The Bench Press Shirt: Yes or No?

Proponents of the bench press shirt proclaim that it acts as a safety device, preventing injury when benching heavy weight.  Its detractors say that it is merely a crutch.  An ego builder as opposed to a muscle builder, enabling you to lift weight you would otherwise not be able to without its use.

So, which side is right?  Or are there merits to both points of view?

What is a Bench Press Shirt?

They are made of polyester, canvas, or denim.  The original bench press shirts were single ply polyester, while all bench press shirts worn by competitive lifters today are of a multi-ply thickness.  If you have ever seen one, especially when being worn by a lifter, the first thing that will come to your mind is how stiff it is.  Witness someone putting it on, you will find they often need assistance from one, possibly two others.  While it is being worn, the lifter is unable to put his arms down by his sides in a relaxed position; they are outstretched in front of him.  It is such a tight fit, powerlifters will tell you that if you are not in pain when wearing it, that means that it is not tight enough.

A weightlifter being helped into a bench press shirt made by Inzer.

They Increase Your Maximum Bench Press

Though this was initially denied by many competitive lifters, the fact is that in the 1980s, people discovered that they could bench press considerably more when wearing a shirt than when performing a "raw lift."  That gave rise to the double, then triple ply shirts that we know today.  Because they were originally touted as a safety device, they were permitted in powerlifting competitions.  When lifters noticed their maximum bench press increase, the market responded by making even thicker, tighter suits.

How the bench press shirt is able to do this is simple.  The strong, but elastic material acts like a very tight spring.  It exerts a force in the same direction as your arms as you push outward.  That is the reason your arms will extend in front of you when you wear the shirt.

A modern, multi-ply bench press shirt made from a reputable company can add more than 30% to your raw bench press.  As of 2015, the record for a raw bench press is 715 lbs. while the record with a shirt is 1,102 lbs.  Several lifters have broken the 1,000 lb. mark using a shirt.

Safety?

Do they really improve the safety of your lift?  That claim is, at best, debatable.  The original bench press shirts may have served to keep the lifter's shoulders warm in between attempts.  However, while some still may be reluctant to admit this, the main motivation today for the shirt is to increase benching ability.  The increasing popularity of weightlifting since the 1980s among the general population has rendered the safety claim very dubious.  Look around your gym and see how many people are wearing a shirt.  If it is a hardcore gym, you may find a few at any one time.  However, in most gyms and fitness centers that are not populated by a disproportionate amount of powerlifters, you will most likely find nobody wearing a shirt.  The fact that so many people are able to bench without a bench press shirt injury free is evidence that it is not necessary.

If you do buy a bench press shirt, there is at least one potential risk.  Like any clothing, it can potentially be susceptible to wear-out effects with use over time.  If there is an unnoticed run or weakness that develops, and the shirt tears when you are in the act of lifting a weight that is 30% or more beyond your real capability, the weight can crash down onto your sternum, causing injury, and possibly a torn pectoral muscle in the process of trying to stop the bar.  So if you do compete, and therefore need to buy a bench press shirt, make sure you inspect it for signs of wear every time you use it.

Conclusion

The Sphere of Health does not adhere to the claim that bench press shirts will improve your safety.  In fact, in certain circumstances, it may pose an increased risk.  The vast majority of people who bench press do so without the use of these shirts, and do it injury free for many years.  There is no demonstrable evidence that wearing one reduces the chance of an injury.  The vast majority of bench press injury can be prevented by proper technique.  It is unnecessary to purchase one, unless you lift competitively.  The reason being that they add too much of a percentage to your bench press to be able to do without in a powerlifting competition.  Since they are allowed, if you are without one, you simply will have no chance of winning.  If you do wish to compete, purchase a bench press shirt by a reputable company, such as Titan, Karin, or Inzer.

Warning Signs of a Brain Aneurysm

Brain aneurysms are very serious conditions that can be life altering, and often fatal if not effectively treated immediately.  Almost any brain aneurysm falls into one of three categories.

