Bench Press – The Greatest Exercise of ALL TIME!

If you I really believe that I think the bench press is the greatest exercise of all time, I have three words for you; YOU SO CRAZY!

I actually think that the bench press is THE most overrated exercise of ALL TIME!  Now, I didn’t say the worst exercise.  I said the most overrated exercise.  How could I say this?  This is how… the average male lifter does 1235 reps on the bench press for every 1 rep he does performing a row variation (that fact came out of a study done in Ontario, Canada.  Look it up – just go to goooogle.com to find the study – yes four o’s***); the average human being sits in front of the computer all day, and/or drives in their car quite a bit, and/or sits on their butt in front of the tv all day, therefore excessive pressing doesn’t help this imbalance that “life” has created; the average guy thinks the bench press PR is all that really counts in the weight room, but doesn’t even know how to perform an ass-to-grass squat.

As you can see, the bench press IS overrated, when it comes to the average gym-goer (don’t be average, people!).  As I mentioned above, I do NOT think it is the worst exercise however.  I don’t even think it is a bad exercise… when performed properly.  That’s the other problem, most people don’t perform the bench with proper form to, 1) get the most out of the lift, and 2) keep the shoulders healthy.  With all that said, I know just about every guy out there will perform the bench press no matter what I say.  So, you might as well do it with proper form.  Lets get to form…

First, here’s the wrong way to bench…

Bench Press Dont’s (as mentioned in the video):

-Don’t let your shoulder blades protract (keep them RETRACTED throughout the set)

-Don’t put your feet out in front of your knees, as this flattens the back.  You should arch your low back and PUFF up your chest to reduce the distance that the bar has to travel.  If the elbows travel too far down below your torso (like when your low back is flat), it puts undue stress on the shoulders.  And I’m not saying that the average lifter needs an excessive arch like you see in the set up of a powerlifter …

-Don’t flare your elbows.  ”Tuck” them so that they are about 45 degrees relative to your torso.

And here, you’ll see what a proper bench press looks like…

The cues that I gave in the video (the words flashing across your screen) are the basics for a proper bench press.  There are more little subtleties that we could go over, but if you follow these basics you’ll be well on your way to a bigger bench and healthier shoulders.

If your interpretation of this blog post is; “Danny McLarty doesn’t like the bench press.  He thinks it is a bad exercise,” you’re wrong.  I like the bench press. I just do not like the volume that most people use with it.  I also don’t like the overemphasis most people place on the bench press.  I don’t like the shotty technique that most people have when benching.  And I don’t like the fact that most people (dudes) are more likely to perform a 13th set of bench pressing RATHER THAN include deadlifts, squats, and rows (to name a few great choices).

In the end, if you are going to bench press, make sure to; be careful with the volume, use proper technique, and make sure that you are getting in plenty of rowing and other great BIG-boy movements.

***Ok, I lied about that Ontario, Canada study.  But you get the point!  And you didn’t really go look up goooogle.com did you!?!  Did you?

Are any of you “bench press freaks” that just can’t get enough?  Or former (recovering ) bench press freaks?  If so, how did you modify your training?

Make sure to hit me up on twitter. I’ll see you next time…