A bench shirt is a stiff, supportive shirt used to improve performance in the bench press, most often in powerlifting competitions. Bench shirts are usually made of polyester, denim, or canvas and come in single- or multi-ply thicknesses. The extremely tight fit of a bench shirt supports the weightlifter's shoulders and deltoid muscles.Levin, Josh, "One Giant Lift for Mankind: The race for the 1,000-pound bench press.", Slate, 9 Aug. 2004. Retrieved 8 August 2007.
Different powerlifting federations have different rules governing allowed equipment—for example, the only supportive equipment allowed by the 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation for bench press is a leather belt,100% Raw Powerlifting Federation Rules (PDF), p. 4. Retrieved 8 August 2007. whereas the International Powerlifting Federation stipulates that support shirts must be "of one ply stretch material".International Powerlifting Federation Technical Rules (PDF), p. 12. Retrieved 4 January 2010. As the same lifter's performance may vary significantly depending on the presence and design of a bench shirt (for example, Scot Mendelson has a shirted bench press record of 1030 lbs,All-Time Powerlifting Records , Powerlifting Watch. while his unshirted best is 715 lbs), records across different federations or categories may not be directly comparable. A bench press performed without the usage of a bench shirt is referred to as a "raw" or "unequipped" lift.
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