Tips for RageX

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

hey everyone,

Im using this single ply Rage X. But im having a hard time using it, it doesnt feel like i get anything out of the shirt.

i cant get into a good stable pressing possition i can really pinch my shoulder blades together like i do on RAW bench

secondly im having trouble with the bar path, i really easaly lose the bar, it just gets back over my head, where ofcorse i cant press anymore.

Im just trying to build up tention on the negative and explode up.

anyone got tips how to propely use a Rage X?

2

An important key to remember with the shirt, is that it doesn’t want to help you - it wants to shove the bar out of the way so it can easily bounce back to an unstretched position. It is up to YOU to force the bar along the path of greatest resistance, which will equate to the path of greatest assistance.

Now when you explain that you are losing the bar over your face, this often suggest to me one thing - as you lower the bar and touch, you may or may not be dropping the bar too far down your chest (need video but I am betting you aren’t). Then as you press, you are probably attempting to press back in a path commonly referred to as a "J’ stroke. This is indeed a reasonable estimation of the bar path, but the thing to remember, is that as that bar comes backwards from the sternum towards the clavicle, the shirt is very content to have your forearms angle backwards behind the elbows, so that the shirt gets deloaded and then you drop the bar on your face because you are essentially trying to do a tricep extension with a heavy weight. Thus, as you press backwards, you need to focus on throwing the elbows backwards in C shape patterns to keep them under the bar! This elongates the lever arm from the tips of the sleeves of the shirt to increase support and of course as you finish, you need the bar to be back over the shoulders so that it is at a resting position.

Regarding not being able to get tight… An endless struggle. Perhaps the chest plate is too tight (I doubt it… you probably are just inexperienced in the shirt). As such, I suggest practicing good scapular retraction with things like pendlay rows and just setting up with the feet up on the bench to give you a little more leverage to get onto the traps and retract the hsoulder blades.

Now I realise none of this is particularily specific to a RageX, but to be honest, the function of most single ply shirts is fairly similar. I have worn F6, fury, katana, superK, superK extreme, AND RageX, and though I can’t say I loved the RageX, it didn’t seem wildly different from any other shirt (perhaps except the SuperK extreme by virtue of the super low collar that is like 8 ply…).

Feel free to post video. Happy benching.

3

[quote]arramzy wrote:
An important key to remember with the shirt, is that it doesn’t want to help you - it wants to shove the bar out of the way so it can easily bounce back to an unstretched position. It is up to YOU to force the bar along the path of greatest resistance, which will equate to the path of greatest assistance.

Now when you explain that you are losing the bar over your face, this often suggest to me one thing - as you lower the bar and touch, you may or may not be dropping the bar too far down your chest (need video but I am betting you aren’t). Then as you press, you are probably attempting to press back in a path commonly referred to as a "J’ stroke. This is indeed a reasonable estimation of the bar path, but the thing to remember, is that as that bar comes backwards from the sternum towards the clavicle, the shirt is very content to have your forearms angle backwards behind the elbows, so that the shirt gets deloaded and then you drop the bar on your face because you are essentially trying to do a tricep extension with a heavy weight. Thus, as you press backwards, you need to focus on throwing the elbows backwards in C shape patterns to keep them under the bar! This elongates the lever arm from the tips of the sleeves of the shirt to increase support and of course as you finish, you need the bar to be back over the shoulders so that it is at a resting position.

Regarding not being able to get tight… An endless struggle. Perhaps the chest plate is too tight (I doubt it… you probably are just inexperienced in the shirt). As such, I suggest practicing good scapular retraction with things like pendlay rows and just setting up with the feet up on the bench to give you a little more leverage to get onto the traps and retract the hsoulder blades.

Now I realise none of this is particularily specific to a RageX, but to be honest, the function of most single ply shirts is fairly similar. I have worn F6, fury, katana, superK, superK extreme, AND RageX, and though I can’t say I loved the RageX, it didn’t seem wildly different from any other shirt (perhaps except the SuperK extreme by virtue of the super low collar that is like 8 ply…).

