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homeslizzle1985
New member
DISCLAIMER: The purpose of this thread is for constructive discussion and exchange of ideas.
Ala another thread, I thought it would be fun to have a discussion focused exclusively not on how to get bigger bench numbers or how to get a bigger/stronger chest, but actually WHY most lifters place such importance on this particular lift and what alternatives there are.
I take the stance that the bench press is a movement brought to popularity by coaches and athletes who don't (or rather didn't) know that much about sport-specific training. I say this because most people (myself included) were first introduced to weight training during middle or high school and the lift which separated the men from the boys was the bench press. I still remember the feeling of awe when I heard about this senior or that senior that could bench 300 lbs.
As we grew up, we always asked friends and new acquaintances "how much do you bench?" or "how much does so-and-so bench?," never thinking about how much they could power clean or squat. The best athletes were the ones who could push the most weight off of their chest. (in our young, naive minds) And since most high school weight training coaches (not all, but a LOT) don't really know anything about about weight training other than the cookie-cutter program they are given by their head coaches, our incorrect assumptions about the bench press were not corrected and thus became habits and gospel.
However, I don't know of any sport besides powerlifting where an athlete plays lying on their back. I have never seen an o-lineman begin the play lying on his back to ward off defensive lineman with his mighty pressing power. I have never seen an outfielder bat lying on his back. What I have seen are o-lineman exploding off of the line, driving defensive players back with their legs. I have seen outfielders bat using momentum which does not in any way resemble the bench press movement.
At this point, most will say, "but the bench press builds the muscles that power at least parts of these athletic movements." And they are correct. However, they would be missing a very important distinction.
Power and strength are not the same thing.
Strength is simply the ability of muscle fibers to contract and apply X amount of pressure over Y area and/or Z distance.
Power is Strength TIMES Speed over a given distance or area. (str X spd)
Think of it like this: most people consider someone who maxes out at 300 lbs on the bench press reasonably strong and wouldn't want to be hit by them. Now when someone maxes out, traditionally it is a very slow movement from chest to lockout. For simplicities sake, we’ll say that person A who pushes 300 pounds off of his chest slowly can apply 300 lbs. of pressure over a 2.5 second period.
Person B, instead of doing a slow max, pushes sub-maximal weights off of their chest with incredible speed. Person B is able to push 250 lbs. off of their chest in .7 seconds. Considering that sports are not played in slow motion, but rather explosively, is Person A or Person B more likely to excel in a given sport?
(I am not advocating a dynamic bench press method, I am merely illustrating the difference between power and strength, so please don't take the above example out of context.)
Anyway, what I am trying to get at is that movements which teach explosiveness and balance are much more suited to athletic performance enhancement than movements that are performed in a static, slow manner. And so coaches have taught us wrong! The bench press is not an exercise that really increases the skills or power of an athlete - in other words, the bench press makes good bench pressers, not better athletes!
And that is why, I think, that the bench press has been incorrectly popularized.
What are your thoughts?
Ala another thread, I thought it would be fun to have a discussion focused exclusively not on how to get bigger bench numbers or how to get a bigger/stronger chest, but actually WHY most lifters place such importance on this particular lift and what alternatives there are.
I take the stance that the bench press is a movement brought to popularity by coaches and athletes who don't (or rather didn't) know that much about sport-specific training. I say this because most people (myself included) were first introduced to weight training during middle or high school and the lift which separated the men from the boys was the bench press. I still remember the feeling of awe when I heard about this senior or that senior that could bench 300 lbs.
As we grew up, we always asked friends and new acquaintances "how much do you bench?" or "how much does so-and-so bench?," never thinking about how much they could power clean or squat. The best athletes were the ones who could push the most weight off of their chest. (in our young, naive minds) And since most high school weight training coaches (not all, but a LOT) don't really know anything about about weight training other than the cookie-cutter program they are given by their head coaches, our incorrect assumptions about the bench press were not corrected and thus became habits and gospel.
However, I don't know of any sport besides powerlifting where an athlete plays lying on their back. I have never seen an o-lineman begin the play lying on his back to ward off defensive lineman with his mighty pressing power. I have never seen an outfielder bat lying on his back. What I have seen are o-lineman exploding off of the line, driving defensive players back with their legs. I have seen outfielders bat using momentum which does not in any way resemble the bench press movement.
At this point, most will say, "but the bench press builds the muscles that power at least parts of these athletic movements." And they are correct. However, they would be missing a very important distinction.
Power and strength are not the same thing.
Strength is simply the ability of muscle fibers to contract and apply X amount of pressure over Y area and/or Z distance.
Power is Strength TIMES Speed over a given distance or area. (str X spd)
Think of it like this: most people consider someone who maxes out at 300 lbs on the bench press reasonably strong and wouldn't want to be hit by them. Now when someone maxes out, traditionally it is a very slow movement from chest to lockout. For simplicities sake, we’ll say that person A who pushes 300 pounds off of his chest slowly can apply 300 lbs. of pressure over a 2.5 second period.
Person B, instead of doing a slow max, pushes sub-maximal weights off of their chest with incredible speed. Person B is able to push 250 lbs. off of their chest in .7 seconds. Considering that sports are not played in slow motion, but rather explosively, is Person A or Person B more likely to excel in a given sport?
(I am not advocating a dynamic bench press method, I am merely illustrating the difference between power and strength, so please don't take the above example out of context.)
Anyway, what I am trying to get at is that movements which teach explosiveness and balance are much more suited to athletic performance enhancement than movements that are performed in a static, slow manner. And so coaches have taught us wrong! The bench press is not an exercise that really increases the skills or power of an athlete - in other words, the bench press makes good bench pressers, not better athletes!
And that is why, I think, that the bench press has been incorrectly popularized.
What are your thoughts?
