Decided to join the ranks of competing PLers :)

[Vadim Beliaev]

Will be having my first competition in August. Now for the questions.
Im really a bodybuilder, and ive never competed in powerlifting meet before. My stats right now are - 5'7'' height, 260 pounds weight (on a bulk currently), Squat is around 600 lbs, 700 lb deadlift and bench is a puny 405. All those lifts are unequipped. I plan to compete at around 220 lbs, and will be getting my equipment soon. What i was wondering about is:
1. Any specific training guidelines on how to start benching with a shirt. Any specifics to watch out for, and any basic exercises to start out with - i.e. board presses and such.
2. How much boost will equipment give me roughly? To place well in the upcoming meet, i will need to boost my numbers to about a 700 pound squat, dead is fine, and bench should be around 450-500 lbs. Is it realistic?
Sorry if the questions were noobish , but as i said im pretty new to the strength game.
Thanks for your answers.

[chuckt]

i think putting up the #'s you hoped to at 260lb bodyweight is more than possible to achieve in 3 months. If you bought your gear now and practiced in it until then i would say you could mabye expect 20-50lbs out of a shirt, 100+lbs out of a suit+belt+wraps for your squat, and mabye 10-30lbs out of whatever you decided to wear for deadlifts. but if you really are going to cut 30-40lbs of bodyweight in 3 months while trying to learn gear i think your #'s will be lower than what they currently are raw. If you bought the gear now at 260 it will be WAY to loose at 220 or 230, so you are looking at virtually no carryover, plus the groove and feel to the gear will be way different when it fits correctly at 260 than it will at 220. If you stay at 260 you will do fine, dont be stupid and cut a ton of weight so you can win a trophy, compete for the fun of competing and to put up big #'s.

If you want to learn how to use a shirt i think sebastian burns advanced bench press video is a great learning tool
( http://www.undergroundstrength.com/i...es/Page700.htm )

[BakesPimpRB23]

while benching with a shirt, im sure you know but its more triceps... work on gettting an arch, push you stomack out, get your shoulder blades tight into the bench... this will shorten up you rom dramatically... also try board presses and alot of close grips
with a good bench shirt, you will be in the 500lb range within no time
your squat will be around 750 in no time and with a good squat suit... and you will get a little bit of an increase in the deadlifts

you def. have alot of potential but i think cutting down to 220lbs might affect your strength a little bit too much, cutting down to the 242lb weightclass seems like it might be a little better for you... thats just my opinion, its still your body and your health though, goodluck either way

[Vadim Beliaev]

Thanks for your input. Yea, i was thinking that cutting too much weight will definitely make the gear loose and i might have to purchase a new set of shirts just to compete in. I think ill stick to the 240 lb class, even though id have to hit some bigger numbers.