Should You Bench Press?
The bench press is a staple benchmark in the weight room. When somebody finds out that you lift weights inevitably the question arises: "how much ya bench?" You can either give a geeky answer like "well, I don't bench because it's dangerous!" Another common cop out is to talk of this fantasy of yesteryear when you were Mr. Olympia back in high school. "Back in high school I could bench press the barn and the animals!"
Is The Bench Press Safe?
Enough folly. How do you improve your bench? Well, bench! Let's chat about the safety of the bench press. There is a massive epidemic in this country. The anti-bench epidemic. Some people say it is dangerous, in fact more dangerous than sky diving without a parachute. This same bunch used to parade around and say the same thing about the squat. I'm convinced the goal of their propaganda is to make you scrawny or else. Weak and wimpy is easier to control and only the strong survive kind of thing ya know! I want you to lift. Due to the leverage advantages, the bench press is the king for upper body strength and muscle growth.
The problem is "they," the enemy are right! If you bench press or squat with terrible, mind bending form over and over again there is a good chance you will get hurt at some point. So what's a person to do? To get a lot stronger you must lift weights, but lifting weights is so scary!
Done Right Lifting Weights Is Safe
Calm down, stop fretting, and listen, look at the injury rates and you will find that strength training is incredibly safe. Let me clarify, proper strength training using good form on all exercises and maybe more importantly proper programming design utilizing periodization and cycling techniques reduces your injury risk substantially. Let's not forget a proper warm up readies your tissues for very high output safely. In fact, lifting weights and eating right at the same time is probably the best thing you can do for your body. You get stronger, feel better, and gain confidence from flexing in the mirror. Duh!
Think of it. The NFL Combine utilizes the bench press to test upper body strength every year. Future multi-millionaires due to their physical and mental talent are willing to bench press 225 pounds for as many reps as possible. It's amazing! Nobody's arms rip off. They know how to warm up and how to execute a bench press properly. Instead of being negative they bang out 36 reps. No sweat where's the contract?
Want A Big Bench? Enter The Dip
Now that we have established the safety of compound movements like the bench press and squat we can dive into how to bench a tiny house. One exercise is a true elixir for a super bench: The Dip. Now tiny houses range in weight from 100 pounds to 1,000 pounds depending on the tiny house.
Tiny house show recap:
Starry-eyed lady: "but I really wanted a 2nd bathroom and and area to do crafts!?"
Tiny house builder: "look lady it's a damn tiny house you get what you get. Stop crying!"
(if you've seen one you've seen em all)
So if your goal is to bench 100 pounds for the first time or 300 pounds for the first time dips will help you get there. In the golden ages, they called the dip the "upper body squat." Write that down.
A Couple Rants And A Conclusion
Make sure the dip agrees with your body. If you feel pain in your shoulders you may need a different exercise. Everyone is different and built very differently. Our fingerprints are all different too. One thing I need to get off my chest. Do you get offended too when your facial recognition on your "phone" doesn't recognize you? It gives you that little "no way buddy shake off." This and when your deodorant is nearing the end and instead of nicely running out, the top explodes off like a Roman candle and shoots across the bathroom like a mouse eluding a cat. In a world of high technology this should never happen. Rant over.
Mastering the bench press lockout is the key to being a big bencher. The dip is your teacher. If you can master dipping your bodyweight plus extra weight your lockout strength will soar! Most people can drive the bar off of their chest, but then stall out about halfway up during the lockout. This is usually sign of weak triceps. I cannot stress enough the dip is your answer!
Adding weight to the dip is easy as pie. You can use a dip belt and add plates or you can hang a chain. To save your precious time I demo both. Pile on anything you want and start dipping!
Public Service Announcement: ALWAYS use a coherent spotter or very strong spotter arms properly set up when doing bench presses. Roughly 8 people die per year because they don't. Spay and neuter your pets too I guess. Chop chop.
Beau
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