Extreme Arch Benching

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
41

RickJames:
Simply, do you have a lack of respect for people that have never entered a PL meet?
Come right out and state it. Then we can leave this issue without you pretending you have higher moral ground.
We are doing essentially the same thing. I laugh at the gearsters, and you laugh at the “unproven”.

One of the reasons I de-lurked is big martin and the guy with the “Archuleta has no lifting success…” statement were running some noise on kenmen on the gear. It ended up with Detective Jack Kempo, of course, telling kenmen to “Stop whining.” Insufficient, and I’ve elucidated fully as to why insufficient.

Everybody would like to manage the career of Adam Archuleta: imagine his opinion of multitudes of people offering such services?

And you might want to ask yourself why don’t ANY professional athletes who weight train use gear to do so?

I must admit, you do have an unusual imagination. After all the interest I’ve expressed in weight training you don’t really think that I avoid the gym?
This is unlikely to the point of suspicious.

And the username, any comments.

42

bangs:
I respect you for admitting that JackAss is right, even though only in a limited sense. Even I, Mouth Almighty, admit he’s right in a sense.

As far as RJ is concerned, he probably should stop listening cause I only seem to rock his boat of “established understandings”. Definitely one of my intentions.

I think I’m gonna re-name myself, something like Scott614 …

43

“So what are you, apwsearch, trying to tell me: That you don’t follow threads closely enough to make sense with anyone, including yourself? You ARE absurd.”

And apparently you have the reading comprehension of a 3 year old. JA stated nobody should WRITE for T-Nation. Not post. Big difference.

Good luck with your training. If you ever have something constructive to add, or a well placed question, I would love to hear it.

44

If the gear issue troubles you Limbic, do something about it. You accomplish very little here, commenting from the sidelines. How many influential powerlifters come here regularly? I assume you desire change? Otherwise, what’s the deal?

BTW, I have a bet with RJ unrelated to this.
Could you humor me & answer a few questions?
Height? Weight? Best lifts? Years Training? Girlfriend? Girlfriend’s weight? On-line video game experience? Education & what year if currently enrolled?

45

apwsearch said:
“And apparently you have the reading comprehension of a 3 year old. JA stated nobody should WRITE for T-Nation. Not post. Big difference.”
And apparently you have the social awareness of a 3-year old. Here’s why.
JackAss said:
“No one under 200lbs and no one who can’t squat 3x thier bodyweight should be allowed to write on this site.”
apwsearch, are you aware that JackAss’s statement covers probably all the regular writers of articles, CT, Berardi, Waterbury, etc. So if you’re underwriting the criteria of JackAss, man you are either impossibly bluntly rude, or have the social awareness of a 3-year old.

apwsearch said:
“Good luck with your training. If you ever have something constructive to add, or a well placed question, I would love to hear it.”
I believe apw was talking to himself.

bangs said:
“If the gear issue troubles you Limbic, do something about it. You accomplish very little here, commenting from the sidelines.”
I am doing something about it: everytime The Gear wags its tale/tail in my face, I’m gonna ride it.
And, lastly, who appointed you discussion mediator?

46

[quote]Limbic wrote:
The Gear wags its tale/tail in my face, I’m gonna ride it.

[/quote]

So you’re limiting your complaining to the internet? What do you have to do with powerlifting again? Haha.

Okay. Good luck with that.

BTW, is “Gear” slang in gayspeak? 'cause then your post makes sense.

47

bangs:
You know, I’ve always thought that people who weren’t as intelligent as I am were really only gay. That there really is no difference in intelligence levels, only differences in sexual honesty. Be more careful about what you tell me about yourself.

48

Sounds like limbic is butt hurt about the shirt and suit users lifting huge weights he will never get near. Really how is it cheating if the shirt or suit is allowed in the competition? If the rules state they are allowed then whats the problem? How do you know that the old time strong men wouldn’t have used shirts or suits if they were readily available back then?

