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Unlimited Bench.
- Craig Cassie
- Feb 5
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 16
Unlimited Bench.
“A city car with a 1000BHP engine”
Bandy Shirts, Unlimited Bench and the Future of Equipped Powerlifting??
Some people claim equipped powerlifting is dead. Admittedly since the grand heyday of the pre-resurrection WPO being a WWF style event (yes I’m old), complete with the flames, ring girls and TV coverage, it has indeed lost it’s part at the forefront of powerlifting, especially as raw powerlifting grows at a rapid rate.
Yet it isn’t dead. If anything, it’s regaining some traction with the return of the WPO and the emergence of Holy Wars in the hotbed of geared powerlifting that is the USA. Along with competitions this side of the puddle such as WRPF’s(WEPF) Warpath, IrishPRO, and Battle of the Boyne. Not to mention the A/BPU even running an unlimited full power flight in 2026.
That’s the topic I want to speak on today. Unlimited bench, it’s rather sharpish rise up the ranks of participation numbers, and give my opinion on why. It can be a bit of a touchy subject for some and I’ll get into why that may be.
During 2025 in the UK, 76 people competed unlimited bench only and 102 people competed single/multi ply bench only.
The figures still heavily lean towards single and multi ply. However with how quickly those unlimited numbers have increased despite the limited access to equipment, a much smaller second hand market, the product being made primarily in the states and being more recently developed, it’s still mightily impressive how it’s already heading towards close to 50% of all equipped bench only lifts in a year.
Anyone who has ever squeezed themself into a poly/denim bench shirt, which any sane person would consider too small to ever try on let alone rely upon for competition performance, knows all the hassle this can be. Setting of the shirt each set, keeping the blood flow to your hands and arms, changes of the setting between weight selection, the ‘bite’ marks leaving you looking like Tony the Tiger’s cousin, not to mention the limitless options which are all slightly different fits and the guess work involved with inconsistent sizing from some suppliers. Plus within the UK, then having to order the majority of kit from the states which adds extra time, cost and risk to all orders.
A poly shirt arrives nice, new and shiny. It may need to be adjusted slightly, or have the sleeves stretched out with a football. You might have to manipulate bodyweight a little due to sizing. You spend weeks or maybe even months slowly breaking it in and learning your line in it. In an ideal scenario, you also rely on a crew of lifters to assist you, because you’re crammed into this sausage casing of a bench shirt walking around like a T-Rex trying not to go numb. Then there’s always the risk of a blowout, yes I’m looking at you inzer bolt.
Where unlimited shirts provide an advantage, is their ease of use. Put one on straight out of the box, and as long as you haven’t sized it stupidly small or got a shirt you can’t handle, there’s nothing to say you can’t touch in that first session. Plys can always be added later with these shirts using inserts, so there’s no need to go HAM on the first occasion.
I mean, who doesn’t want to put a shirt on for the first time and have a mammoth bench PB?
It’s also worth noting that unlike single/multi ply shirts, the unlimited shirts can be slipped off and folded down between sets, meaning the need to rely on other people can be lessened. It is also possible to be set solo, so again reducing the need to rely on others. Plus a little added bonus of there being less potential for the sore ‘bites’.
The competitions you can use them in is growing too. In the USA you can compete full power with an unlimited shirt, which is making its way into the UK with a flight dedicated for it by the A/BPU in 2026. Records are available to be claimed and there are prizes to be won, including some rather fantastic swords.
So why isn’t everyone converting to unlimited if it’s so easy?
Quite simply it isn’t, it has its own set of problems for you to solve as training goes on.
You may not be relying on a crew as heavily as for other equipped benches, but when lifts go wrong in unlimited, they can go wrong VERY quickly. Most commonly is over tucking of the elbows, which is a position the shirt will try to force, causing the bar to scoop backwards towards your face. The perfect recipe for no teeth if you haven’t set your safeties properly or don’t have competent spotters. The risk is there with poly in this respect, but unlimited shirts offer that extra pop in ALL directions, whether that be towards lockout, your face or onto your stomach.
The loads that can be handled in these shirts are not to be scoffed at, and often people use them without adequate preparation. They will simply throw a shirt on, hit heavy boards and work their way down week by week, or just send it for PB. You’re asking for a hell of a lot from your hands, forearms and biceps there, and without gradually working up in weight, injuries can follow. Those loads need to be managed properly over time.
If you take your normal city run around car and put a 1000BHP engine inside of it without upgrading anything else, it isn’t going to last long unless you take care of everything and get it up to spec.
Pressure is still very much an animal with these shirts too. From my own experiences and my lifters, it actually feels like a hell of a lot more than any single or multi ply shirt. Once you add that shirt pressure into the extra load, it’s a great way to pop a vessel in the eye or your entire face.
What point am I making then?
As someone who has competed in multi ply and unlimited bench shirts, along with training in single ply, I can really see the continual growth of unlimited for a few reasons, despite the challenges it faces. I know I’ll personally continue to compete in both.
The numbers. Some people plain and simply believe powerlifting is a sport about lifting the most weight. So how can they do that? By getting the most out of their gear. That is always going to be unlimited, unless a total overhaul of poly happens sometime soon.
The accessibility. Anyone can go onto Pullum and order an F8 bench shirt or widowmaker, put it on and have a session in it. Even quickly jumping into competitions that allow so without as much of a financial and time commitment as poly.
The comfort. It sounds like an odd word to use when talking about equipped benching, but it was very much my first experience of the F8 unlimited shirt. I looked at my spotter mid set and said “wow this is comfy”. Having previously trained in a very small Super Katana which used to bite me horrendously, (and still does, I’m sporting some right now), it felt incredibly comfortable in comparison. Once I found the line, I was able to touch and surpass even my heaviest board work in the single ply during that first session. I also sized up rather than down as most seem to do.
Now there are plenty of objections about these shirts from a safety point of view from gym owners and competition heads, and understandably so. There is also a group of experienced equipped lifters who can’t stand the shirts, with complaints that they’ve almost made the shirts too accessible, enabling people to bench weights they haven’t ‘earned the right to be benching’.
I see both sides of this, a 1000lb bench is a 1000lb bench and an incredible number people only dream of, but the poly lifts just always chip it for me.
I enjoy unlimited very much for its accessibility and ease of running a training session with minimal help. Yet the POV of the more traditional equipped lifters who are having their historic lifts surpassed by someone who hasn’t ‘earned the right’ through suffering like they have, is also one I can resonate with in a way. In my opinion the skill requirement for poly is higher, but unlimited is incredibly more unforgiving and a fickle mistress. If you allow both unlimited and single/multi ply to compete together in one equipped category, it isn’t going to be even close to ‘fair’ competition and multi ply records will be shattered. But separately, could we see the continued growth to facilitate the three full equipment classes of single, multi and unlimited?
As a lifter and a coach I certainly hope so, as occasional platform crew meh.
Craig Cassie is a strength coach with over 17 years of coaching experience across rugby, strongman, and powerlifting. A former Team Josh Hezza athlete turned JHEPC coach, he’s known for his sharp technical eye, fast communication, and terrible sense of humour. Craig specialises in building strength, fitness, and resilience through a Conjugate-inspired approach that prioritises both performance and long-term health.
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