What exactly makes the bench press less practical for athletes, especially fighters?

[Hannibal Lector]

That surprises me as much as they echo'd how farmboy strong he was. But throwing a body around isn't benching. Hell they even praise Askrens strength and he looks like he would struggle with a plate.

Yep but on the flip side apparently he used to squat 500lbs… so he was clearly strong, just not in the bench press.

 

[LZD]

Its proven that in beginners to even advanced intermediates, an increase in strength translates directly to an increase in power. If you increase your strength, your power (strength+speed) goes up. However eventually this stops being true and pursuing strength comes at the expense of everything else.

Pick the low hanging fruit of strength, then maintain and focus elsewhere.

 

[ROcknrollracing]

There are more ways to get hurt with the dumbbell bench press than there is the straight bar bench press.

 

[thugpoet]

Its proven that in beginners to even advanced intermediates, an increase in strength translates directly to an increase in power. If you increase your strength, your power (strength+speed) goes up. However eventually this stops being true and pursuing strength comes at the expense of everything else.

Pick the low hanging fruit of strength, then maintain and focus elsewhere.

Agreed. The question then becomes what's the low hanging fruit?

 

[ROcknrollracing]

Agreed. The question then becomes what's the low hanging fruit?

The reality is the beginner gains are a few months at most if programmed appropriately. You will likely be able to make weekly progress for a few months after that then being able to add 5-10% to a lift over 8-12 weeks at a time is what you can realistically aim for without beating yourself up. After that its even slower than that and the loads you must put yourself through to even eek out any gains is staggering and likely not worth it to most athletes.

That said I don't really believe in making "maintenance" a psychological goal because once you are fairly strong if you train just to maintain eventually you will go backwards because the weights never get lighter also life events will set you back. I think you should always aim to make some type of strength progress while realizing that it might not be possible.

 

[spdrew2143]

There are more ways to get hurt with the dumbbell bench press than there is the straight bar bench press.

How do you figure?

 

[ROcknrollracing]

How do you figure?

Mainly getting it into position and then having to stand back up with the dumbbells after the set is over properly when a standard bench you just have the safety bars and easily just dump the weight if necessary.

 

[spdrew2143]

Mainly getting it into position and then having to stand back up with the dumbbells after the set is over properly when a standard bench you just have the safety bars and easily just dump the weight if necessary.

That doesn't even make sense. Lots of people just drop dumbbells when they are done with a set without ever standing up. Barbell bench has a much higher potential for injury. Since when did all barbell benches have safety bars?

 

[ROcknrollracing]

That doesn't even make sense. Lots of people just drop dumbbells when they are done with a set without ever standing up. Barbell bench has a much higher potential for injury. Since when did all barbell benches have safety bars?

No worth my time to argue with the know it all. Believe whatever you wish. When did I say that ALL barbell benches have safety bars?

 

[spdrew2143]

No worth my time to argue with the know it all. Believe whatever you wish. When did I say that ALL barbell benches have safety bars?

Barbells allow you to lift heavier weights and hence progress faster. The downside is that they carry a higher risk of injury. Dumbbells, on the other hand, are safer and easier to use but can only go up to a certain weight.

Idk...On another note how's hardball treating you these days?

 

[ROcknrollracing]

Barbells carry a higher risk of injuries yes when performed with incorrect form as well as a greater risk of shoulder injury. There is still that same risk with dumbbells but less likely. You can also injure yourself by getting into and out of position with heavy dumbbells as in back strains as well as putting others at risk if you drop the dumbbells.

You actually can use dumbbells as your main exercise because with magnets they are incrementally loadable so this isn't me saying one exercise is better than another.

Baseball is great I'm having fun.

 

[spdrew2143]

Barbells carry a higher risk of injuries yes when performed with incorrect form as well as a greater risk of shoulder injury. There is still that same risk with dumbbells but less likely. You can also injure yourself by getting into and out of position with heavy dumbbells as in back strains as well as putting others at risk if you drop the dumbbells.

You actually can use dumbbells as your main exercise because with magnets they are incrementally loadable so this isn't me saying one exercise is better than another.

Baseball is great I'm having fun.

I don't agree with a lot of that. What does incremental loading have to do with any of what we're discussing?

 

[ROcknrollracing]

Because you said that dumbbells only go up to a certain weight.