49

Oh no, Limbic is not butt hurt about anything: I’ve still not yet taken the “accepting” posture. Isn’t that what this is all about.

It’s not cheating, it’s pantomime.

The Strongmen’s definition of strength was much more honest. Some did fake their numbers, were called out in public exhibitions in their “original clothing” and demonstrated it raw because nothing else was “entertained”.

Careful, favre, you are beginning to show positive signs of digesting the “sandwich” you referred to above in your first post.

50

The problem with most gear vs. raw arguments is that the people who have never used gear don’t truly understand it. They believe a shirt-assisted bench is fake and proves nothing in terms of strength.

First you have to understand that gear is used for competition and preparation for competition only. Or at least that’s the way it should be. I see no reason why Joe Gymrat should use a shirt if he never plans to compete.

Next, you have to learn the difference between the “exercises” called the squat and bench press and the “events” called the squat and bench. They really are two different things. The bench press exercise is used for hypertrophy, strength gains, or whatever. The event is a competition. A sport.

That exactly what geared lifts are. Part of a sport. So in a way the anti-gear crowd is right in saying a gear-assisted lift isn’t a measure of pure strength. It’s so much more. Just like any sport. Strength is just part of the skills required to compete in powerlifting.

I’ve read before that in most collegiate football programs the second stringers are stronger than the starters. Then why don’t the backups start? Because it takes more than strength. It takes mental toughness, dedication, balls, coordination, imtelligence, etc. Just like in powerlifting.

You have to know how to use your gear and how it helps you. You have to be able to get in front a crowd of people and have no fear of failure. You have to know how to position your body in such a way that will give you the greatest biomechanical advantage. There is so much more than just getting under the bar and lifting it.

You realy have to accept that powerlifting is a sport(which it is!), and realize that this is different than the lifts you do in the gym.

Next you’re going to tell me that you can hit as hard as Ray Lewis, but you don’t like the gear they use in the NFL, so you only play two-hand-touch.

My UPS guy wears a belt, so he’s not really lifting the packages,
Toddy

P.S. Ray Lewis would fuck you up.

51

Limbic,
Keep fighting the good (internet) fight. Stand up for your beliefs (on the internet). And strive to make that difference (on the internet). Brave soul.

But, in the meantime, could you indulge us and answer the series of unrelated questions I posed earlier in the thread? (you know, your lifts and such)

52

[quote]malonetd wrote:
The problem with most gear vs. raw arguments is that the people who have never used gear don’t truly understand it. They believe a shirt-assisted bench is fake and proves nothing in terms of strength.

First you have to understand that gear is used for competition and preparation for competition only. Or at least that’s the way it should be. I see no reason why Joe Gymrat should use a shirt if he never plans to compete.

Next, you have to learn the difference between the “exercises” called the squat and bench press and the “events” called the squat and bench. They really are two different things. The bench press exercise is used for hypertrophy, strength gains, or whatever. The event is a competition. A sport.

That exactly what geared lifts are. Part of a sport. So in a way the anti-gear crowd is right in saying a gear-assisted lift isn’t a measure of pure strength. It’s so much more. Just like any sport. Strength is just part of the skills required to compete in powerlifting.

I’ve read before that in most collegiate football programs the second stringers are stronger than the starters. Then why don’t the backups start? Because it takes more than strength. It takes mental toughness, dedication, balls, coordination, imtelligence, etc. Just like in powerlifting.

You have to know how to use your gear and how it helps you. You have to be able to get in front a crowd of people and have no fear of failure. You have to know how to position your body in such a way that will give you the greatest biomechanical advantage. There is so much more than just getting under the bar and lifting it.

You realy have to accept that powerlifting is a sport(which it is!), and realize that this is different than the lifts you do in the gym.

Next you’re going to tell me that you can hit as hard as Ray Lewis, but you don’t like the gear they use in the NFL, so you only play two-hand-touch.

