In Training we have talked in various articles about the bench press, in the chest exercises glossary, and in another article talking about its execution, to avoid scares and injuries. In this article we want to talk about its placement in strength training programs for athletes seeking an improvement in any sporting skill.
It is very common to see athletes on forums asking if it is worth including the bench press in their strength routine. How are you not going to include a bench press in a routine? If you arrive at a gym, and there is a line to be able to do a series. Yes, it is very difficult to make a person see that there is life after the press bench, since it is one of the basics, along with the squat and the deadlift. The reason is that it is a relatively easy exercise to learn, and also provides a strong chest congestion, something that fills the ego of those who practice it.
Why not include it in an athlete’s strength program?
First of all, I want to clarify that I have nothing against exercise, but I would not include it in almost any sport, except in the case that the athlete is in an initial phase, as a routine for beginners, Starting Strength style. In my opinion, other pushing exercises present more transfer to any sporting gesture (obviously leaving powerlifting aside, where it is a mandatory exercise). In addition, it is an exercise as we have commented previously in another article, more dangerous, because it can work with high loads, and that the position of the rotator cuff can be compromised as it is an open kinetic chain exercise . An open kinetic chain exercise is one in which the hands or feet are free, and can be moved, while closed kinetic chain exercises are those in which the hands or feet are fixed in contact with the ground or an apparatus and they cannot move.
Mark Rippetoe’s opinion
Mark Rippetoe, a well-known physical trainer, in his book Starting Strength (2) talks about the use of the military press as the best option over the bench press, since the military press produces force in the trunk muscles (rectus abdominis, obliques, back , in addition to shoulders, arms and chest, such as the bench press), with a force vector closer to a real situation in almost any sport. The more muscles an exercise works, it means that it is of higher quality for the athlete. Central nervous system activation is greater than with any other torso exercise. As we can see, there are several advantages, to highlight I repeat, the production of force at more advantageous angles than the bench press, in which the force is exerted at 90º from the torso, while the military press produces force above the head, something that is closer (in terms of angular degrees) to a push situation in a scrum, or in a grappling ground flip for example. In addition, the military press is a closed kinetic chain exercise, with the advantages mentioned above.
Opinion of Charles Poliquín
Charles Poliquín (3) opts for other exercises, such as the incline bench press , which presents greater transfer, due to the angle formed by the shoulder joint with the trunk, something closer to a real sporting gesture. Poliquín goes further and recommends not using more than 20% of the pushing training volume, in pushing exercises from a prone position (it seems that he refers to the bench press) . The remaining 80% would be occupied by the military press, or the incline bench press (although this also has the same problem as the bench press, in terms of scapular mobility). In addition, 50% should be done with dumbbells , since they offer a more natural movement pattern, and it involves extra work on the muscles that stabilize the shoulder.
Chad Waterbury’s opinion
In this case, Chad talks about the specific case of a fighter (4). It also denies the need for the bench press. The serratus anterior is an essential muscle when building a strong punch and is also responsible for keeping the scapula in place (very important in shoulder health). This muscle does not participate in a bench press . On the other hand, when performing flexions , or any thrusting movement that allows the scapulae to move freely, it will allow the serratus anterior to participate. Therefore we have one more variant for our torso exercises: push-ups. Push-ups allow us a huge amount of exercise variations and progressions. Weighted vest or chain push-ups, elastic band push-ups, handstand push-ups, one-hand push-ups, artistic gymnastics plank push-ups, ring push-ups, etc. Al Kavadlo’s books, Convict conditioning , and Pushing the limits , present a wide variety, with detailed explanations, and a multitude of explanatory photos. We are not going to comment on them here so as not to make the article too long. One-hand push-ups deserve special mention, as it is a fantastic exercise since they put into play the crossed chain (opposite shoulder and hip, through the torso) responsible for actions such as throwing, hitting, etc. With the push-ups we work with the whole body and as we commented in a previous article, the push-ups with the slap are a great exercise to gain explosiveness in the upper body (as long as medicine balls are not available). Another exercise that can replace the bench press in a wrestler’s routine is the one-arm floor press with rotation, which allows full scapular movement, and builds strength in the hips and core. In the video you can see how the humerus, clavicle, and scapula move together, which is how it should be.
Tony Gentilcore’s opinion
In the aforementioned article (5), the athlete in question is a baseball player. Again, the bench press does not turn out to be the best option, arguing that the bench press is an open chain exercise and the scapulae are glued to the bench, and cannot be moved, except for the scapular retraction, which must always be performed. It is not the best scenario for someone whose skill depends on getting their arm to work overhead by making very explosive gestures when throwing. For this reason, he prefers to do dumbbell presses, with a neutral grip , which allows the interacromial space to be opened a little more, so that the supraspinatus cannot be pinched, and to avoid the classic pain due to rotator cuff tendonitis, which usually leads to in long injuries and in many cases, repeat offenders. How many people do we know with shoulder problems caused by the bench press? Another exercise with more transfer than the bench press, and that also allows us to add overloads, is the grappler press , where we work with different angles of attack of the load. Although it is a very little known exercise, it is very valuable to gain power, since we manage to involve the lower body, through the triple extension of the ankle, knees and hips, so well known and valuable in weightlifting exercises.
Conclution
In addition to the risks in shoulder stability that the bench press implies, it is a poor exercise in terms of transferring towards horizontal pushing sports gestures such as throwing or hitting, to name a few. It does not provide benefits in intermuscular coordination , since large muscle chains do not act. Nor does it improve stability , since when performed lying on a bench, the core is not significantly requested. The latter is very important for any athlete, since it will be useless to have strong muscles, if we have weak stabilizers. That is to say, to give an example, it is useless to hit a ball very hard, if when I am struggling with a rival player, trying to shoot at goal, being moderately unbalanced, I get injured when trying to shoot. It is an exercise that allows us to build general strength and mass (as long as we follow a hypercaloric diet) in the first phase , but then as a base exercise to transfer force towards a sporting gesture, it is below other higher exercises. The bench press is used as a method of measuring the strength-endurance of the torso in a test carried out on NFL football players, so some can say that it is performed by elite athletes. It is also performed by NBA basketball players, but I do not think it is the best for them, especially knowing the great arms that many of them have, such as Kevin Durant, which is a clear mechanical disadvantage in their execution (for the most curious, and as anecdotal fact, Kevin Durant could not lift 84 kilos, in 2007, the year of his entry into a professional team, his current team the Oklahoma City Thunders. Kevind Durant weighs 102 kilos, and measures 2.06 m His bench press numbers are not very handsome.)
Sources
- T-nation
- Mark Rippetoe “Starting strength”, pages 152-153.
- Charles Poliquin
- Chad waterbury
- Tony Gentilcore
