The barbell bench press is one of the “big three” strength training exercises. I have given a little attention to the squat and deadlift already, now it’s time to give the bench press the same treatment.
As with my other guides, this first part will cover training considerations for the bench press, like how and why we might use the bench press in training. Part two will discuss actual bench press execution. Without further ado, let’s get started.
Why Include the Barbell Bench Press?
The bench press is often hailed as one of the key upper body pressing exercises. There are multiple reasons why:
- It’s stable enough to perform consistently and therefore see objective strength progress.
- It can be more satisfying than a shoulder press (because it’s easier to control and less dependent on overhead mobility).
- As it’s a horizontal pushing movement, it acts as one of our fundamental movement patterns.
- There’s some research to suggest the bench press may be effective for improved upper body explosiveness and work economy.
- It’s also touted as a good exercise for stimulating hypertrophy of the chest muscles (pectoralis major), triceps, and shoulders (more on that later).
Can I Do a Dumbbell Bench Press Instead?
The dumbbell bench press does have some advantages over the barbell variation. This is one reason why it’s taken me so long to get around to writing a barbell bench press guide! It’s also why I’ll use a dumbbell bench press with most of my clients. The barbell bench press isn’t bad, but if you’re thinking of including it, you should know the pro’s and con’s.
With the dumbbells being two separate implements, there is much greater freedom of movement during the dumbbell press. This has the following implications:
- Slightly less stable, and therefore slightly more complex, than the barbell bench press, especially when this is a new exercise.
- Moving the arms independently may allow greater customisation, which could be helpful for those with movement restrictions.
- This freedom of motion may allow greater horizontal abduction (taking the arms away from each other, out to the side). This motion should cause more lengthening for muscle fibers of the chest, and may increase the stimulus for the pectoral muscles.
Why Are You Benching?
Most of my clients these days are not powerlifters. Instead, many of them just want to get slightly stronger and more robust and maybe gain some muscle too. For these clients, the dumbbell bench press offers a slightly more “open” exercise, requiring improved skill. This could build resilience and confidence around the shoulders.
While less stable than the barbell, dumbbells aren’t so unstable that you can’t go heavy and get a satisfying session. Once you throw in the increased chest focus for my muscle-building clients, the dumbbell press is a good fit.
So Why Am I Writing A Post on the Barbell Bench Press?
Just because something seems like the most optimal thing on paper, that doesn’t mean something else isn’t a little more enjoyable or pragmatic. It’s OK to listen to that logic every now and again.
Some clients just love the feel of pressing a heavy barbell! The movement is so engrained in gym culture that many clients want to train the barbell press out of curiosity.
There’s something satisfying about a good, technical barbell lift, where everything is set-up perfectly for a stable, powerful lift. Every time I demonstrate it, I make a mental note to include it in my next training programme!
Side note: If you love the bench press but really want more chest muscle growth, simply include other chest exercises like flyes in your workout too.
Is Bench Pressing Bad For My Shoulders?
This is a common belief in gym circles. Everyone has an anecdote about an injury they sustained while benching, but that doesn’t mean this exercise is inherently bad for your shoulder (or anything else). In fact, this thought process is a good example of mistaking correlation for causation.
Injuries are incredibly complex. It’s incredibly reductive to conclude that an injury sustained during an exercise means that exercise is bad for you. For example, let’s think about what the bench press represents in gym culture:
- It’s frequently associated with ego-lifting – many people compete with their peers to see who can press the most. Competition and ego are often poor regulators for sensible training!
- It is one of the competitive lifts in powerlifting. People are literally trying to break world records by lifting more than any human before them.
- People tout it as a great chest muscle builder, regardless of how accurate this is. This means that image-focussed gym goers will hit this exercise hard and often. This goes double when the summer is round the corner.
- As discussed, it’s hugely satisfying!
In summary, people often bench multiple times a week at high intensities to either beat training partners, stroke their own ego, or chase high levels of muscle damage (which they hope will lead to muscle growth).
This reckless approach makes the bench press great injury fodder whilst having nothing to do with the movement itself. Despite all of this, injury rates in powerlifting are actually pretty low compared to many sports. Of those recorded injuries, it seems that overuse injuries are more common than sudden, traumatic shoulder injuries. This means you might have time to stop and change your ways if you’re overdoing it.
This should mean that this exercise can be performed regularly even at high intensities, provided you build up gradually and stay within your individual tolerance levels.
How Often Should I Bench Press?
For all the reasons above, I’ve rarely been able to justify benching more than twice a week in my or my clients’ training. This doesn’t mean you can’t do it more if you want to; this is just a rule of thumb.
I will usually only use the barbell for both pressing sessions if the client is training for powerlifting. In this case, one day will focus on the paused bench press for competition practice. The other day will use one of the following variations:
- An unpaused bench press, for reduced time under tension and increased speed at the bottom of the movement;
- A variation that emphasises a part of the movement we have identified as a weakness. This is typically the very top or very bottom of the exercise.
With non-powerlifting clients, one barbell pressing session is normally enough to satisfy. For those clients that really want to do extra pressing, the second pressing exercise is usually:
- A dumbbell press for increased freedom of movement (and possible chest recruitment);
- A shoulder press to train overhead strength.
- A pushup, which gives the shoulder blades the freedom to move more.
That’s All For Now
Hopefully this has given you plenty to think about when it comes to including the barbell bench press in your training. It’s worth asking yourself whether it’s well-aligned with your goals, and whether you might be overdoing it. On the flip side, you could be avoiding this exercise unnecessarily if you’re holding onto any misconceptions.
In the next post, we’ll discuss bench pressing technique in full detail.
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