My UPS guy wears a belt, so he’s not really lifting the packages,
Toddy

P.S. Ray Lewis would fuck you up.[/quote]

Great Great Post…bm

53

[quote]malonetd wrote:
The problem with most gear vs. raw arguments is that the people who have never used gear don’t truly understand it. They believe a shirt-assisted bench is fake and proves nothing in terms of strength.

First you have to understand that gear is used for competition and preparation for competition only. Or at least that’s the way it should be. I see no reason why Joe Gymrat should use a shirt if he never plans to compete.

Next, you have to learn the difference between the “exercises” called the squat and bench press and the “events” called the squat and bench. They really are two different things. The bench press exercise is used for hypertrophy, strength gains, or whatever. The event is a competition. A sport.

That exactly what geared lifts are. Part of a sport. So in a way the anti-gear crowd is right in saying a gear-assisted lift isn’t a measure of pure strength. It’s so much more. Just like any sport. Strength is just part of the skills required to compete in powerlifting.

I’ve read before that in most collegiate football programs the second stringers are stronger than the starters. Then why don’t the backups start? Because it takes more than strength. It takes mental toughness, dedication, balls, coordination, imtelligence, etc. Just like in powerlifting.

You have to know how to use your gear and how it helps you. You have to be able to get in front a crowd of people and have no fear of failure. You have to know how to position your body in such a way that will give you the greatest biomechanical advantage. There is so much more than just getting under the bar and lifting it.

You realy have to accept that powerlifting is a sport(which it is!), and realize that this is different than the lifts you do in the gym.

Next you’re going to tell me that you can hit as hard as Ray Lewis, but you don’t like the gear they use in the NFL, so you only play two-hand-touch.

My UPS guy wears a belt, so he’s not really lifting the packages,
Toddy

P.S. Ray Lewis would fuck you up.[/quote]

Well said…

54

Toddy, I Spy:
Just to give you a sense of what you’re asking me to accept. This is just numbers gleaned from what’s posted on irongame:
Gene Rychlak June 7, 2003 810 lb
(?) 2004 1005 lb
Are you really asking me to accept that Rychlak gained 195 lbs. of strength in 6 months? There’s your sport. Did his deadlift progress at all in that time?
Read below, Toddy, there’s great instruction here.

bangs:
If the internet is such a joke for you then why post?
I actually tore a tendon partially from the bone in the spring so I’m not gung-ho at the present, but here’s some sense: T-bar row 275 for 12 easy reps, 45 degree bent row, 260 for 8+ reps, bodyweight 190 with 15 pounds bodyfat. And I only began doing those two lifts 2 months ago. Your numbers are, raw of course?

Scott613:
I quote you as saying to me: "Tell Steve Goggins, to his face, that his 1102 lb. squat was fake because he wore a squat suit. Or tell Chuck V. that his 1025 squat is fake cause’ he lifts in a suit.?
That kind of quote came from a guy who feels free to say: ?Archuleta has no success at lifting weights ??.
So I say go tell Adam Archuleta that his high 600’s raw squat ain’t shit, and his over 2X bodyweight raw bench of 500+ isn’t good enough to earn your respect.
You’re in the same weight class as he is, I’m sure he’ll understand.
Do this while, as bangs says, using the internet.

You guys are gophers.

55

[quote]Limbic wrote:
RickJames:
Simply, do you have a lack of respect for people that have never entered a PL meet?
Come right out and state it. Then we can leave this issue without you pretending you have higher moral ground.
We are doing essentially the same thing. I laugh at the gearsters, and you laugh at the “unproven”.[/quote]

No, we are not the same thing. You deride those that compete while they don’t say anything about others. I take exception to those that deride others’ accomplishments yet have none of their own.

I didn’t pay any attention to this, so I don’t really know what went on. My guess is that BM was saying that if Archuleta has not lifted in a meet, then you cannot compare his accomplishments to what is done in a meet. So in a sense (from what I’m gathering from your post - I didn’t read the original posts on this matter), you are both right. Yes, Archuleta does have a lifting history, but no, it’s not completely relevant to the sport of powerlifting. Two different things.

