Why we bench

[Guest guest]

I think Americans like to bench because of ego. When I was young, I loved going

into the gym, loading big iron on the bar, pumping out a few reps, and slamming

the bar into the rack and making lots of noise. Many guys used more weight in

the squat, but they didn't go all the way down (curtsy squats) and weren't

fooling anyone. The squat didn't have the same appeal. The addition of the bench

shirt and new bench press techniques made it possible to push massive

weights. The deadlift, snatch, and clean were too difficult for most people.

Tom Fahey

Cal State U, Chico

[Guest guest]

Tom,

 

I agree that ego has a lot to do with it.  But I think the biggest reasons

people do the things they do when they exercise is because of a lack of

education and comfort.  Most educate themselves by watching others or maybe

reading Muscle & Fitness.  But most don't even read magazines like that!  They

bench because when their buddy asks them what they can bench they want to be

able to tell them a good amount (ego), and they believe that the more often they

bench, even though not addressing other muscle weaknesses, the more weight they

will be able to lift (lack of education).

 

I say this because I have seen some people who have been doing the exact same

program with the exact same amount of weight for years!  This screams lack of

education as does their terrible body position when doing it. 

 

In addition to educational issues people like to do the things they are good at

and avoid the things that are hard.  So they only squat part of the way down

because squatting low is hard.  They only do chest and triceps all the time

because lifting with their legs is hard.  They only do aerobic work on the

eliptical or treadmill because resistance training is hard.

 

Another note on education is that not everything is just a lack of

education, some of the major problems are a result  bad education.  In other

words they have been educated, but they have been educated with myths and not

scientifically back data.  People who follow the standard HIT training tend to

fall into this category as do a lot of other trainers who spit out myths left

and right to their clientel.

 

Chad Scheitel, MA, CSCS

MInneapolis, MN  

=====================================

Subject: Why we bench

To: Supertraining

Date: Sunday, August 3, 2008, 2:31 PM

I think Americans like to bench because of ego. When I was young, I loved going

into the gym, loading big iron on the bar, pumping out a few reps, and slamming

the bar into the rack and making lots of noise. Many guys used more weight in

the squat, but they didn't go all the way down (curtsy squats) and weren't

fooling anyone. The squat didn't have the same appeal. The addition of the bench

shirt and new bench press techniques made it possible to push massive

weights. The deadlift, snatch, and clean were too difficult for most people.

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