The Guardian
London, UK
14 November, 2007


How much can you bench?

While other gym crazes come and go, the bench press is still considered the ultimate measure of strength. Andy Darling examines its enduring appeal

Rhydian Roberts, the most entertaining contestant on the current X Factor, has no tearful back-story, no ashen-faced aunts recounting tragedies that have beset him during his 24 years. He utterly lacks humility, reckons he should be knighted, and there's no suggestion that elimination will see him return to thankless, low-paid work. None of this will hamper his chances, though, for Rhydian has a claim to fame from a decade ago that ensures he'll get the votes of weight trainers across the land. Roberts, it turns out, was the junior Welsh bench press champion, and fifth best in the UK.

The bench press involves lying on a bench and pushing a barbell upwards with both arms from chest level until the arms are straight, then lowering it again. Dumbbells can be used instead, and there are machines which simply require users to do the pushing part. The main muscles worked are the pectoralis major (the pecs or chest), the fronts of the shoulders, and the triceps, or backs of the arms. That's the front of the upper body pretty much covered, and most gym-goers, male or female, will regularly do three to five sets of 8-12 reps.

In 1957, Muscle Power magazine declared the bench press "The greatest exercise of them all". But it's more than just an exercise: it's the movement most gym members use to measure their absolute strength. The standard Olympic weightlifting techniques, such as clean and jerk and snatch, are far too complex to attempt without specific coaching, but anyone can lie on a bench and push a weight upwards. Lou Schuler, author of The New Rules of Lifting, says, "the bench press is the default exercise in modern gym culture - it's the one we all do, and the one most of us, at some point, have 'maxed out' on. Almost every meathead, mook, and gym rat in every American health club has a pretty good idea of how much he can bench. Whether he's doing it subtly or obnoxiously, you know almost every guy in the gym is measuring himself against you every time you load a barbell in the bench press station."

Schuler cites five reasons for the bench press's long reign as king of the weights room: it's easy to learn and practise; beginners make quick gains; it works muscles you can see in the mirror; it's easy to work out if you completed the lift or not; it's a legitimate, contested lift in the sport of powerlifting.

The desire to answer the question "how much can you bench?" can start early. Rob Smith, a personal trainer and sports physiotherapist, who teaches strength and conditioning at Hurstpierpoint College, a private school in West Sussex, explains: "The one thing all the young lads at the school gravitate towards is the bench press machine. There's that idea that all men want bigger chests and arms, and with the bench press you can [lift weights] and feel safe at the same time. Unlike with squats or other exercises, you're supported by a bench. If it's a machine, then you try to lift it and it either goes upwards, or it doesn't. I think there may be something instinctive too, though, especially when you're using free weights: you're underneath a weight, and if you can't push it up then you're stuck. It's that primal response: I've got to get this off me, or I'm trapped." Indeed, since 1996 there have been 11 deaths in home gyms across the US, with the majority being caused by asphyxiation brought about by a hefty barbell pressing down on the windpipe.

If a benched barbell were to go awry during one of Andy Bolton's training sessions, he would be unlikely to live to tell the tale. The 37-year-old from Dewsbury, Yorkshire, has been world powerlifting champion six times, and is the first and only man ever to "deadlift" more than 1000lbs (71st). The deadlift, along with the bench press and squat, completes the trio of ultimate powerlifts. Deadlifting simply involves picking a barbell off the floor until your legs are straight, squatting requires resting a barbell on the backs of the shoulders, lowering the thighs until they're just below parallel to the floor, and then straightening up again. Bolton has squatted an unimaginable 1,214lbs - nearly 87st - which is also a world record. Unlike most powerlifters, he has never suffered any serious chest or shoulder muscle tears, but for those seeking less extreme ways to build their upper body strength, there are plenty of options.

"Bench press isn't the be-all and end-all," says Smith. "Press ups are often thought of as too easy, but you can do so much with them, and they work the core, because you have to keep yourself stable rather than have a bench to support you. Put the feet up on a bench or exercise ball to increase the resistance; put the hands on an exercise ball and keep the feet on the floor; slow the pace down."

Perhaps it's indicative of society's superficiality, but resistance exercises for the back of the body, the bits that men don't see in the mirror, are often overlooked.

"I insist on clients and pupils doing as much pulling as they do pushing," says Smith. "Pull ups, seated rows, they're vital to create balance in the body, rather than just working on the front with bench press. The school's a good place to instil those kinds of values."

It's highly unlikely that any other single weight training exercise will inspire a book such as Bench Press, written by Sven Lindqvist. The Swede, whose oeuvre includes literary novels, philosophy and history, discovered the gym in middle age. One movement alone allowed him to come somewhere near metabolising the existential crises he encountered in midlife: "I lay on the bench and lifted divorce up and away, 90 times a week. In my bench press I was lifting both death and divorce off my chest".


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