Is the Bench Press Sport-Specific?

The bench press has been maligned or praised as a tool for creating sport-specific strength. The irony of it all is that either premise might be true! Let me set the facts straight before we can come to any conclusions. By the end of this article you will be able to decide where the bench press fits into a program, and a philosophy.

Thought that the bench press is not functional

1. It is an exercise that is performed lying down. A position that is not functional for many sports.
2. It's a slow movement that does not mimic the speed of many sports, especially the sport most associated with the exercise, football.
3. Most sports find the arms working independently from one another and the bench press is a two-armed movement that is dependent on the two arms working together.
4. The plane or angle of the pressing movement is uncommon to many sports.

Thought that the bench press is functional

1. With increases in pressing force production there which will be increases in power as force is one of the variables of the power equation.
2. The pressing movement is similar to many actions in sports; football's offensive linemen blocking techniques and many defensive movements; all-fours positions in wrestling and other combatant sports; various punching movements.
3. The bench press is the most efficient movement for building upper body mass.
4. Chest, deltoid and tricep strength is the basis for other sport specific movements; throwing motions (any activity bringing the arm to the mid-line of the body such as tennis), throws in track and field, prone swimming, punching, some gymnastic executions, and defensive and offensive football functions.

What is the bench press?

1. Best upper body strength exercise.
2. An exercise that uses the most weight and most major muscle groups associated with a pressing motion.
3. An easily tested lift given the correct guidelines.
4. Easily taught and supervised exercise, especially performed on machinery.

I am sure to have missed a few items that could be placed under any of the previous topics but there is enough ammunition here to debate the pros and cons of this exercise.

It is Sport-Specific!

What good are criteria if you don't take a side? My opinion is that the bench press is very much a sport specific exercise for the very reasons listed. For those reasons listed under the not-Sport-Specific topic, I (incredibly) have responses and answers to them.

Let me go wayyyyy back by repeating the theme by some coaches. The old, "We don't train athletes like bodybuilders. They need exercises that will make them better players." Or the ever popular, "We are not training bodybuilders, we are training athletes!" Surely, the latter would not offend bodybuilders would it? By the way, if you haven't noticed, the core exercises of most programs originally came from the body building and weight lifting community! My point is how many exercises are truly sport specific in the sense that the movement mimics sports? Almost none of them. What makes the bench press sport specific, much like many other exercises, is the role it plays in the development of qualities associated with sport.

Every movement choice aside from the actual sporting competition is a means to an end. Up until the competition, exercise selections are meant to either prepare for the next more complicated movement, or become the last choice prior to practicing the exact sporting forms. In the scheme of periodization the bench press fits perfectly in an effort to ultimately realize upper body power, upper body strength or upper body size (muscular hypertrophy). For example, after achieving a certain level of strength and fitness by bench pressing, it is then that plyometric exercises can be implemented and benefited from. As mentioned before and a point that is widely known, plyometrics demand a certain amount of strength and fitness in a specific area for power increases to be realized, to ensure proper recovery and to reduce the incidence of injury to an area. As a result, the bench press increases strength and fitness in the chest, shoulders and triceps which is a prerequisite for performing and fully benefiting from plyometrics, all in an effort to increase power output from the upper body.

Without going into much detail and at the risk of stating the obvious, there is no better exercise to efficiently gain strength in the upper body area in regards to pressing. One could say that the decline chest press enables an athlete to use the most weight in a pressing movement and should be the choice by definition. While there is no question about the amount of weight, the range of motion is limited which will not allow for the best development of size or strength. Additionally, the decline motion is an uncommon plane which is inconvenient for spotting and difficult for maximal performance. I will say that it is a solid adjunct to chest training and for some sports more specifically related than the bench press.

Other Ways to Specificity
If the bench press is not specific enough for your program or philosophy, then consider some additional ways to modify the exercise bringing it closer to sport specificity.

Varying grips
From the widest to the narrowest, gripping the bar will make a difference on the effect of the musculature. The widest grip places more stress on the front deltoid and pectoral muscles by lengthening the lever arm. Although the range of motion is limited during the press there is still some benefit from placing the arms, deltoids and pectorals under stress from an exaggerated position. Gymnastics, swimming, some defensive football techniques and conditions all simulate this position. Certainly this type of grip would not be the foundation of your bench press program, but since variety is a key to progress and strengthening at extreme ranges of motion to reduce the risk of injury, a wide grip might be a technique to include from time to time.

Range of Motion Training
As an example, blocking in football is either done with the arms fully extended or close to the chest. Training specifically for those ranges of motion could be beneficial in those situations as well as being supplemental to developing good bench press strength.

Bottom isometrics presses are performed in the rack by beginning with the bar on pins just inches above the chest. Additional pin settings are placed 6-10 inches above the starting point to limit the range of pressing. The bar is pressed from the starting position firmly against the next set of pins and held for a specific amount of time or until the bar can no longer be held against the pins. Another exercise would be top lockout presses. Again, beginning on pins - set at the final 6-12 inches of the pressing motion, the lifter presses the bar to the final lockout position. Because the final 12 inches of the bench press puts the lifter in a range of strength, weights of more than 100% of a 1RM can be used. Bottom isometrics use significantly less weight for the very reasons lockouts use heavier weights - range of motion and specific angle of movement.

The moments of push from the chest and the final distance to lockout are the two most common positions for failure in the bench press. So, it is easy to see how the two supplemental lifts can help overcome these problems.

Complex Training
This concept is nothing more than heavy, slow movements followed immediately by fast, ballistic movements that are often plyometric in nature. In this case it would be bench pressing a weight equal to or more than 80% of a 1RM, followed by chest exercises, passing a medicine ball or hand-clap push ups. You get the picture. The physiology states that the ballistic nature will be more powerful when preceded by heavy loading, essentially, tricking the nervous system to a faster movement. Other muscle masses and movements can benefit from this technique such as the combinations of squatting and long jumping or Olympic-style lifting and vertical jumps.

While the bench press is widely used by many coaches it appears that the reasons for the inclusion or exclusion of the exercise vary even within the same sport. And, it appears that the definition of sport-specific is the common denominator for the basis of exercise choice. The implication here is that the definition of sport-specific and not the bench press must be addressed. My philosophy has the application of the affects of the bench press very much specific to several sports and the inclusion of the exercise a necessity. The biomechanics and physiological affects of the movement are well documented facts that are not up for discussion. Preference however should be based on personal philosophy which includes knowledge, design, objectives, limitations and needs. Argue philosophies but don't dispute the science.