• Fusiform.  This is where the entire artery of the brain swells and bulges.
• Dissecting.  This is a tear in the artery that causes leakage around the brain and braincase.
• Saccular.  This is by far the most common type of brain aneurysm, accounting for approximately 90 percent.  These aneurysms take the form of a sac that develops on the outside of the arterial wall.  They can also be referred to as berry aneurysms, owing to the shape of the sac.

There are some cases where the aneurysm is completely asymptomatic.  However, much like heart attacks, aneurysms often rupture because the symptoms that they yield can sometimes mimic other things.  If you know whether or not you carry one or more of the risk factors, you may be able to be more vigilant about the symptoms.  Risk factors include previous brain injuries such as concussions, high blood pressure, severe infections of the blood, long term drug use, and family history.

Drawing of the brain with a ruptured aneurysm, and the results.

The Warning Signs of Aneurysms

 

Some of the following symptoms make it easier to discern that there is something serious going on in your body, even though these are not exclusive to aneurysms.  If you or someone around you experiences any of the following conditions, call an ambulance immediately. 

• Numbness in one or both sides of your body.
• Unexplained weakness in one or both sides of your body, or even in a singular limb.
• Difficulty talking - unexplained slurred speech, or are not able to speak the words you are thinking.
• Dizziness or trouble walking, for no apparent reason i.e. intoxication.
• Seizures and convulsions.
• Unexplained loss of consciousness.

This next set of symptoms can often mimic other ailments, such as stomach bugs or migraines, but are not uncommon to aneurysms.

• Mild to severe headache.
• Mild to severe pain behind the eye.
• Pupil dilation.
• Double vision.
• Blurred vision.
• Nausea.
• Drooping eyelids.

 

So how do you differentiate between a brain aneurysm and just a normal headache or nausea?  Unfortunately, there isn't a completely foolproof way to do so.  For instance, if you only have nausea, it may be reasonable to assume you have a stomach bug.  Therefore, a good strategy to use would be combinations.  If you have nausea combined with double vision or numbness, or another symptom that is not common with a stomach bug, and you also have one or more of the aforementioned risk factors, you may want to go to the hospital.

Another example would be if you are experiencing pain behind the eye and light sensitvity, and have a history of migraines, it most likely is just a migraine.  But if it is combined with difficulty speaking or trouble with walking, that is a definite red flag.  Also, a headache that lasts more than a couple of days is often another telltale sign that something serious is going on.

The Perfect Burpee

The typical burpee consists of four basic steps.  Squat down, thrust legs out, pull legs back in to the squat position, spring back up with a jump at the end.  This differs from the regular squat thrust in that you only stand at the end, and go to the next repetition, forgoing the jump.  However, while the burpee does wonders in giving power to your core and legs, it to a large extent leaves out the upper body, other than momentarily bracing during the thrust and recoil part of the movement.

A United States Marine performing burpees.

The Perfect Burpee

 

1.  Squat:  From the standing position, place your feet shoulder width apart.  When you descend, do not lean over and round your back when you go to place your hands on the floor.  Squat in the same manner as you would with a barbell on your back, until you are able to touch your hands to the floor.

2.  Thrust:  From the bottom of your squat position, thrust upwards just enough to kick your legs straight out from underneath you.  When you kick them out, try not to bring them together.  Keep them shoulder width apart so you can bring them right back in to the squat position after the insertion of the next step.

3.  The Push Up:  This is not a step in the traditional burpee.  However, it can really add value to it.  When you squat down, with feet shoulder width apart, you tend to put your hands slightly wider, which puts them in a perfect position for a push up.  This added step will make the burpee work the arms and upper torso, namely the pectorals and deltoids.

4.  Recoil:  Keeping your feet shoulder width apart, spring off your toes, pushing inward and slightly upward.  Do not round your back;  keep it either straight or slightly arched upward.  That way, when you place your feet back down, you will be back in the ideal down position for a squat.  Your feet flat on the floor, your thighs below parallel.

