Barbells, books and…

Ah, the Bench press. The undisputed king of “Bro” exercises and star of international Chest Day (aka Monday). Rightly or wrongly, in the popular imagination one’s bench press is often cited as a proxy for how strong one is. “How much ya bench?” is the most loaded question in the Gym canon. Why is it, though? The squat, deadlift or overhead press are arguably better indicators of overall strength. What makes the bench press such an emotionally loaded activity? Your fearless scribe is not a trained psychologist, nor does he play one on TV. Still, over the past 15 years I’ve benched on 4 continents and in multiple countries so I think I have a good baseline of cross-cultural observations of this phenomenon. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Observation #1: It’s harder than it looks. This is equally true of any of the powerlifting or Olympic weightlifting movements. Technique is paramount, as with any sport movement. It looks like it’d be easy, like kicking a soccer ball. Anybody can kick a soccer ball or perform a bench press, but to do it well takes a lot of practice and coaching.

Observation #2: There are 3 universally accepted ways of performing a correct bench press. (Note: I’m not talking about bench assistance exercises such Spoto press, Floor press, Tempo, etc.) The most bad ass is the strict competition powerlifting bench press, with the controlled descent, slight pause at the bottom and then the bar is pressed up. The other is the universal yolo gym bro rep, which is somewhat less controlled, but it does descend to the chest and is usually yeeted back up using the rebound effect of a slight bounce off of the chest. The latter is easier and far more common but I’m not a hater. In the grand scheme of things, it’s relatively legit. Finally, there is bodybuilding version of the bench press which is different from the strength training bench press and is rarely seen outside of hardcore bodybuilding gyms.

Observation #3: The bench press is an excellent compound barbell movement that trains most of the upper body as well as the much of the back and core muscles when done correctly. It’s not the only movement one should train, but it’s quite beneficial. I absolutely love to bench press, but if somebody put a gun to my head and told me to choose only one movement to train the rest of my life, I think it’d be squats. From an overall full-body strength and health perspective, I think squats are King, not the bench press.

So, with those 3 factors in mind, let’s cast a glance at the state of bench pressing in your average commercial gym. First, for many people, the free weight room in the gym can seem intimidating. This is how personal trainers stay in business. They are like safari guides in the primeval fitness veld. Hot take: When people screw up the courage and first venture into the weight room, their priorities are: a) to not look ridiculous and b) get stronger…in that order. It sounds silly, but vanity and pride are factors.

In my experience, a slight majority of people in the weight room never attempt the bench press. For some of those people, it might be too intimidating and/or technical. And for others, it legitimately does not fit into their programming and goals. One can definitely get stronger and swole without ever doing a bench press. So what of the remainder, those intrepid souls that who throw caution to the wind and seek to prove themselves in the crucible of pressing a barbell while reclining horizontally? The first group in this ecosystem are roving gangs of broccoli-hair, headphone-sporting teenage boys. They are never less than 4 per bench, with lots of yolo lifting, “all you bro” while their spotter half deadlifts each rep up. The second group are well meaning older dudes who basically do whatever they saw somebody else do previously. More often than not, this means they do the “dead cockroach” form, with their bent legs suspended in the air. Now, this is a legit assistance exercise that is harder than a normal rep. However, they do this exclusively and usually never progressively increase the weight over time. My pet theory is that this is so popular because it looks sort of bad ass and gives the appearance that one knows what one is doing.

Then there are the ego lifters. These guys drank the kool-aid about how much you bench is a direct indicator about how much of an alpha dude you are. You can see them coming a mile off, usually because they also suffer from “invisible Lats” syndrome. They are always putting way too much weight on the bar and doing half to quarter reps. Half reps, of course, are easier to do than full reps. Like the “legs in the air” crowd, this is all they ever do, so it can’t be considered an assistance exercise. Still, if it makes you happy, go for it. I mean that; a big reason we go to the gym is to feel better emotionally. F*** anybody who feels like they can judge you.

It’s not uncommon to see the ego lifters and “legs in the air” crowd wearing “weight lifting” gloves. Honestly, I don’t even know the proper name for them. Did I wear them in the 90s as a casual gym goer? You betcha. Why? Cause I thought they looked cool and, by extension, made me look legit, probably. At the expense of seeming uncharitable, and somewhat against the spirit of what I just said above, here is my number 1 life hack for looking like you know what you’re doing in the weight room. Never, ever, wear those gloves. They don’t add anything to your lifting and they are the modern day Scarlet Letter of gym shame.

Then there are the relatively seasoned benchers who quietly get on with their programming. They don’t ego lift and they use assistance movements as well the classic bench press. They know, after years of experience, that a good bench is a laudable goal, but it doesn’t signify anything other, alas, than you have consistently trained the movement over time. It doesn’t make you cooler than anybody else. In fact, it’s actually quite nerdy to focus on such a narrow goal. A small subset of these lifters will employ the suicide grip, which is aptly named. You know what, go ahead and wear gloves. Expat’s only immutable law of bench pressing: don’t ever employ a suicide grip. Yes, you can lift slightly more. It’s just a matter of time before it slips. It will happen.

Unfortunately, I can’t remember the last time I saw a woman bench press in a commercial gym. It’s exceedingly rare. One does see women training upper body on machines and even dumbells, but almost never the bench. I can only imagine it’s because of the meathead stigma, which is a shame.