Bench pressing advantage or not
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golfchess6 wrote: »I am benching around 150 pounds (around my actual weight) and was wondering if there is a real benefit to going even more.
You will become stronger and more than likely add some muscle mass over time to arms, shoulders and chest.
Whether that is what you want is up to you.
Different people have different goals, some endurance athletes deliberately let their upper body muscles atrophy for performance in their chosen sport, not my choice though.
In my gym I don't see a lot of people bench pressing but see loads of guys doing interminable bicep curls. As long as people's exercise choice and their goals match it's not my concern.
More of a worry when people do bench press thinking they will build their biceps though!!
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golfchess6 wrote: »
Yes all the benefits I listed are real & important if the bench press and/or variations are part of your programming.
I would never suggest governing my strength increases, bone density, & health by a body weight number that I can produce force with to perform a lift.
Do you have to bench? Nope, unless it is specific to your goal.
Is it a useful & efficient lift to load and perform to elicit a response towards our desired goals? Yes.
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golfchess6 wrote: »
Well, part of my point was that you *wouldn't* see a certain minority of us working on the others, because it happens on a river, not in a gym. 😉
I think others are right about the more common reasons, though: Appearance goals, bro-science, etc.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Speaking of cross training benefits, I've found upper body strength training to be tremendously beneficial for my yoga and swimming, where otherwise my arms are way underpowered compared to my legs.
Yup yup yup!!!!!!! I started weight training specifically to build upper body strength to help with yoga arm balances. It worked a treat.KickassAmazon76 wrote: »Some benefits I have seen for bench pressing...
- lifts saggy boobs (or helps enhance the appearance of fullness)
- helps you look ripped if you have saggy boobs (chest muscle striations distract from the fact that your boobs are near your waist - thanks kids)
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It’s a good thing mat classes also emphasize chin to chest because I’m trying to ogle mine right now.2 -
I'll let others opine on the PHYSICAL advantages, relative to whatever else is available for the purpose. My (very long) experience is that SOCIALLY, for decades bench press been probably the most common first-impression standard for, and question asked, about personal physical strength among like-minded enthusiasts, such that in the right company there's a definite social advantage to having a respectable bench press.
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KickassAmazon76 wrote: »Some benefits I have seen for bench pressing...
- lifts saggy boobs (or helps enhance the appearance of fullness)
- bigger pecs make the belly appear smaller
- helps if you have to push your car out of a snowbank / mud bog
- great for when you need to shove your cranky teenager out of the house and off to school. (kidding) (sortof)
- helpful if youre on the bottom when moving a dresser up the stairs, and then when pushing it down the hall (use towels under to prevent scratching)
- depending on whether you engage your core and trunk during the press... helps with posture and back strength
- helps you look ripped if you have saggy boobs (chest muscle striations distract from the fact that your boobs are near your waist - thanks kids)
- works shoulders - I seem to be able to throw farther in baseball (not always a perk if your accuracy sucks)
- works back muscles
- makes you seem badass when you say "I bench 130". (just don't tell them it's in pounds).
Those are all great insightful reasons!1 -
if you play a sport or have a job that requires pushing than benching is functional. i do not flat bench. the majority of my chest work is inclined.2
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golfchess6 wrote: »I am benching around 150 pounds (around my actual weight) and was wondering if there is a real benefit to going even more.
It depends why you lift. If want to get bigger, you'll need to lift more. If you want to be strong for everyday tasks and weekend sports (general preparedness) or for health/bone strength, you probably have overkill strength, or at least reached the point of diminishing returns.KickassAmazon76 wrote: »- helps if you have to push your car out of a snowbank / mud bog
That's usually more like an incline chest press. Just saying.
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Cherimoose wrote: »golfchess6 wrote: »I am benching around 150 pounds (around my actual weight) and was wondering if there is a real benefit to going even more.
It depends why you lift. If want to get bigger, you'll need to lift more. If you want to be strong for everyday tasks and weekend sports (general preparedness) or for health/bone strength, you probably have overkill strength, or at least reached the point of diminishing returns.KickassAmazon76 wrote: »- helps if you have to push your car out of a snowbank / mud bog
That's usually more like an incline chest press. Just saying.
TBH, it's more like a leg press, because you'll need more leg drive if you want to make an actual difference. But the upper body strength in that case DOES help. Regardless... I was having fun with the response.
