Defending the Bench Press
By
Mike Robertson
The bench press is a great lift. Whether your goal is to develop a powerful
overall physique or a barrel chest or just get brutally strong, the bench press
can help you get there.
Before we go any further, however, let’s get a few things out of the way.
First off, I’m not a great bench presser. My best bench was in the USAPL. At a
body weight of 198 lbs, I benched 335 lbs. In fact, if anyone should have a
disdain for the bench press, it should be a guy like me who has a terrible one!
It seems the bench press has been thrown under the proverbial bus lately, and
I feel somewhat compelled to defend it. Whether it’s being demonized for tearing
up shoulders, ripping pecs off the bone, or finding some other way to get people
injured, the bench press seems to have fallen out of favor in many circles. I’m
here to tell you this much—when performed correctly and when incorporated
properly within a program, the bench press is a wonderful lift that will take
your upper body strength and physique to the next level.
Let’s begin by reviewing some of the common “theories” held when it comes to
the bench press and injuries.
Destroying the dogma
One of the injuries that people relate to the bench press is the dreaded pec
tear. Now, I’ve never torn a pec, although I’ve had a pretty serious strain in
the past. It sucks and it’s no laughing matter, but it didn’t happen from bench
pressing!
The naysayers would have you believe that pec tears are a common theme when
it comes to strength enthusiasts. But is this really the case? If we follow the
logic that if you bench long enough, you’ll tear a pec or somehow get injured,
then the same logic must be followed for the squat and deadlift, right? So, if
you train the deadlift long enough, you’re sure to have some sort of back issue?
Or if you squat long enough, you’re sure to have some sort of hip or knee issue?
Hopefully, you’re picking up on my sarcasm here. It’s not the lift itself.
It’s an entire host of factors. How you perform the lift, your individual
biomechanics, the joints and connective tissue you have, and your programming
(both short and long term) are all going to play a role in how healthy you are
over the course of your training career. Saying that one lift is the penultimate
reason that people get injured is a little naive if not flat out asinine.
I’ve had the privilege of meeting and talking to some of the strongest bench
pressers in the world. As an assistant coach for the USA bench press team
several years ago, I talked shop with national and world champions from many
different countries. Oddly enough, I don’t recall any of them suffering from a
pec tear. If anyone should be at an increased risk for pec tears, it should be
someone at this level of strength, right?
At the risk of using the same broken logic that I’m harping on others about,
let me give you a caveat. If you’re a world class bench presser, chances are you
have all the right tools genetically to stay healthy and get freaky
strong. I just want you to understand that it’s really hard to pigeonhole one
lift as the reason why people get hurt.
Another common myth you’ll hear purported is from the overhead pressing camp.
Now, I see nothing wrong with the overhead press for those who are moving
appropriately (most notably good thoracic spine alignment and scapular upward
rotation) and those who have optimal scapular design (type 1 or type 2
acromions). However, it’s almost comical when people say that the overhead press
is “safer” than the bench press. Since when?
I think this myth started many years ago with some comments made my Bill
Starr. Before I continue, let me preface this by saying that I have the utmost
respect for Bill Starr. The man has probably forgotten more about strength
training than I will ever know. However, many advocates of the overhead press
will paraphrase a quick line that’s been attributed to him in the past: “Before
the bench press became en vogue and people overhead pressed, there were far
fewer shoulder and rotator cuff injuries.” Here’s the beef that I have with that
argument. How in the hell can you prove that? Has someone tracked it? Is there
reliable data? Or scientific evidence?
I’ve looked for data to back this and there is none. What’s worse is there’s
no way that we could ever reliably track this. With so many people hitting the
gym nowadays, even though there may be more total injuries, that’s largely due
to the fact that more people are strength training now than ever before. So
while the total number of injuries may be on the rise, the percentage of
lifters getting injured probably hasn’t changed all that much.
The overhead press is a great lift, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, it
takes more biomechanical “mojo” to overhead press than it does to bench press
safely and effectively. First and foremost, you need to have good extensibility
at your thoracic spine. Otherwise, you’ll be working on an impingement syndrome
before you know it. And even if your thoracic spine posture is optimal, you
still need to have great upward rotation as well. Many of the clients that Bill
and I have worked with at I-FAST have terrible strength in their serratus
anterior and lower trapezius, which makes getting into a good overhead position
very difficult to do.
With all that being said, can you get injured performing the bench press? Of
course you can. Let’s briefly discuss a few of the reasons why people get
injured and discuss some ways to prevent injury and keep your numbers on the
up-and-up over the long haul.
Option #1: Perfect your technique
Flawless technique isn’t an option when it comes to lifting let alone the
sport of powerlifting. The best lifters are not only brutally strong but
typically have outstanding technique as well. It’s doubtful that I’m going to
teach any of the high-level lifters on this site how to improve their bench
press from a technical perspective.
