"It's all you man! It's all you!"
The bench press. For whatever reason it’s the most popular exercise in almost any gym. “How much can you bench?” Is a common question among both gym and non-gym going guys. I’m glad that no one’s asked me that question lately because I can tell you that I SUCK at it. I’ve avoided the exercise for many reasons. The main reason has been because of the previously mentioned popularity of the exercise. The exercise is so popular that on my chest and triceps day, Monday, you can’t get on a bench for love nor money. The people who I like to refer to as “the bench press club” occupy them for what seems like hours. Personally, I don’t see the fun or merit in joining a gym only to perform one exercise and do it for hours at a time, but each to their own. I just wish people would share equipment like they are supposed to. The other reason why I’ve shied away from benching is safety. Needless to say, it’s a potentially dangerous exercise. Despite all this I’ve recently decided to give bench pressing ago. Why? I could be wrong but many swear that it’s the best mass-building exercise for your chest bar none.
Up until recently the majority of my chest exercises centered on using nice and safe machines. My particular favorite has been the incline Hammer-Strength press machine. It really isolates your chest well and is unilateral so you start to notice any weakness in one side of your body. I could lift a fairly decent amount of weight (for me at least) to failure, a max of about 52kg (114 lbs) at 8-12 reps. But my chest has been a weak point of mine for quite some time. Since last September I’ve been on a bulking program. Part of that program has been to concentrate on no-frills, compound movements. It’s been said that compound movements are the fastest way to build strength and mass so I figured this would be a good program. To beef up my chest I did the incline Hammer-Strength press but my chest gains have been minimal. A few days ago I swallowed the blue pill and had a crack at free-weight bench pressing.
To be more exact, I tried a barbell incline bench-press as once again, the bench press club had dibs on all the flat benches. Here’s what I noticed about doing this free-weight exercise vs on a machine. I warmed up with about 6-8 reps of just the Olympic sized barbell itself. Straight away I noticed that this mere 20kg (44 lbs) weight was more difficult to control than I thought. Just keeping it straight and level required more concentration and energy than I had bargained for. After the warm-up set it was clear that I wasn’t going to be able to lift anywhere near as much weight as I can on an incline machine. Meekly I added only 10kg (22 lbs) extra weight and managed a set of 8 reps to failure. I dropped the weight some more and did two more sets after. So yes, I benched a staggering 30kg (66 lbs)! I was kind of embarrassed but hey, it’s only a contest against yourself, right? To accentuate the positives, the only way from here is up. I’m already looking forward to my next try. Hopefully it’ll be on a flat bench as it’s possible to lift a bit more.
I’m beginning to see why many say that a barbell bench press is a better mass builder than a pressing machine. I could only lift half the weight that I could on a machine. Clearly, pressing machines bear a lot of the brunt for you. They’re good for isolating the muscle but a free weight exercise definitely brings more muscles into play. More muscles involved means greater muscle stimulation which in turn leads to the potential for more muscle hypertrophy.
I think it’s important to comment on form though. After my monumental bench effort I can’t say I felt a great burn in my chest. The reason? Poor form. I’ve been doing some research on bench press form and have learned that it’s not a “push the bar up” exercise but more of a “lift through the chest” movement. Simply pushing the bar away from your body tends to result in using the triceps and front deltoids too much. This leaves the pectorals largely under worked. “Lifting through the chest” means to concentrate on bringing your forearms up and as close together at the top of the movement as possible. Sounds impossible! Here’s what I mean. Imagine doing a horizontal barbell fly. In this exercise you bring your hands together at the top of the movement by pulling them up there with your pecs. The same goes for the bench press. Your hands are obviously fixed at a slightly wider than shoulder-width grip when benching but try to imagine your forearms coming closer together as you push the bar up. Of course your hands can’t move but trying to achieve this activates the pecs a lot more. It’s something to keep in mind when performing the bench press ( for hypertrophy that is. Benching for power-lifting is a different ball game).
Anyway, I may not possess a great bench press right now but I love learning the ins and outs of a new exercise. I’m also keen on finding out whether or not it develops my chest a bit more. That will take time. I’m talking months and months here. I hope this description of my recent forays into the world of bench press has got you thinking about the exercise an it’s form. If you’re a bench novice too, I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Above all else, remember to be safe. The bench press is potentially dangerous. Use a spotter or decent barbell catchers if you want to squeeze out that last teeth-clenching rep.
{ 4 comments }