5.  The Lift and Jump:  This is the positive (concentric) part of what is a plyometric squat.  From the bottom position, explode out of the hole as fast as you possibly can, pushing the floor away from you.  Push off with your heels; this will help you to maintain your squat form.  Throw your hands upwards to help you get more air out of the jump.  While in the air, make sure your knees are not locked.  Again, keep your feet roughly shoulder width apart, so when you land, you can spring downwards into the squat position to begin your next rep.

The Correct Way to Barbell Row

In the weight room, the object should be to condition and strengthen your muscles.  Not to strengthen your ego.  In fact, attempting to strengthen your ego in the weight room can put you at odds of the real goal.  It can do this in two ways.  The more obvious way is that improper lifting and stressing your body with poundage it can't handle with a correct lift can increase your risk of injury.  The other way, is that by taking a shortcut, such as a greatly reduced range of motion, your muscle is not being strengthened to near the degree it could be using correct lifting technique.

These shortcuts seem to be taken more on certain lifts than others.  It is highly probable that the lift done least correctly by the most number of people is the squat.  We have all seen many people load 400-500 pounds onto the bar and then squat down five or six inches.  One other lift where cheating is also rampantly observed is the back barbell row.  Many do not even realize that they are doing this lift wrong, as definite technique is often not taught.  Hence, people can be injured from rounding their backs, or end up moving the weight in only a few inches worth of range of motion.

The most common method of barbell rowing, especially by heavy lifters, is the following:  The bar is lifted off the rack, or platform in a standing position.  The lifter bends over at about a 45-60 degree angle, and rows the bar towards the lower abdomen.  And often, especially on heavy lifts, it consists of using momentum by swinging the back at the hips.  This use of momentum will de-emphasize the lats, which are the prime movers of the barbell row.  The reason behind performing the movement this way is to be able to lift a heavier weight than what your lats can actually handle.  These jerking movements carry a risk of injury to the biceps and lats, and the greatly reduced range of motion will hamper the development of those two muscle groups.

A woman performing a barbell back row with the correct posture.

Author: embhoo, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

How to Correctly Perform the Movement

1.  It is probably easiest to start with the weight on the floor.  Not on the rack, or at any elevated position.  That way, it will make it easier for you to get your body in the proper positioning before you have a heavy weight in your hands.  This is most true for the working sets; it is somewhat less important on the warm up sets with light weight.

2.  Body positioning: your knees can either be straight, or slightly bent.  Place your feet about shoulder width apart.  As with all lifts and movements where you are handling a weight in a bent position, it is extremely important to keep your back straight, at the very least.  It is ideal to keep an upward arch, but most importantly, do not round your spine.  That places undue shear force on your discs, and your luck will eventually run out, more likely sooner than later.  Your back should be bent at an angle just short of 90 degrees.

3.  Starting with the weight on the floor, pull upwards in a fluid motion.  Do not use your spinal erectors to create momentum and jerk the weight upwards.  Pull the weight towards the midpoint between your sternum and bellybutton.  If you cannot get the weight all the way to your abdomen, use a lighter weight.

4.  Lower the weight in a controlled manner until it touches the floor.  Do not bounce the weight off the floor to start your next rep.  When the weight hits the floor, pause briefly, then repeat.  Aim for a weight where you can do 8-12 reps for three sets.
 

Why You Should Not Overcook Your Meat

There is paranoia among some people about "undercooked" meat.  If it is not browned all the way through, you think you are going to get food poisoning.  The idea that rare meat is dangerous is not new.  When a meat is cooked rare, or medium rare, part of the center usually retains a lot of similarity to its original texture, thus some are convinced it is still raw.  This fear is unfounded, and what is often not realized is that there is actually just as much to be afraid of by overcooking your meat as there is not cooking it enough.  While these effects are not as immediate as food poisoning, over time they can lead to lack of nutrition and risk of disease.

You risk more than just loss of flavor when you overcook your steaks.

