No bench?!
Why I will not get you lying down to bench press, and what press-ups, dips and standing cable pushes do for you instead.
- Written by
- Published
- Length
- 2 minute read
I used to love it
Full disclosure: I used to LOVE bench pressing. The act of lying back, un-racking a loaded bar, then lowering it to the chest and pressing it up again, and again, and again, was for me the key movement in weight training. I got fairly good at it – mid-20s, I could get six reps with 125kg. And I got the big chest as a result.
Where the big chest came from
The big chest has been the hallmark of weight training for a long, long time, and bench pressing is the favourite movement of many, based on observation of many a free-weight zone. But when you go back in history, it wasn’t always the case: strongmen of 100 years ago had developed chests, of course, but it was the shoulders that were more pronounced. You can also see this in classical statues of gods and heroes: chests are muscular but not huge, and the shoulders are larger, proportionately. You can also see this pattern of development in gymnasts and acrobats.
What this suggests is that big chests – highly developed pectoral muscles – are a product of lying down and pressing weights rather than truly functional work. Without a bench and rack, you don’t get the hallmark pecs. When strongmen focussed on pushing weights overhead (or, indeed, swinging swords and throwing spears) and when gymnasts move so functionally brilliantly, proportionately big pecs don’t emerge.
What I do instead
I won’t get you to lie down to push weight. I think the many, many variants on the press-up give you all the functional, horizontal-plane strength you’ll ever need in life and/or sport, while simultaneously requiring you to control your core. I think dipping between parallel bars likewise provides a functional way of moving yourself. In a gym, standing with your back to paired cable stacks and pushing the handles away from you mimics the bench press whilst requiring you to hold and brace your entire body. You can’t move as much as if you were benching, but you’ll be working your whole body, functionally.
If you want to lie down and build a disproportionate set of pecs, you can do it on your own time. And don’t get me started on the leg press.