A7 Powerlifting Gear Review
Last updated on April 5th, 2024 at 09:56 am
A7 Powerlifting Gear comes with the tagline, Demand Greatness. Over the years I’ve used two different pairs of elbow sleeves, three our four pairs of knee sleeves, three pairs of wrist wraps, and a bunch of shorts and other gear. So when I first chatted with A7 and they wanted to send me a care package, I was excited to see what the deal was.
Key Notes
A7 Powerlifting Gear is in general, awesome stuff. There are a few things to consider based on your own use case, but I think you’ll be happy using the majority of their apparel and accessories.
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A7 Gear
A7 was a sponsor for the 2022 Garage Gym Competition. In my initial discussions with them, they wanted to send me some gear. The occasional perk of doing what I do. So they sent me a pair of their joggers, grip shirt, knee sleeves, wrist wraps, elbow sleeves, and water jug. I got to pick the sizes, but they chose the rest. I’m no complainer with free stuff. So here are my thoughts about the gear.
Joggers
When I first received the joggers, they didn’t even make it over my calves. These things are a SLIM FIT. Over the past year my wife has worn them around the house, washed them a few times, and they have relaxed a bit. I can now get them on, technically. If I tried to do anything in them, there is absolutely zero chance they would stay on. It sucks too, because the materials feel great and they look very clean. But pants are meant to be worn, and I can’t do that here. So no go on my recommendation of the joggers.
Squat Shorts
I’ve worn gym shorts for multiple decades. Growing up playing sports, especially basketball, I had a particular fancy with the baggy style shorts of the Allen Iverson generation. This was my first foray into a pair of shorts that hung just above the knee. From my very first workouts, to today, I really enjoy these A7 shorts.
The materials dry super quick so you aren’t walking around sweaty and gross. I’ve even worn them while washing the dog and the car, and again, they dry nearly as well as a pair of swim trunks. They have pockets that manage to not get in the way either. Most shorts with pockets, the pockets seem to really be THERE. They get caught on stuff, you notice them. These aren’t even noticeable until you put a phone or keys in there. And with that, the pockets don’t seem to wear out, stretch or get beat up at all.
They fit very comfortably too. Whether I’m riding my bike, walking the dog, squatting, or sitting on the couch. These shorts are great. Because I work from home, I’m often in shorts all day long Monday – Friday. So being in a pair that does all of these things so well, is a huge win. I like them so much I replaced ALL of my shorts with them. Now I wear nothing but the A7 Powerlifting Gear shorts.
One Complaint
The only complaint I have is with the drawstrings. I own I believe 8 pairs totals. Not a single one has the same length drawstring. Some are very short, some are right sized, and others are so long they could touch my toes. I do not understand why, or how, they are done this way. They also come with these nice metal end caps on the strings. These fall off in the wash almost immediately. You are left with a solid plastic piece, but its not a sign of longevity out the gate when it immediately “falls apart”.
Again, these shorts are fantastic. No complaints, would purchase again. Only recommendation is that you wait until Black Friday if you can, because their stuff goes on a MONSTER sale. I would have save a few hundred bucks on shorts. Oh well.
Note – I specifically own the Center Stretch Squat Shorts. I’ve heard great things about the 360Go, and A7 is always coming out with new tweaks.
Water Jug
The water jug is my new bedside table water bottle. I can fill it up with a gallon, leave it there, and dig into it when I need to. I really don’t like it for the majority of purposes though. It is big and bulky, and the screw cap takes FOREVER to come off. All of my water bottles have a screw cap, it takes a quick turn of the wrist to pop it off. The A7 Powerlifting Gear Water Jug takes probably 5 twists to get the cap off. This is just excessive.
If you need a travel jub for a gym bag, this thing is solid. I’m pretty sure you could toss it under a truck and it’ll be fine. For a home gym athlete, it is a little overkill which makes it personally less than ideal. I’m not worried about my intra-workout spilling in my gym bag, so the fact that you need to unscrew the cap for a solid minute is less than ideal. I also find the strap for the lid to be cumbersome. It regularly gets caught up. Good for on the go, not great for at home.
Cone Knee Sleeves
The knee sleeves are… EXCELLENT! I’ve owned and worn 3 other pairs of knee sleeves. From expensive to cheap, and these are the best by a long shot. Full knee coverage, the “cone” shape fits perfectly, and they stay in place. Seriously solid, these will be my go to for the future. I’ve also been using these consistently for every squat workout for a year, and they are still functioning well. Extra impressive since I fluctuate in weight, and in the winter I wear compression pants. So these have hung in there for a long time.
Elbow Sleeves
I don’t think elbow sleeves suffer from the same issues that some knee sleeves do. But my past experiences with elbow sleeves hasn’t been great. To the point when my old pair wore out, I didn’t bother replacing them. The A7 elbow sleeves are pretty solid. These tend to get added on during my prep and peak for the Garage Gym Competition. Toss em on, get a little more compression and comfort, and forget that I’m getting older. They stay in place, I can wear them under a sweatshirt and still move well, no complaints. If these were to wear out, I’d replace them with the same pair, no regrets.
Wraps
The wrist wraps are… even more EXCELLENT! I’ve owned two pairs of wrist wraps, an older pair of Titans and a newer pair of APT. They were both solid and did their job. Then the A7 wraps came in and those things were instantly seen as garbage. Stiff yet pliable so you can get an awesome wrap for support. Double thumb loops so you can wrap on either hand, doesn’t matter.
AND a super cool pass-through wrap so you can just skip the thumb loop entirely and wrap em down tight. The velcro is super long so you don’t have to worry about missing it, whether you have huge or tiny wrists. These things are seriously awesome. If your wrist wraps aren’t doing this, time for an upgrade.
Again, after consistent use for over a year, these things are still banging!
Grip Shirt
The grip shirt is… 50/50. I high bar squat so center knurling has never been a big deal for me. In the same vein, the grip on the shirt just doesn’t sit correctly to be able to do anything, nor do I think it would do anything even if it did. In fact, when I have worn the grip shirt for squats it often gets in the way and causes more problems than it solves. I can TOTALLY see how a low bar squat would benefit from the friction of the shirt. But for me, it is just something else to think about when squatting.
But for bench? EXCELLENT! It allows you to bench on any bench and stick in place, instead of slip and slide on those slick bench pads. Even with my Fat Pad, I can still manage to slide around a bit depending on what shirt I wear. And it is a DEFINITE when I have multiple layers on during the winter months. So I think the Grip Sweatshirts sound like a great idea.
A7 Powerlifting Gear Overview
A7 in general is awesome stuff. I really like that they are trying to do innovative stuff with their gear, and not just make stuff like everyone else. And in conversations with their team, they are just genuinely good people. You’ll notice that they do “drops” of their lines. As in, what is available right now, might not be in a week. In fact, it might never be available again. So feel free to keep an eye out for special colorways that you like, and then grab it all!
If you need some new wraps or sleeves, check em out. If you are sliding around on your bench or low bar squat, grab a grip shirt. And definitely upgrade your shorts, sleeves, and gear to A7.
Joe Gray
My name is Joe Gray - aka Gray Matter Lifting - and I've been lifting at home since 2013. In that time I've built a badass gym, deadlifted over 600lbs, helped grow r/Homegym to over 1 Million subscribers, created the Garage Gym Competition and written a ton of posts here on this site. I love the Garage Gym Community... If you do too, I hope you stick around.
