Bench press
A compound upper-body exercise used in powerlifting and bodybuilding.
The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. It is a compound movement primarily involving the pectoralis major, anterior deltoids, and triceps brachii, with other muscles for stabilization. The bench press is one of three lifts in powerlifting and the only lift in Paralympic powerlifting, and is extensively used in weight training, bodybuilding, and other training to develop upper body muscles.
- Record shirt-equipped lift
- 501 kg (1,105 lb) by Jimmy Kolb
Lore & Background
The bench press evolved from floor, bridge, and belly toss variations. In 1899, George Hackenschmidt performed a strict floor press with 164 kg (362 lb), a record that stood for 18 years until Joe Nordquest broke it by 1 kg in 1916. Around that time, lifters began using an explosive glute bridge to catapult the bar from the floor to overhead. The bench press became popular from the late 1950s onwards, overtaking the parallel dip as the standard chest exercise despite the dip being safer. Over approximately 100 years, the raw record grew to 355 kg, and the shirt-equipped record reached 501 kg.
Reader's Guide
The bench press is significant as a foundational exercise for developing upper body strength, power, and endurance. In powerlifting, strict standards require the lifter's head, shoulders, and glutes to stay in contact with the bench, feet flat on the floor, and the bar to remain motionless on the chest until the press signal. Techniques such as arching the back, taking deep breaths, and pressing feet into the floor engage all body parts for proper weight distribution. Variations include incline, decline, reverse grip, close grip, wide grip, and suicide grip presses, each emphasizing different muscles or ranges of motion. The exercise activates the pectoralis major and minor, triceps, anconeus, and anterior deltoids, with wider hand spacing emphasizing the pectorals and narrower spacing emphasizing the triceps. Stabilizing muscles include scapular stabilizers, rotator cuff muscles, and core muscles. The bench press remains central to weight training, bodybuilding, and athletic performance.
Did You Know?
- The bench press is the only lift in Paralympic powerlifting.
- A suicide grip places the thumb next to the index finger instead of wrapping it under the bar, which is considered unsafe.
- The guillotine press lowers the bar to the neck and emphasizes the upper pectorals.
- Wider hand spacing places greater emphasis on shoulder flexion, while narrower hand spacing utilizes more elbow extension.
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