Is the bench press worthless?
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Here’s part 3 of Jon Benson’s useless exercises with my comments after
I’m going to get a lot of flack from the guys out there who love to bench, but I’m here to tell you that this exercise for bodyshaping is all but worthless.
Why? Because most people are not built right body-wise to bench press on a flat bench with a barbell.
I am not, that’s for sure. Bench presses work if you have short arms, a relatively short torso, and your shoulders are genetically strong.
Protect your shoulders and really work your chest by doing incline dumbbell presses with your palms facing OUT, not in toward your head.
This protects the rotator cuff, a part of the shoulder that is often injured using barbell bench presses.
Combine this with a good cable fly or press movement and you’re set.
Again, you only need about 7-14 minutes of chest work tops to get the job done.
My Comments
I think it makes sense to say that some exercises are not suited for certain people so I agree with Jon there.
But the key is to test and find out which exercises are good for you and which ones are not.
For example I’ve never been a great barbell squatter and do much better with trap bar dead-lifts.
And these days I’m also doing really well with One Leg Elevated Split Squats.
But the key of course is to try first and not just listen to what someone thinks of a certain exercise. Because Jon, myself or any other expert for that matter does not recommend an exercise is not a reason to scrap it.
See what works for you because that is all that really matters.
Now onto fly exercises which Jon likes: I personally think they are useless for muscle building because it’s really hard to use enough weight. But again you need to find what works for you.
One of my favorite chest exercises or pushing exercises which I like to call them is the weighted push-up.
You’ll need a partner to add a weight plate to your back to perform this exercise.
You do the exercise just like a regular push-up but with added weight on your upper back. I use a 45 pound plate and get about 18 reps right now.
Another great way to add resistance to push-ups is with resistance bands.
The best bands I’ve found are the ones from Iron-Woody-Fitness.
Here’s a You-Tube Demo of Resistance Band Push-Ups
As always let me know what you think by posting your comments below
Let me know what’s your favorite chest or pushing exercise?
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Virgil Aponte 
I can’t say I agree with Jon on all elements. I’m an Australian Sports Physiotherapist (Masters qualified) former track sprinter, football player, golfer, swimmer, tennis player, basketballer. I think shorter gymmies definitely have an advantage in that their range of movement is shorter and their development is packed into a smaller volume, accentuating their body building gains. But I disagree that palms out protects the rotator cuff. Palms out is achieved by forearm probation and not by humeral rotation so whether you are palms out or in the humerus is mostly in the same position. Also, in pronation the biceps brachii, whose tendon is a primary stabilizer of the glenohumeral joint, is under less tension, reducing the stabilizing tension in the anterior GHJ. Still, I love the fact that such discussion is welcomed. Check out YouTube for a video chat I did on Common Shoulder Injuries in Bench Press or words to that effect.
Virgil, What is your goal? If you are a football line man, I think bench pressing should be in your work out.
If you are looking for PEC development, we need to look at what the PEC muscle does? You could cut pec off from the humerus (the upper arm attachment) and still do a bench press, your arm will still lock out, triceps will do the job. One exercise you can try that works well is standing single arm adduction, and cross the center line. The range of motion for horizontal adduction is about 110-120 degrees, depending on the amount of muscle that gets in the way. When doing flys, the dumbbells or cable handles will hit each other limiting the range of motion to about 90 degress.
It is also very important to vary your exercise selection, intensity(load), sets, reps, tempo, and grip.
Larry Betz,CSCS
Hey Larry
Thanks again for your input.
It’s great to get feedback from other trainers
Great point as well on varying your exercises, sets, reps, temp and grip.
Thanks a bunch for sharing Greg.
I also think the palms in was safer from my own experience.
Great to get feedback from a physiotherapist and certainly want these discussions.
It’s all about learning
Again I’m not a big fan, but if there’s one thing I’ve learn in this biz and from life. Never say never. Everything has it’s place. The bench is just another tool in your box. Well it’s deep in mine and rarely gets used it’s there if I need it.
Sgt. Fitness
Thanks again Sgt. Fitness.
Just another tool
Same here.
The key is the person doing it and if it will work for them
I like that your comments seem to take a balancing approach. Keep it up. The other comments add a lot: vary your routines, find what works for you, avoid “never” and “always” etc. Personally, I don’t like bench presses for a different reason. Genetically I have large pecs (man-boobs if I don’t work out) so I avoid anything that makes them bigger. I do some incline DB presses, fly-type movements, and push-up variations for chest work. I also use a Power Twister (a bar with a spring in the middle – you bend it in a U-shape) that seems to hit my pecs.
I have done weight vest push-ups, but find that using a variety of push-ups: Hindu, pike, close grip, wide grip, medicine ball and especially plyo-push-ups – does the trip for my pushing movements.
Thanks Eddie.
Larry Betz touched on variation as well. Variations of exercises are also very important and keep things fresh and keep the gains coming.
While I may not always agree with certain points I know that everyone has a different perspective. Plus I love seeing other points of views and ideas as I’m able to keep learning.
That’s what I love about this blog.
The comments always seem to have the most interesting content
Virgil