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Bench press is part of a balanced lifting routine. I do a full body routine so I press every time I'm in the gym, though I do incline far more than I do flat bench...my right shoulder gives me fits when I do flat bench for whatever reason, but incline doesn't bother it and for whatever reason it's less of an issue when I flat bench with dumbbells than with a bar.
I don't do much in the way of supplemental lifts or isolation lifts...pretty much just compounds and call it a day.1 -
I actually find it a little odd that you pay close enough attention to other people at the gym to know how much time they are individually spending on any one particular exercise over others..
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if you play a sport or have a job that requires pushing than benching is functional. i do not flat bench. the majority of my chest work is inclined.
Nope. Gaining strength, increasing bone density, & experiencing a hypertrophic response through benching is just as functional as any other lift. If one is reaping benefits they are reaping benefits. Doesn't matter if you play sports or not.
One doesnt have to flat bench nor avoid it unless preexisting injury or something along those lines.
"Functional" is one of the worse buzzwords I've seen recently.2 -
ChaoticMoira wrote: »I actually find it a little odd that you pay close enough attention to other people at the gym to know how much time they are individually spending on any one particular exercise over others..
Frankly there isn't any "play close enough attention" required to notice this.
Other poster in this topic commented on what I've easily seen when I'm there working out - people waiting for the bench available.
I've always noticed that unless it's just odd almost empty time. What, while I'm doing a rest I'm not supposed to look around and notice things?
Sometimes I'm curious if by the time I get to a lift requiring equipment it'll be available, so ya.
Far more often than not, and more often than ones waiting for even the squat racks or anything else.
He didn't say, and I'd likely not notice either, specific individuals time after time unless they stood out for some reason.
But the ability to see constant increased usage isn't hard to observe.2 -
@heybales
He mentioned people spending a lot of energy on it. To me, the only way one can know how much energy another is spending on it, you'd have to know how long/often it is done by said person. That was my point. Rather than "there is always a lot of people doing it, I wonder why it is so popular," the focus was on "a person giving their individual energy to it," hence my reaction.
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Thank you everybody for your insight.
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goal06082021 wrote: »golfchess6 wrote: »I went to the gym this weekend and noticed that a lot of people are busing bench pressing (either free weights or machines). Beyond the aesthetic look of bench pressing, is there another reason? Outside the gym, I enjoy playing golf and running. Is there a real benefit bench pressing beyond your weight?
They are probably all on the same bro-schedule of 1 body part a day they read somewhere and just blindly following it.
Hit the gym on a Mon and compare - that's an even bigger bro-scheduled day.
As to why useful - a means to increase shoulder stability, balance to the potentially more often used back pulling muscles, aesthetics, functional.
If you see the folks with slightly forwarded rounded shoulders - they likely need more attention the other direction probably.
Wednesday seems to be chest/push day around these parts, but you're probably right.
Your area is unusual, pictures on internet explaining Monday is bench press day
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These standards allow you to compare your one-rep max lift with other lifters at your body weight but do remember, the strength standard is not the strength norm, nor does it present the highest possible level of strength performance. Instead, it is merely a rough baseline of expectation for an average healthy adult.
Chart I. bench press standards for men
Chart II. bench press standards for women
https://www.ritfitsports.com/blogs/article/how-much-should-i-be-able-to-bench0 -
golfchess6 wrote: »I am surprised at how many people spend so much energy on bench pressing and ignoring the muscles that they would use during sports.
Well, in my sport, that exact muscle group is actually one of the main ones that physically holds me back - so as a female, doing what I do, there is a big focus in my lifting routine on a variety of bench and core/twist exercises. Not that those are all I do by any means (I actually have a 5 day split if I'm doing it all, and several days include compound moves that work several groups), but that is more of a focus for me than other muscle groups.
Now, as to your observations, are you really seeing the same people repeating them over and over, or the once-a-week folks showing up and hopping on the bench because that's what they know? Most of the regular lifters at the gyms I've been at might bench one day a week, and if they were all there at the same time, would typically either have a spotting buddy who they'd rotate with, or they'd arrange their workouts to avoid all of them hitting the same things on the same day (which may give the perception that someone is "always" benching).
Some people do tend to avoid or miss leg day though - let's face it, the memes are there for a reason LOL.2
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