Powerlifting gear isn't only for equipped competitors anymore. The use of briefs and shirts for raw lifters has become more and more popular. What is the training principle behind it? Is there one? If your hips need a deload, is it acceptable to squat in pair of single-ply briefs for a week? If you want to overload your bench, is it okay to put on a shirt once a month?

Maybe. Maybe not. Dave discusses the use of single-ply gear for raw lifters in this week's Table Talk. He explains that if you really want to use single-ply gear to supplement your training as a raw powerlifter, there's one thing you have to master: making sure the gear doesn't change your technique. If the gear changes your technique, it isn't going to work for you; it's going to work against you. For example, take the squat. If you're squatting in gear, you're most likely going to be able to squat back more than if you were squatting raw. This helps you get aid from the gear. But what happens once you take off that gear? Your programmed motor patterns will lean towards an equipped-style squat.  It's then your responsibility to find out if your new motor pattern is better or worse than before, and change your training to accommodate it.

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