# New Titan F6 Break In Protocol



## jnatale3 (Mar 8, 2022)

My new Titan F6 arrived today. I’m about 53.5-54.0 inches under my armpits just at the nipple line. This shirt is a 56 at the guidance of the rep there at Titan. First shirt in over 10 years (had a hand me down Inzer in high school and it had been sewn at the pits in parts)

I can get the shirt on by myself. Not easy by any means but it is doable. Just standing up, I cannot get my arms back but about a few inches. Even tried a push-up while imitating an incline on my kitchen counter and the same depth happened so the fit seems good. Sleeves are border line too long but they can be tailored up pretty easily at the local seam shop. Maybe can hike them up once I get someone to fit it on me better.

Couple questions.

First, how many lifts can I get out of this shirt? Like will it eventually spring “less” and not be as effective? Or do the shirts always maintain the springiness without material fatigue.

Second, if I train chest twice a week, how long should I work within the shirt to say it is broken in? Simply being able to touch with XXXlbs. of weight? Or benching said weight touched for a certain time period?

Still debating if I need to be using boards or simply lowering until tension comes into play and then pressing up without boards?


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## Trendkill (Mar 8, 2022)

Nice to see a question about geared lifting!

A couple questions for you:

Do you have someone to train with?  

Does your gym have any lifters with bench shirt experience?

What kind of shirt was your old Inzer I.e. rage x, SDP, denim

What was your best bench when you previously used a shirt?

What is your current strength level?

Your answers can help us guide you better. As for the pop out of the shirt the answer is yes it will decrease over time but even a very broken in shirt will still provide lots of pop. I used to train lighter weights in an old inzer denim that I had for years And it worked great. As for touching weights and breaking in the shirt there are a lot of ways to do this but that will be for another post.

full transparency- I haven’t used a shirt in 15 years but I will share what I know based on my experience with Metal poly shirts and Inzer denim. No one uses denim anymore but many of the same concepts still hold true. Hopefully someone here with more recent experience can chime in especially if they have used an F6.


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## Joliver (Mar 8, 2022)

Yes it'll lose some of it's pop. Poly ages and with some serious use won't be what it was. But you'll become accustomed to that and "feel it." If you're on up there in the weight, it can happen fairly quickly. Measure the chest plate now...and after a few sessions. You'll start to get the idea. 

It's broken in when you can reliably touch competitive weights. Start with pinkies on the ring to a 3 board. next week move out a finger and hit a two. Next week wider...lower....until you have a competition grip and you're touching an "opener" or so. 

I've sprayed a few with water to break them in. Not much...just a single spray where it hurts. Seemed to help a bit. 

You can put footballs in the sleeves and inflate them if the arms need extra breaking I'm. You want that seam right. 

You've got to be patient and get the right groove too. If you tuck the elbows too soon, you lock the shirt early and you'll think it won't ever break in. Be slow. Let the shirt work. 

Honestly, to get the most competition out of a shirt, I had a looser training shirt and a competition shirt of the same type. One was a freebie. One was fitted to me. Save the silver bullet for the werewolf...so to speak.


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## jnatale3 (Mar 8, 2022)

Trendkill said:


> Nice to see a question about geared lifting!
> 
> A couple questions for you:
> 
> ...



Thank you so much for the reply!  I train Monday through Friday by myself. The gym I train at, I believe I may be the only power lifter. :-( Many times when I go heavy, I rely on the power rack. The rack that has the arms on the side in case you fail the lift. And it also has the top bars for pull ups. Sorry, probably a bad description LOL 

I had two benchpress shirts. One of them was a classic basic hand me down blast shirt. The other was a high-performance heavy duty.  The heaviest I got out of the hand me down was about 365 pounds with a pause. The heaviest out of the other one was about 425 pounds with a pause.  The newer shirt from years ago, I never even broke in. I simply put it on one day and went right to heavy weight. I had no instruction from anybody.

My current strength level is pretty good. I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent looking at videos and reading articles about proper shirted binging. But I feel more comfortable in a forum speaking to guys like you with experience


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## jnatale3 (Mar 8, 2022)

Joliver said:


> Yes it'll lose some of it's pop. Poly ages and with some serious use won't be what it was. But you'll become accustomed to that and "feel it." If you're on up there in the weight, it can happen fairly quickly. Measure the chest plate now...and after a few sessions. You'll start to get the idea.
> 
> It's broken in when you can reliably touch competitive weights. Start with pinkies on the ring to a 3 board. next week move out a finger and hit a two. Next week wider...lower....until you have a competition grip and you're touching an "opener" or so.
> 
> ...