Because it’s powerlifting gear. Some do, in fact, use minimal gear occasionally (belt, wraps, straps mainly). Wearing gear to enhance training for separate athletic endeavors is entirely different from wearing gear to enhance the extremely specific actions of benching, squatting and deadlifting.

[quote]I must admit, you do have an unusual imagination. After all the interest I’ve expressed in weight training you don’t really think that I avoid the gym?
This is unlikely to the point of suspicious.[/quote]

Just some hyperbole; don’t get so serious. The point was that you post like someone who has no significant in-the-gym accomplishments (let alone on a field or stage). If you don’t look like you train or are exceptionally strong, then the time you do spend in the gym is of questionable purpose. Just prove us all wrong and post some proof of your accomplishments. I’ve been waiting for that for awhile.

I thought you made your joke and that was that. It’s just a username. However, your username just fits the bill for what I was speaking about above - you post online under a name that is not your own, as you are doing what you can to be someone who you are not (a valued member of a community). If you felt really good about yourself, you wouldn’t choose some typical troll username and would just use your real name.

56

[quote]Limbic wrote:
I actually tore a tendon partially from the bone in the spring so I’m not gung-ho at the present, but here’s some sense: T-bar row 275 for 12 easy reps, 45 degree bent row, 260 for 8+ reps, bodyweight 190 with 15 pounds bodyfat. And I only began doing those two lifts 2 months ago. Your numbers are, raw of course? [/quote]

Well isn’t that precious. What’s next, your cable crossover numbers? I also assume this means you have no meet numbers…which means a total of zero experience powerlifting, yet you are the expert on what powerlifting is about. Interesting.

[quote]You guys are gophers.
[/quote]

I’m not finding too many people agreeing with you here. In fact, the more experienced people are in this matter, the less they tend to agree with you. But if you get off on intellectual jibes over the internet, please continue to entertain yourself.

57

  1. With regard to the Wrestler’s bridge, A good ME exercise to help you stay tight is to do bench press using only the bottom 1 foot of the bench on which you plant your traps/scapula. Its best to do in a power rack. You can also set the bench crossways and plant your scapula on it and the bench will stop you like in a floor press.

  2. Jackass was mostly right. Most people think they’re training harder than they really are and most people, by the time they reach a triple bodyweight squat (I assume) will look back at what they thought they new 1-2 years prior and wonder how they could have been so ignorant. I am 5-8, 205 and have only been able to lift alone and have managed to get to a raw 345 bench and a 445 deep squat and 435 deadlift. I’m sure that when I get to a 600 pound squat I’ll look back and wonder how I could have been so ignorant. Thanks for the reality check.
    It still doesn’t justify belittling a scientific answer to a scientific question. Scientific answers are not worthless.

  3. I have know guys go from 330-350 pound bench to 430-450 literally after slapping a suit on for the first time. It might be harder when you get truly strong.

Thanks

58

Also, here is the problem with gym lifts. We have a guy here who gets 50lbs on his raw bench just by having his butt 1 inch off the bench. While this is still a great feat of strength, it is not a legitimate bench, so comparing it in any way, shape, or form to bench presses done under specific rules is invalid. This is why people don’t pay attention to a lot of “reported” numbers.

59

Limbic,

I have no problem with the internet as you suggest. I do however tend to dislike internet crusaders such as yourself who really have no interest or involvement in something but like to talk about it ad infinitum…usually in a negative light. If you think “doing something” about an issue that concerns you is limited to and/or involves internet debating, then you are a cliche.

Moreover, people like you tend to have a disconnect between real-life behavior & anonymous internet behavior.

t-bar row…ha!

60

[quote]mertdawg wrote:
3) I have know guys go from 330-350 pound bench to 430-450 literally after slapping a suit on for the first time. It might be harder when you get truly strong.

Thanks
[/quote]

I know guys like this too. They are few and far between. It took me over 2 years to get anything out of a shirt.