Feel free to post video. Happy benching.[/quote]

thanks man. I just got the RageX as a hand down, so thats what i have. Wouldnt have bought one if i were to buy a new shirt.

Those are helpfull tips man. I will try out and report back, maybe try to film

4

todays bench. On a 1 board

5

You have got to be F****** kidding me. You need a bench shirt to bench 185!!! Get your skinny butt into a store and buy milk and then get 531 and wait about 3 years after you have been consistently training. Then get the bench shirt.

6

[quote]pete458 wrote:
You have got to be F****** kidding me. You need a bench shirt to bench 185!!! Get your skinny butt into a store and buy milk and then get 531 and wait about 3 years after you have been consistently training. Then get the bench shirt.[/quote]

i have pressed 210lbs raw paused.

Always a struggle to eat enough im trying tho.

7

I do agree that you need to get your raw bench up before worrying about a bench shirt. That being said…you aren’t getting anything out of the shirt because it’s too big. There’s no way you should be able to touch 185 to a 2-board if the shirt fit properly.

8

[quote]Antman517 wrote:
I do agree that you need to get your raw bench up before worrying about a bench shirt. That being said…you aren’t getting anything out of the shirt because it’s too big. There’s no way you should be able to touch 185 to a 2-board if the shirt fit properly.[/quote]

why cant i start learning how to bench in shirt with a low bench? I will be benching RAW for 2-3 times a week

i agree with you the shirt is big. But that isnt a bad thing for learning how to bench in shirt i would say is it? It feels like im getting quite a lot of pop off my chest

9

[quote]fat_powerlifter wrote:

[quote]Antman517 wrote:
I do agree that you need to get your raw bench up before worrying about a bench shirt. That being said…you aren’t getting anything out of the shirt because it’s too big. There’s no way you should be able to touch 185 to a 2-board if the shirt fit properly.[/quote]

why cant i start learning how to bench in shirt with a low bench? I will be benching RAW for 2-3 times a week

i agree with you the shirt is big. But that isnt a bad thing for learning how to bench in shirt i would say is it? It feels like im getting quite a lot of pop off my chest[/quote]

If you can get your raw max to below a 3bd, it is too loose. I would suggest wearing the shirt no more than once every 2-3 weeks at this point in your strength journey and focusing on ~3 raw bench workouts per week. If equipped competition is your plan for the future, begin doing board presses now as part of your training. A staple should be to perform a standard raw workout of something like 80% 5x3 then following up with some board presses such as 2bd 3x3 at 85%. This type of workout can be done at least weekly.

10

thanks. For now the goal is indeed to bench 3 times a week.

i have indeed orderd a better and tighter shirt but i have to wait for it to arrive yet. Plan is to do an equiped meet in May.

11

[quote]fat_powerlifter wrote:
why cant i start learning how to bench in shirt with a low bench? I will be benching RAW for 2-3 times a week

i agree with you the shirt is big. But that isnt a bad thing for learning how to bench in shirt i would say is it? It feels like im getting quite a lot of pop off my chest[/quote]

Putting aside the question of whether the shirt is too big, I’d be genuinely fascinated to hear some experience PL’s chime in on this: is it advantageous to learn to lift in a shirt very early in your training life, or do the mechanics change so much once you start pressing heavier weights that it’s an exercise in foolishness?

12

Your original post said you weren’t getting anything out of your shirt…hence my suggestion on a tighter shirt. Later on in the thread, you stated you felt like you got a lot of pop from it. Guess I’m confused now.

Raw benching three times a week is way too much.

IMO, it’s never too early to learn how to use a shirt, so yes, a loose training shirt isn’t a bad idea. Keep your training raw. Have a shirt day once a month. Understand that increasing your raw bench and increasing your shirt bench will require different styles of training.

