, cups, medals, certificates, etc. not the poor stupid slob that thinks he has to have special help to be somebody. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-a-bench-shirt-in-bench-pressing-kinda-sorta-cheating/355802/8 "2006-05-08T22:13:23Z")
So is there anything that would stop a weakling like me from constructing some sort of spring-steel apparatus that fits around my shoulders, calling it a “shirt”, and shattering all of the records? I could probably, if I set my mind to it, construct some sort of spring that would uniformly support, say, a ton, plus or minus 50 pounds (my own natural bench press limit) across its range of compression. I mean, according to that article, with some shirts you can’t even lower the weight completely until it gets up to around 800. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-using-a-bench-shirt-in-bench-pressing-kinda-sorta-cheating/355802/9 "2006-05-08T22:15:18Z")
Those shirts had been around for a while before anyone broke the four-digit barrier, so take that as you will.