Your advice definitely helps a ton!  The sleeves fit pretty well, they may be about an inch too long even when the shirt is put on me properly. We have a few good tailors in town and might see if they could bring the sleeves up an inch on each side.  Your last paragraph about the Silver bullet makes sense! Great analogy LOL.


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## jnatale3 (Mar 8, 2022)

Trendkill said:


> Nice to see a question about geared lifting!
> 
> A couple questions for you:
> 
> ...


I also wanted to add, once I do get to my first contest, I will have some help being able to get in the shirt properly and all that good stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I ask for a spot at the gym from people that I can trust that know how to spot, but most of them are pretty much to them selves doing very detailed bodybuilding style workouts.


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## jnatale3 (Mar 8, 2022)

If this helps, I posted this in my introduction this morning.

Greetings! My name is Joe from central North Carolina. I am 38 years old and have never competed in powerlifting, however have trained pretty hard since I was roughly a young teenager. Job change a few years ago had me very sedentary and caused me to put on a lot of weight. Mostly fat. Hate cardio and wanted to just lift again. No avail to weight loss. Did some research as I am a medical provider now after long years in the books and found ways to improve my diet while increasing my strength and losing weight. My New Year’s resolution for 2022 was to buckle down and get myself ready mentally and physically to start competition powerlifting. While doing so, I’ve been able to shed some weight (more to go!!!) and motivate myself as well. Just got myself some new training gear as well as a new bench press shirt to get back to equipped lifting. Looking forward to gaining some more insight here on the forum.


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## Metalhead1 (Mar 8, 2022)

Getting a shirt on by yourself only helps to a point. Bar rolling helps see especially under the armpits, but still for a tight fit, you'll need someone to pull the back of the shirt as you "swim" Into it for it to properly seat. 

As for the longer sleeves, I used to roll the end of my sleeves about 1/2" to a full inch. 

Like mentioned above, always wet the seems especially in the break in period, and I would suggest working boards for quite a while. It was rare I did full range in the shirt until later in training cycles.


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## jnatale3 (Mar 8, 2022)

Metalhead1 said:


> Getting a shirt on by yourself only helps to a point. Bar rolling helps see especially under the armpits, but still for a tight fit, you'll need someone to pull the back of the shirt as you "swim" Into it for it to properly seat.
> 
> As for the longer sleeves, I used to roll the end of my sleeves about 1/2" to a full inch.
> 
> Like mentioned above, always wet the seems especially in the break in period, and I would suggest working boards for quite a while. It was rare I did full range in the shirt until later in training cycles.


I did some research and also definitely put into consideration what you all have told me. Today I will start the break-in period period I think I am aiming for roughly 6 weeks or so because I train chest twice a week and only one of those days I will use the shirt. The other days I will focus on form and other auxiliary training. I have my spray bottle in my gym bag ready to go. Yeah, my wife and daughter actually helped to get the shirt positioned on me better, and it already felt like a size smaller. So you are for sure correct about me swimming in it.  Lesson learned, I got punched in the side of the head when one of them did not grip the shoulder tight enough LOL


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## Metalhead1 (Mar 8, 2022)

One thing I did before was put a small amount baby powder on my Biceps and Triceps for the shirt to slide on easier. Only problem is you have to keep your arms up once it's seated so they don't slide down, and also readjusting the shirt after each set. 

Yes one day a week of shirt training will be enough, Especially as you get heavier, and lower to your chest.


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## jnatale3 (Mar 8, 2022)

Metalhead1 said:


> One thing I did before was put a small amount baby powder on my Biceps and Triceps for the shirt to slide on easier. Only problem is you have to keep your arms up once it's seated so they don't slide down, and also readjusting the shirt after each set.
> 
> Yes one day a week of shirt training will be enough, Especially as you get heavier, and lower to your chest.


Thanks man! The one day a week training seems plenty to me since it’ll take time to set up and get used to it etc. 

When using the 4 inch belt that is approved by the regulations, is that mostly in place to keep the shirt collar from riding up?


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## Metalhead1 (Mar 8, 2022)

jnatale3 said:


> Thanks man! The one day a week training seems plenty to me since it’ll take time to set up and get used to it etc.
> 
> When using the 4 inch belt that is approved by the regulations, is that mostly in place to keep the shirt collar from riding up?


Yes it does help. The most effective way i found was after getting the belt on, shirt Seated, and after I was set in my bench position. I would have my training partner pull the shirt down to pull and keep the neck down. 

I did find the problem with the belt being too tight to a point. I quickly figured out to have it snug without bracing, and I would brace into the belt to create the tightness.


