The Bench Press and Youtube
I love you tube, not just for the stupid stuff they put on there, but for the education that you can find on there. Here is a great clip about the bench press. This was one of the first clips that came up when I typed in “bench press”.
Now explain to me why I still see people bench with bad form and not going to their chest. In fact just recently there was a HORRIBLE article in the local paper about the bench press and how it has little carryover to sport and life. The Bench Press was deemed “nonfunctional”. Wow. So the number one exercise for building upper body strength/power/size is a nonfunctional exercise? I guess that would take out push ups (Oh no wait, “your core works in the push up”. Right, and when you bench you don’t use your core? Load up 300 lbs on the bar and see if you can feel your abs.), and over head presses (wait, those are good “because your feet are in contact with the ground thus you are using gravity and it’s a full body lift because you’re standing”. Riiigggghhhttttt, I forgot about that. The only difference between the bench and an over head press is the path the bar travels. They both use the same muscles, just different angles. And next time you bench, keep your feet on the floor instead of waving them around like you’re giving birth to a manatee). In the article, the SME’s or “subject matter experts” explain how the motion of the bar in the bench press does not mimic real world situations.
Just so you’re understanding this right. The SME’s in the article explain how when you push someone you push with your arms tucked to your side and from your mid chest. They then go on to say that when you bench press you bring the bar down to your nipple line and press. So in a real world situation vs. a gym situation with regards to the bench press, when you push your hands away from your body you are roughly 5 inches lower then when you do the bench press with your elbows tucked…oh and you’re standing up.
People squat to help with their vertical jump and they do lunges to help with running. Squatting is incredibly similar to jumping, except, you’re holding a bar on your back, your hands are up at your shoulders, your butt is farther back, you use less quads and more hamstrings and butt, and you have no impact with the ground, not to mention you can’t properly load your body and you can’t use your arms to help propel you upward. Lunges are very similar to running except, your arms are held static, you are holding a bar or dumb bells, your taking huge steps with your front thigh practically parallel to the ground, your chest is upright, you have no side to side rotation, lateral flexion and very little anterior to posterior lean at your torso.
Well it would appear that the squat and lunge are much more different from their related “real world” activities than the bench press vs. pushing standing up. Yet, the bench gets more flack from ignorant jack asses who don’t know how to do the exercise right so therefore it’s a “bad” exercise and “impractical to real world situations”. How about you stop youtubing “my new hair cut” and “two girls one cup” and start using the site to educate yourself more.
