[quote]StrengthDawg wrote:
[quote]mkral55 wrote:
StrengthDawg, Ive heard it both ways, but what do you think about briefs for an overload for a raw lifter?[/quote]
In a short answer, I LOVE it.
I started my “powerlifting career” as a “gym rat” not even knowing what supportive gear was. After seeing another guy squat in an Inzer suit I was intrigued. I asked about it and he opened my eyes to the whole gear game. After my hips / low back etc felt like shit all the time I gave the brief thing a try. My numbers took off. I’m not talking about my squat in gear numbers. I’m talking in general. I could now get more reps with numbers I was used to doing raw AND I felt great afterwards. For me this was a win-win situation. This was great for both strength and sized gains. Since you can add more weight to the bar with the gear, you CAN find yourself chasing PR’s and totally becoming a gear whore, which I have also done.
For me lifting raw I get a certain kind of injury, I also get gear whore injuries for lack of a better term. For me the “zen” lies in the middle. Each training methodology has it’s pros and cons. Look, I get the whole " if I can’t lift it myself, it doesn’t count. Well, guess what, I can’t run 7 min miles barefoot. Does running shoes count as cheating? No one has a problem with playing golf with the latest gear but go to the gym and everyone’s a fucking martyr for THEIR chosen style of lifting…
While I’m on this, allow me a bit of a rant. NO WHERE in real life do we get the conditions we have in the gym. What I mean by that is I have NEVER been presented in my almost 41 years on this rock a situation where I’ve found myself under a steel bar that was perfectly straight, with a near perfectly balance load on each side while I was given all the time in the world to set up and think form and all that.
No where in the world have I found myself laying on a 12" wide, 15" off the floor, built to competition specs bench with the perfectly straight and balanced weight bar to do a bench press. Funny story,I used to lift with a guy who could deadlift in the mid 5’s. He was a “belts are for pussies” guy and give me shit for deadlifting with a belt. Said I had a weak ass core.
Well maybe I do but that’s my problem. One time this guys wife slipped on the treadmill and about knocked herself out. This fucking guy couldn’t even pick up his hundred and something pound girl off the floor! WTF… Point is it’s a controlled situation so it’s fucking hilarious when folks get all pious and retarded about lifting in gear or raw.
The choice is your’s, so lift however you want that keeps you in the game the longest. For me lifting in briefs on occasion keeps me fresh and in the game. I’ll take that before I take being the “guy who used to lift” any day.
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Yeah that last bit is why I’m thinkin about it. I’ve always lifted/competed raw, thinking Id maybe get into gear later, but that might be backwards.
Also the only reason I pull beltless is cuz I havent figured out how to get pounds out of a belt yet haha