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## jnatale3 (Mar 8, 2022)

Metalhead1 said:


> Yes it does help. The most effective way i found was after getting the belt on, shirt Seated, and after I was set in my bench position. I would have my training partner pull the shirt down to pull and keep the neck down.
> 
> I did find the problem with the belt being too tight to a point. I quickly figured out to have it snug without bracing, and I would brace into the belt to create the tightness.


That makes perfect sense. I wondered for a while how come I’ve seen guys pull the belt down of the person doing the bench in a competition right before they lifted.


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## Trendkill (Mar 8, 2022)

6 weeks is not going to be enough time to break in the shirt and learn to touch weights.  You may want to find another meet a little farther out to give you more time.  You need to get accustomed to the pain and discomfort especially as you start to remove the boards and touch weights.  The shirt work can also really cut into your recovery ability so using it every other week might be a better option.  You will also absolutely need someone to give you lift outs and assist in keeping the shirt set.  You can't do this alone. You might want to look up powerlifting gyms in your area.  If there aren't any it would be well worth the drive to work with someone who knows how to bench in a shirt.


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## Metalhead1 (Mar 8, 2022)

Trendkill said:


> 6 weeks is not going to be enough time to break in the shirt and learn to touch weights.  You may want to find another meet a little farther out to give you more time.  You need to get accustomed to the pain and discomfort especially as you start to remove the boards and touch weights.  The shirt work can also really cut into your recovery ability so using it every other week might be a better option.  You will also absolutely need someone to give you lift outs and assist in keeping the shirt set.  You can't do this alone. You might want to look up powerlifting gyms in your area.  If there aren't any it would be well worth the drive to work with someone who knows how to bench in a shirt.


yep all of this. Definitely don't expect to be ready for a meet in 6 weeks with a new shirt


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## jnatale3 (Mar 8, 2022)

I just threw out 6 weeks as a time reference to see if it allows me to touch by then. The meet is late September this year. . Sorry. Should’ve clarified. 


Update.

 I just finished up at the gym and did several sets with three boards.  The shirt is UNREAL!  315 with a pause is likely baby weight for most of you but for me who had never done a TRUE touch press before I am elated. I did a few sets of only one rep and I felt like I could toss the bar up to the ceiling. 

So here is the question, will I eventually be able to do 315 with two boards, then one board, then touch my chest doing this routine one time a week?

Should I remove a board every week or two weeks?

Honestly felt like I could’ve done about 50+ more pounds but didn’t want to overdo it. 

FYI, my max one rep on a bench with no touch and a light “bounce” is about 275 on a good day. 

I know. It’s low. But I started heave again only a few weeks ago. 

Thanks guys!


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## Metalhead1 (Mar 8, 2022)

I would gradually lower the boards. So you did 3 today.

Next week do a few sets with 3, thne the rest with 2. 

the next week 3, 2, and maybe 1 if you're feeling good. 

Things change quite a bit after 2 boards, so Stay patient, and keep the weights manageable. If you can touch with a lighter weight, the better


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## jnatale3 (Mar 8, 2022)

Metalhead1 said:


> I would gradually lower the boards. So you did 3 today.
> 
> Next week do a few sets with 3, thne the rest with 2.
> 
> ...


Thanks so much for the info. I am content with seeing the slower progress. Didn’t know the shirt would make this much of a difference. I felt more stable off the rack and the weight came down and went up evenly. That’s something I’ve struggled with for a while raw. The funny thing is I don’t have any desire (or ability) to bounce the weight like I would raw. This equipped way allows me to stay smoother. New stuff to a boob like me. My goal down the road is to hit the next milestone of 405. But seeing how easily 315 went up today I am in no hurry. Thanks again all!


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## Trendkill (Mar 8, 2022)

Thanks for clarifying on the timeline.  September is much more realistic.  I would still advise not using the shirt every week. Every two weeks or even 3 weeks would be better.  Let the connective tissues adjust as well as your CNS.  As you get more used to the shirt you will begin to see how important tricep strength is.  I would add in lots of raw 4 and 5 board presses and a variety of rack lockouts from different heights.


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## jnatale3 (Mar 8, 2022)

Trendkill said:


> Thanks for clarifying on the timeline.  September is much more realistic.  I would still advise not using the shirt every week. Every two weeks or even 3 weeks would be better.  Let the connective tissues adjust as well as your CNS.  As you get more used to the shirt you will begin to see how important tricep strength is.  I would add in lots of raw 4 and 5 board presses and a variety of rack lockouts from different heights.


This is the kind of post that I need to see.  Working in the medical field as a provider for sports med and orthopedics, I see the muscle injuries, sports related and non, and also work with athletes for strength training. However, powerlifting is a new monster and I have to rely on you all to help guide me. As an example in your post you said the variety if rack lockouts and that is a great way to increase tricep strength. Good ideas there for sure. Thanks Trendkill!!


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