Talk:Bench press

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It would be very interesting to me, and probably to others, to know how much the various lifters weighed at the time they made their records. However, I have no idea where to look for this information. Perhaps someone could add that information to this article? Also, how much weight would the "average" person be able to bench press, for comparison? Whateley23 02:14, 17 July 2005 (UTC)

I believe the statement about declined press working the upper pecs and inclined press working the lower pecs is reversed, but I'd like someone to agree before I change it.

The information on this page is seriously flawed and/or outdated. One of the lastest articles from the National Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research just published a study which disproves the long held belief that you can recruit the specific regions of the pectoral (upper, middle, lower) by varying the angle of resistance. The summary of the report stated that the pectorals either contract or they don't, regardless of angle. They did however find a difference in muscle fiber recruitment by varying hand positions (pronated, supinated, wide, narrow, etc). I wish I could find that article, I think it was in mid-2005. Oh, and the world record is far above 713, and has been for years now. Probably closer to 800 (drug tested!).

The author(s) of this article wrote, "Everyone experiencing problems with or pain in their shoulders should resort to the decline version." DO NOT DO THIS!!! If you are experiencing pain, in your shoulders or anywhere else you should either a.)improve your technique b.) consult a qualified trainer/coach c.)use lighter weight (which will help you use better technique). If you put your hand on a hot stove, and it hurt, would you keep doing it assuming that eventually the pain would stop?

Im not sure this is worthy of the article, but when bench pressing it is very important to keep the scapulae retracted and shoulders pinned back on the bench - too many novices/intermediates push through a bench press with their shoulders, placing unnecessary stress on the shoulders, which leads to all kinds of shoulder problems (Rotator Cuff, AC joint etc). If you watch a video of powerlifters bench pressing their shoulders are pinned back tight! StrengthCoach 21:52, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

i made a few edits, feel free to discuss, ignore my above comment, i missed that in the article first time around (somehow?!?) StrengthCoach 22:01, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

The world record reported in this article of 713lbs is a RAW record (and it is cleary stated).

This 2004 article puts it at 713lbs by Scot Mendelson - http://www.slate.com/id/2104915/

This one - http://www.bench-press.net/bench-press-kings.html also puts it at 713lbs,

and this 2005 article also puts it at 713lbs -http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0801/is_8_66/ai_n14834114 U R A GR8 M8 14:44, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 One-repetition fitness levels 2 World record 3 strange advanced 'bodybuilder' bench press figures 4 Form - Pinching shoulder blades? 5 Barbell vs dumbell 6 Average Bench Press 7 Safety 8 Bench Shirts 9 "This record was slightly broken"

[edit] One-repetition fitness levels

Can somebody tell me why this is here? It has nothing to do with bench press other other than showing figures required for police for entering criteria? 130.15.194.74 21:20, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] World record

The article states the world record belongs to Gene Rychlak, but the Gene_Rychlak article itself states that his record was beaten by Scot Mendelson.

I guess we haven't gotten around to changing it yet. Nothing is stopping you, however. Yankees76 14:26, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] strange advanced 'bodybuilder' bench press figures

i am unsure asto whether the figure for bodyweight is given in pounds (i cant imagine somebody weighing 246kg) if in pounds then: a person weighing 105-120lbs/47-54kg should have a bench press of 260lbs/117.93kg, and a person weighing 171-185lbs/77-84kg should have a bench press of 360lbs/163kg.

i think that is definitely not true, or achievable, except for those that are genetically gifted/assisted/or steroid users.

I hate to disagree with the comment above this but I must. As a person that never 'competed' in bodybuilding or in powerlifting; I broke the 400 lb. bench press when I weighed 215 lbs. At this point of my life (I was 22) I never even considered steroids. I ate right, worked out hard, slept enough and took supplements you can buy OTC.

Congrats to you (I'm not being sarcastic you should be proud of yourself) but I have worked out since I was 13 am a former personal trainer and also think they are ridiculous.Quadzilla99 00:09, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Those numbers are not normal for a natural, unequipped lifter not specifically doing powerlifting. In fact, looking at this years IPF worlds, I would say a few competitors in the 75k/82.5k class would struggle with 360lbs if they tried it unequipped. A lot of people probably aren't aware that they are genetically gifted in an exercise.

[edit] Form - Pinching shoulder blades?

I just tried this today and it was a lot harder to keep stable. I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else(for instance exrx.net doesn't talk about it) and I'm just wondering if this is really a good thing to be suggesting to people on a general encycopledia page when most people are gonna be having enough trouble keeping the bar balanced in the first place. Also, can someone reference where this info came from? Krymson 01:19, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

The scapula must be retracted when benching using proper form. This is fairly common knowledge - at least amongst knowledgable or experienced lifters/bodybuilders. Some sources of reference include, [1], [2],and this one in particular (scroll down for picture)[3]. Hope this helps. Yankees76 15:03, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, those are good enough for me, but I do note that two of the three sources you gave me noted that this is for developing pecs and not for powerlifting. Krymson 12:19, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Arch and drive the legs into the floor so your upper back with scapula nicely retracted are driven into the bench. You will feel rock solid when you learn how to do this properly.

[edit] Barbell vs dumbell

"Can also be performed with dumbbells which incorporates less use of stabilizer muscles." It would be nice to have a quote saying that dumbells work less the stabilizer muscles than barbell. I agree with it but a dumb gym owner told me the opposite.

They don't though. Dumbells use more stabilizers.Yankees76 13:10, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Average Bench Press

What's the source that states the average man who doesn't engage in strength training can bench between 115 and 150 pounds? Without a source, it sounds more like someone's opinion rather than actual fact. Odin's Beard 01:43, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Safety

The article mentions "closed grip" but many people might not realize that this means wrap your thumbs around the bar. In fact, the photo in the article depicts the opposite. Not wrapping the thumbs is a safety hazard. It is a rampant practice in gyms and I fear this battle is lost. Some say it recruits the pecs better this way, but that is nonsense..to recruit the pecs, use a wide grip, lower the bar high on the chest, and use vertical elbows. I think people like to show they can tempt fate. A H.S. kid died in my area last year doing this.

So? Work on improving and updating the article with information you posted. Just find some sources for the info - if you're righr it shouldn't be too hard. BTW i doubt a thumbless grip would be the cause of a kids death - I'd be more inclined to believe it was more weight than he could handle along with a lack of proper spotting. Yankees76 03:11, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

The bar can slip off the palm of the hand very quickly, and without the bencher being able to slow the descent (as usually happens when the bencher begins to fail), the bar can free fall very fast, with or without a ‘proper’ spot. It doesn't matter if the person had ‘too much weight to handle.’ That's like saying it doesn't matter whether or not a person who died didn't have their seat belt on because they were doing 50 mph instead of the 45 mph speed limit. It doesn’t take a lot of weight dropping on someone’s upper chest to seriously injure or kill them.

[edit] Bench Shirts

Could do with a section, from someone with knowledge regarding the history of, different materials, styles and techniques employed when training/competing equipped.

[edit] "This record was slightly broken"

Is that, like, "a little bit pregnant"? Daniel Barlow 13:22, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for your suggestion! When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the Edit this page link at the top. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to). The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes — they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome.Yankees76 15:34, 30 November 2006 (UTC)