 

[spdrew2143]

Because you said that dumbbells only go up to a certain weight.

Oh, forgot you were repping out the 200lbers and needed a bit more weight.

 

[ChickenBrother]

He was less skilled though.
The GSP of 4 years later with the strength he had in the first fight would have won no doubt.

I don't get the GSP being more skilled part. He was on his 8th fight vs someone who has 40 fights and was training for years. Suddenly Hughes is unskilled? GSP didn't even meet Phil Nurse then. There is no Danaher or Greg Jackson in his corner. Firas wasn't even his head coach until way later too.

You heard him guys, he's not going to repeat himself. And stop trying to bring facts into the discussion. GSP lost to Hughes because he was too weak - that weak ass bitch probably couldn't even bench teh 275 at the time.

 

[hardheart]

There are more ways to get hurt with the dumbbell bench press than there is the straight bar bench press.

In an "on paper" sense sure, there are "more ways" to inure with DBs than BBs. No argument. I would still count DBs as safer and less risky, and I think the overwhelming number of S&C pros that advise to switch to DBs if BB causes pain is a good measure of this truth.

Mainly getting it into position and then having to stand back up with the dumbbells after the set is over properly when a standard bench you just have the safety bars and easily just dump the weight if necessary.

You should be dropping anything that's heavy. Yes, the drop carries risk, but as you are pointing out, the injury risk by tweaking and contorting the arms, wrists, shoulders, and everything else is high and best avoided. Of course, some gyms don't allow drops, in which case, find a new gym.

That doesn't even make sense. Lots of people just drop dumbbells when they are done with a set without ever standing up. Barbell bench has a much higher potential for injury. Since when did all barbell benches have safety bars?

Agreed. Agreed. Safety bars on bench? Why?! Get a spotter or don't use ties. *Khaby Lame face*

Barbells allow you to lift heavier weights and hence progress faster. The downside is that they carry a higher risk of injury. Dumbbells, on the other hand, are safer and easier to use but can only go up to a certain weight.

Idk...On another note how's hardball treating you these days?

This! More weight = higher risk of injury. DBs are safer within a set of parameters but outside of that become more risky.

 

[KnightTemplar]

I'm a American football player, a lineman but I used to be a kickboxer. What's true for football is more so for fighters.

In football you very rarely get the opportunity to get both hands on someone, brace and win a rep by pushing them off your body. What wins reps is unilateral strength and the base that allows for that. It's basically all about that squat, cleans etc. Most of the upper body is about injury reduction when your applying force at odd angles or as you pass a target.

Fighting is that but more so as speed and power rule the day, not static strength. There's also almost no instance where the press is a variable in a fight.

The bench is a quick way to add some mass and strength in the upper body push, but once the early gains are made I think its way more advantageous to move to unilateral and power based movements.

What's your opinion on the Bench 220lbs for AMRAP at the NFL Combine? I've read the some coaches believe it's a poor test of upper body strength/endurance.

 

[$uperman]

There was a professional Strength and Conditioning coach on Sherdog 10 years ago.

He also trained UFC fighters.

He said that UFC fighters should have a strength base of:

Press 1x bodyweight
Bench 1,5x bodyweight
Squat 2x bodyweight
Deadlift 2,5 bodyweight

Also he said that UFC fighters need an resting heart rate of 50 beats per minute.

 

[hardheart]

There was a professional Strength and Conditioning coach on Sherdog 10 years ago.

He also trained UFC fighters.

He said that UFC fighters should have a strength base of:

Press 1x bodyweight
Bench 1,5x bodyweight
Squat 2x bodyweight
Deadlift 2,5 bodyweight

Also he said that UFC fighters need an resting heart rate of 50 beats per minute.

I believe said coach has been outed as a straight up conman. I remember specifically what you're talking about.

 

[vision1]

There was a professional Strength and Conditioning coach on Sherdog 10 years ago.

He also trained UFC fighters.

He said that UFC fighters should have a strength base of:

Press 1x bodyweight
Bench 1,5x bodyweight
Squat 2x bodyweight
Deadlift 2,5 bodyweight

Also he said that UFC fighters need an resting heart rate of 50 beats per minute.

Those numbers are probably reasonable for stocky guys but a lot of the best fighters are longer and definitely won't be hitting lifts like that.