Why is bench press a core measure of strength?

23 comments

1. It’s easy to compare because you can determine the exact amount of weight involved and it only affects specific muscles.

2. It’s one of the core compound lifts that most weight lifters do regularly. That makes it an easy means of comparison.

3. It involves atleast 3 major muscles arms, shoulders and chest ofc it’s not meant to target them but it’s a good indicator of strength. Also wtf are you saying about it being least function exercise , how much do you bunch man cuz i feel like you’re a beginner talking 👀

4. Everyone has different strenghts. Sure my bench is piss poor but then I outlift the bench king on my deadlift. But here is some truth from an older and wiser gymbro. Leave the ego at the door. More reps, lower weights and do negatives. Also dont skip cardio and your joints and muscles will thank you instead of going to injury city.

5. >one of the least functional

   Oh no. Can OP be helped or is it too late?

6. It’s one of the main compound lifts that stimulate the most muscle groups

7. Multiple reasons:

   * It’s a staple in gym routines.
   * It’s a powerlifting move.
   * Teenagers and “gym bros”(for lack of a better term) have an almost obsessive focus on bench press.

8. So you could probably make a case for over head press as being more functional – which could be interesting – but saying the bench is one of the *’least functional’* is nonsense. It involves multiple muscles, if done correctly, including shoulders, chest, triceps, back, core, and a bit of leg (if you do leg drive).

   From what I recall (which could be ‘*old gym bro lore*’, so grain of salt) it used to be ‘*how much can you over head press*’ (or some variation), since the bench press came onto the scene in the early 1900’s. Before then it was a floor press. So prior to the actual bench the measure of upper body strength was the over head press.

9. Its not. It doesn’t matter anymore, but in the old days (like boomer youth) it was all about the OHP but its easy to cheat the OHP by bending your back and turning it into a fake sorta inclined-ish bench so people just started talking about the bench instead.

   There was some kind of scandal in the 70s where some goofy lifter maxed out his OHP by turning himself into a human pretzel rather than my actually gaining muscle so to prevent idiots from hurting themselves some major competition stopped competing on OHPs and went all on bench, but I don’t remember the competition or the competitor (was slightly before my time, like I heard about it growing up but was just a baby when it all happened.)

   The guys who just want to look good in a shirt and never do leg day only have a couple exercises to select from so if its not going to be bench or OHP then what could it be?

   The guys who actually lift seem to think the squat is the end all be all of core measures of strength.

10. It’s an easy way to determine general strength. If you told me you benched 315 I’d think youre pretty strong and have been doing it for a long time. If you tell me you bench 225 I’d assume you’re a moderate lifter and if you bench less than 185 I’d assume your just beginning your journey. Kinda tells me a lot about your weightlifting history and level of gym goer you are. Same would he squat too if you’re squatting 405 for reps or assume you’re an avid gym goer

11. It’s a compound exercise which engages multiple muscle groups in a push format that is designed to mimic a function that a human might undertake (lifting something off your chest, pushing an object away from you, an explosive shove etc.).

12. Having a big bench is a way to make you feel better about being smaller then that gym bro over there doing only pump workouts

13. I suspect that it is because the swole set from the 50s all could do bench press but other weight lifting excercises were not easily accessed back then and that has become the habit.

    Frankly, the emphasis on the Bench Press leads to big chests and shoulders, but does nothing for your lower back and legs. Lots of guys from that era had that body shape, broad shoulders but skinny legs.

14. All basic compound lifts are used to measure general strength. It’s a basic exercise to measure basic strength

15. Because it’s one of 3 movements for overall strength development.
    Bench, Deadlift, and Squats.

    I’d argue people rally around it because it’s the *easiest* to approach, and the *easiest* to show off of the 3

16. People ask me that all the time and I just respond with “what’s your max atlas stone bro? How much can you yoke carry for 50 ft bro?”. That gets em

17. Meh it’s not really. I play a lot of rugby and in the sport exercises like deadlifts, squats and sleds (I’m a front row enjoyer) are the biggest measures in strength. HOWEVER, for most non rugger buggers the bench press measures chest strength and it’s a commonly used muscle throughout your day. We push a lot of stuff on a day to day basis and chest press really helps with general strength. On an unrelated note, try dumbell pressing as well as that helps with keeping a stable chest with the lift and just generally helps with balance. I have dyspraxia and lifts that require a sort of balancing act really help me with day to day life. The gym is really meant for you to become the best version of yourself. I would stay away from constant comparison as it turns to obsession. Just put hard work in everywhere and become a better you.

18. Becasue americans blow at olympic lifting

19. I always thought of deadlift is the all around measure of strength.

    I’d say squat, but that’s way too easy to cheat on. So many guys will load up 3-4 plate and the proceed to do baby 1/4 squats like they’re the king.

20. Nobody knows, because it’s an inherently skewed and utterly stupid metric.

    Guys who are shorter, bench better. It’s an issue of two things, the cross-sectional area of the muscle in comparison to the length of the lever arms, and the descent distance from the bar to the chest.

    If you’re barrel chested (ribcage), the bar descends much less, AND the pecs will be contracting more vertically…all the leverage is on your side. A shallow ribcage’d person will have the pecs pulling *sideways*, and the arms will be forced to bend far more out-of-leverage (and further).

21. maybe because a bro can achieve amazing bench while still completely skipping legs

22. Because people are stupid.

23. It’s a good exercise and people know about it. It’s semi universal