13

[quote]Antman517 wrote:
Your original post said you weren’t getting anything out of your shirt…hence my suggestion on a tighter shirt. Later on in the thread, you stated you felt like you got a lot of pop from it. Guess I’m confused now.

Raw benching three times a week is way too much.

IMO, it’s never too early to learn how to use a shirt, so yes, a loose training shirt isn’t a bad idea. Keep your training raw. Have a shirt day once a month. Understand that increasing your raw bench and increasing your shirt bench will require different styles of training. [/quote]

my problem is that i feel pop from the bottom but it doesnt translate into a higher weight i can move. THat is my problem

not going heavy 3 times a week ofcourse. Currently going heavy 1.5 times a week.

14

[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:

[quote]fat_powerlifter wrote:
why cant i start learning how to bench in shirt with a low bench? I will be benching RAW for 2-3 times a week

i agree with you the shirt is big. But that isnt a bad thing for learning how to bench in shirt i would say is it? It feels like im getting quite a lot of pop off my chest[/quote]

Putting aside the question of whether the shirt is too big, I’d be genuinely fascinated to hear some experience PL’s chime in on this: is it advantageous to learn to lift in a shirt very early in your training life, or do the mechanics change so much once you start pressing heavier weights that it’s an exercise in foolishness?[/quote]

Act, I subscribe to the school of thought that the geared lifts are similar yet completely different than their raw counterparts and that one that has plans of competing in a certain discipline, should train as they plan to compete. I also find the notion of “one should lift “X” before they get into gear” absurd. Generally speaking, I have found that one can get anywhere from 50-100# over their raw bench with a single ply shirt assuming it fits properly. Sure, we hear stories of some guy no one has ever actually met getting 200# of carryover from an old beat up Fury, but these are rare and most time exaggerated claims from folks who have never been in gear and understand little about such things. Double ply shirts have the potential to get more carryover. For me and my years of benching in gear, I have found that whatever I can 3 board raw, is pretty close to my shirted bench poundage. I will add that contrary to somes beliefs, the shirt doesn’t do all the work. If it did you’d see this guys plastered all over PL mags lol. One must have a strong lock out to take advantage of the shirts support off the chest. On that note, the shirt doesn’t stretch likea sling shot does so all that bar weight literally snashes your chest in. It literally feels like someone placed a loaded bar on your sternum. The crushing feeling is very diofficult at times. I have had bruised ribs from that stuff. I have also questioned why I do this stuff. I also often question why I let some guy punch me in tha face repeatedly and get caught in submission holds to tap out from excruciating pain lol I guess getting my ass kicked in training is part of my manly essence.

Anyways, to specifically answer your question. For me the mechanics of the lift have remained similar. It’s the individual shirt that one must learn the groove in. The groove may be totally foreign to ones natural bench groove or it may be complimentary. For example, I have a Super Katana. For 2 boards and higher this shirt works well for me. Something about that last 3" is a real chore. I also have a Metal Jack shirt. This thing’s groove is very close to my natural bench groove so learning it was easy and my performance in the shirt is pretty good. For geared lifting, 1/2 the lift is mastering the gear and taking a weight for a ride.

I hope this sheds a bit of light into an often foggy area. Much like all sports there are various offshoots and varying levels of gear that is used, or not used in some cases. Geared lifting isn’t for everyone. It’s a new and different set of challenges one decides to do.

15

StrengthDawg…getting 200lbs from a single ply shirt is pretty common. I’ve gotten 175 from my Super Katana. I know a lot of guys getting over 200

16

little bump. I did a meet yesterday in preperation for Junior Nationals in may. I have done quite a bit of work in the shirt and finaly kind of got the groove of it. This is a good 20lbs above what i press raw with a wide grip

this was my 3rd atempt and was the best out of all 3 since the previous weight was a little to low to touch properly and got out of my groove while touching.

17

[quote]Antman517 wrote:
Raw benching three times a week is way too much.[/quote]

Don’t believe this…

You can bench everyday if you program it correctly and will make more progress than the once/week crowd.