Author: BrokenSphere, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

 

Damage to Amino Acids

 

In meat, you acquire complete proteins, including branched chain amino acids.  However, many of these amino acids can be destroyed or compromised by excess cooking.

 

Dangerous Compounds

 

Two classes of compounds are formed when meat undergoes excess heat for too long.  Heterocyclic amines (HA), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).  What is the problem with these two compounds?  Well, they are both carcinogenic.  Eating enough of these, over a long enough period of time, is an avenue of potential long term exposure and higher risk of disease.  One compound in particular, acrylamide, is an exceptional culprit.  It is also formed in fried foods.

 

Inhibits Digestion

If food reaches an excessively high temperature, it can change its composition enough that it is more difficult for the body to both digest and absorb.  That means you will only get a fraction of the available proteins, fats, and micronutrients.

If food sits in the stomach and intestines for too long, it can partially ferment and cause irritation to both.  That will make your eliminations less regular, rendering you more susceptible to things such as colon cancer.  This is also yet another reason that processed foods are harmful.

Breaks Down Some Nutrients

In addition to the problem of your body being able to digest and absorb nutrients, some of them will also be destroyed by excess temperature.  Some micronutrients and vitamins will break down due to thermal cleavage of bonds, and will thus be rendered useless to the system once they are taken in.

Multivitamins: No Substitute for a Healthy Diet, and Possibly Very Harmful

So, you know your diet isn't always the best.  You tend to heap on the pasta, but eat the parsley and the small vegetable garnish on the side when you eat Italian, so you can give yourself a false sense of consolation that you don't completely ignore your greens.

But, you don't fret too much.  Because you have an insurance policy.  What your diet lacks, you make up for in this pill you take every day.  Probably at breakfast, if you are not one to skip breakfast in favor of your daily donut at the office.  This is, of course, a reference to your multivitamin.  Now you don't have to worry about what you eat so much, because you take this daily, religiously.  All the vitamins you need packed into a neat little pill, so you are guaranteed to never have a vitamin deficiency!  Or, are you really guaranteed?

That, of course, is a rhetorical question.  And a clear, "No," is the answer.  Your daily multivitamin cannot, will not, ever be a substitute for eating whole, nutrient packed foods.  In fact, there is mounting evidence that your multivitamin may even be harmful.

Author: Jü 

Chiral isomers of medetomidine.  The orientation of a molecule can make a surprising difference in how, and if, it is absorbed and processed by the body.

Most Vitamin Pills are Synthetic

Over 90% of the brands of multivitamin pills sold over the counter have been synthesized in a laboratory.  Why does this matter?  Some vitamins, such as Vitamin E, have different enantiomers, which are different isomers of the same molecule.  There is a Vitamin E-d, and Vitamin E-l.  The d stands for dextrorotatory, and the l stands for levorotatory.  The d is the one found in nature and utilized by the body, while the l version is synthetic.  The levorotatory version of Vitamin E is not usable by the body, and will at best be excreted, and at worst, stored.

You Risk Excesses of Vitamins

While deficiencies of vitamins can render you susceptible to many illnesses, including heart disease and cancers, excesses of vitamins can in many cases be equally harmful.  For instance, Vitamin A has been shown to increase the risk of lung cancer.  Excesses of Vitamin E have been shown to increase the risk of heart failure, as well as overall mortality rates.

It is widely known that too much Vitamin C in your system is widely known to cause diarrhea and increase the risk of kidney stones. 

Another major problem with excesses has to do with the liver.  The liver processes only what the body needs.  Excesses are often times just passed through, however, the liver will also at times store them for later use.  Therefore, long term excesses will not allow the liver to get rid of its excesses.  Vitamins stored in the liver for a long period of time can cause fatty liver and other forms of liver damage.

Multivitamin Pills Do Not Have Other Micronutrients

There are 13 essential vitamins in total.  Yes, they can be encapsulated in a pill.  However, there are a wide variety of micronutrients you will not receive from a pill that you get from eating a healthy diet of whole foods.

Foods not only contain vitamins, but also essential minerals, and other healthful molecules such as antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, trace elements, and helpful fatty acids.