For the beginner or intermediate level lifter, however, here are two hugely
important keys for staying healthy over the long haul:
- Scapulae back and down: I can’t stress this enough, but getting
your upper back locked in is one of, if not the most, integral components of
bench pressing. I have no way to prove this other than anecdotal evidence,
but I suggest that many of the injuries we see on the bench press are due to
a lack of scapular stability. Keeping the scapulae tucked back and down
gives us a nice solid base from which to press. If you feel as though one
side isn’t as stable as the other, work diligently to remedy this.
One other note, always get a hand off! When training at Westside many
years ago, I found it odd when Dave Tate (a 600-lb bench presser) was
getting a hand off with 135 lbs on the bar. Now, it makes a lot more sense!
It’s impossible to get set in an ideal position and then try and lift the
weight out yourself. Once your scapulae are back and down in the appropriate
position, get a hand off to help keep them there.
If you want to learn more about proper bench press technique, I highly
recommend picking up the
EliteFTS Bench Manual.
- Tuck your elbows: Chances are if you’re reading this article,
you’re interested more in strength and performance than building huge pecs.
Leave the elbows flared variations to the bodybuilders. Instead, tucking the
elbows places more stress on the triceps and takes stress off the shoulder
joint. I can’t imagine teaching anyone to bench with their elbows out. Even
if your only goal is to build huge pecs, there are safer ways to do it than
elbows flared bench presses.
Option #2: Be prudent when cranking up volume/intensity
Poor lifting mechanics are a surefire way to get injured when bench pressing.
Another is injudiciously cranking up your volume or intensity without preparing
your body for it. I’ve worked with tons of athletes and lifters in the past, and
I can’t tell you how many of their injuries are spurred on when they start to
crank their training up.
You see this all the time with recreational lifters. They read the latest
article on BroScience.com about how to put 50 lbs on their bench press in two
months and jump into the program immediately. Things are great for the first 3–4
weeks and then every fiber of their being starts to hurt. It could be their
wrists, elbows, or their shoulders. But remember, it’s their poor application of
the lift that got them injured, not the lift itself! Quite simply, they didn’t
prepare themselves correctly for the increased training loads.
Option #3: Balance your training
You want to know why so many of the average gym rats out there end up getting
injured when bench pressing? I’ll tell you why, and it’s not just bad technique
or the 20 sets of chest presses they do every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
It’s because their programming is so horribly imbalanced that their body
basically has no choice other than injury or lack of progress.
Here’s an example of a kid who just joined our gym a few weeks ago. He’s
pretty damn strong overall. He’s squatted 425 lbs in knee wraps and pulled 455
lbs at around 181 lbs of body weight. I wish I would’ve been that strong at his
age! The problem? His bench press is 245 lbs! When Bill assessed him, he was
strong in the areas that you’d expect (pecs, triceps, etc.) but horribly weak in
his upper back and stabilizing musculature.
Whether you know it not, your body is far smarter than you are. It knows when
you’re suffering from a muscle imbalance. If things aren’t lined up the way that
they should be or if your stabilizers can’t do their job effectively, your body
halts progress in its tracks. Unfortunately, too many people feel that this is
the time to do more of whatever activity they’re struggling at! This is
where the injury bug lies.
If you’re serious about not only improving your bench press but also staying
healthy, I highly suggest putting in a ton of work to get these typical weak
areas up to snuff. For the upper body, this generally includes improving your
thoracic spine alignment as well as the strength of your upper back, lower
trapezius, and rotator cuffs. This will not only keep you healthy but on the
fast track to success as well.
Option #4: Don't forget about your connective tissue
While older lifters know this to be true, you have to back off from time to
time to allow your connective tissue time to heal. You also need to have
dedicated times of the year to work on higher repetitions, which helps develop
connective tissue strength. Going balls out every week month after month and
year after year is a surefire way to get injured.
When discussing connective tissue strength, we need to mention anabolics as
well. I’m definitely no expert on the topic, but steroids do seem to influence
how tissues respond to loading. Mel Siff mentioned in a presentation at the SWIS
conference that if a lifter he trained was on anabolics, he doubled the amount
of time spent on connective tissue development. I guess those high rep sets
aren’t just for the bodybuilders after all!
As many coaches have said in the past, “There aren’t bad exercises, just bad
exercise performance.” Whether it’s poor technique, poor programming, or one of
the other factors I discussed, I hope you can see that it’s not the exercise at
hand that’s the problem but the application of said exercise. Many are quick to
demonize the bench press, but when utilized appropriately within your training
program, it can be an amazing tool to develop new found levels of strength and
muscular development.
Mike Robertson, MS, CSCS, USAW, has helped clients and athletes from all
walks of life achieve their strength, physique, and performance related goals.
He received his master’s degree in sports biomechanics from the world renowned
Human Performance Lab at Ball State University. Mike is the president of
Robertson Training Systems and the co-owner of Indianapolis Fitness and Sports
Training in Indianapolis, Indiana
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength
training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products
and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the
industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit
us at www.EliteFTS.com.