Conclusion

To date, there is no one "silver bullet" pill for curing all disease, and there is also none for prevention.  There really is no substitute for eating a healthy, nutritious diet.

However, that does not mean all supplementation is bad, or useless, of course.  While multivitamins may be bad for you, there are certain supplements which can be helpful.  For instance, most people are deficient in certain elements such as magnesium.  Most people are also deficient in another critical nutrient, especially those in seasonal or cold climates.  Vitamin D can be very difficult to get through sun exposure in cold weather.  Vitamin D is not actually a vitamin, but a hormone.  It is extremely critical in the prevention of a wide array of diseases, and for healthy gene expression.  Another example of a healthy type of supplement are extractions such as turmeric that have powerful anti-inflammatory properties.

Mistakes You are Making that Reduce Nutritional Value of Food

We might think it's bad for our teeth.  We may not like the taste, or the texture.  Or in some cases, we might mistakenly even think it's bad for our internal system.  Maybe useless or not digestible.  But, in fact, if you do these alterations or eliminations, you are missing out on huge nutritional benefits that the food in question has to offer.

What can be just as dangerous a long term path as nutritional carelessness is thinking you are eating healthy, when you actually are throwing away nutrients.  Here are some things that are commonly done that shouldn't be done to some healthy foods and superfoods.

Unless you are making applesauce or apple pie with the intention of eating for a dessert for pleasure and not for nutritional value, never, never peel your apple.

Source: Flickr: Peeling apples for applesauce

Author:  Jason Popesku, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

 

You Peel Your Apples

Perhaps you prefer the texture of a peeled apple.  Or just don't want to deal with the potential nuisance of a piece of skin getting stuck between your teeth.  But if you knew what was in that skin, you would know it would definitely be worth the potential minor inconvenience.

The truth is, the skin contains about 5-6 times the vitamins and antioxidants as the apple's flesh.  The skin is also loaded with phytonutrients, which have powerful anti-inflammatory properties.  

The only part of the apple you should actively avoid are the seeds.  The seeds contain arsenic, which is a natural defense mechanism against consumption, ensuring that the next generation will breed.  Arsenic is a particularly dangerous heavy metal, not only because its presence is toxic, but until it is removed, it to a considerable degree inhibits detoxification of other heavy metals present in the body.

The skin, however, contains nothing but goodness.  So unless its applesauce or a pie you are making, don't peel the apple and throw the skin away.

Throwing Away Grape Seeds

 

In a stark contrast to the above warning about eating apple seeds, if you throw the grape seeds out, you are throwing away a lot of nutrients.  They don't have the best texture at first, but you can get used to them.  They have a comparatively weak shell, so they will not hurt your teeth to bite into them.

Grape seeds contain many of the nutrients that the flesh and skin do, and some of them in greater quantities.  A little known fact is that seeds also contain essential fatty acids in addition to the antioxidants and anti inflammatory micronutrients.

The most notable group of flavonoids found in grape seeds are the proanthocyanins.  Apart from their own antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, they also enhance the properties of other groups of antioxidants.  This is a property known as synergy.

Eat the whole grape, don't spit out the seed!

Adding Milk or Cream to Your Tea

 

Yes, it can taste very good.  It can add a richer, creamier accent to your tea of choice.  Unfortunately, it can also considerably reduce the nutritional benefits.  All tea has a variety of antioxidants, including polyphenols.  Black teas have the least, but still a considerable amount, while green and white teas are more plentiful.

While it may be tempting to add milk or cream to your tea, there is a culprit in the dairy called casein.  This protein is one of the two proteins found in dairy products, the other being whey.  The problem with the casein is that it has an affinity for many of these antioxidants present in tea, and will bind to them, rendering them useless to the body.

If you wish to flavor your tea, add lemon juice, or a small amount of honey, preferably raw honey.  Raw honey packs a powerhouse nutritional punch in and of itself, while lemon can enhance, rather than inhibit the antioxidant properties of tea.