Topic: Silver olympian Chigishev doing 500 lbs bench!

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

I've taken a fair amount of pretty big hits relative to bodyweight in my 22 years competing. I recall Wes Barnett and Paul Fleschler telling me I was never going to last. 

No way he breaks a rib. This is one of the major benefits of our sport- resistance to injury and specifically increased bone density.

Cheers

[Jesse Gibson]

Fair enough. Perhaps I am wrong; I am just old powerlifter.

Very impressive lifting, without doubt.

[Sean Hutchinson]

Ever let 500 slam into your chest like that? I have and it's quite concussive... such things are easy to talk about if you haven't been under those weights.

I opened with 535 years ago completely gearless. I have done 580 in training but I never bang around weights like that... Tried 800 shirted once, lol...

dude either ur blind or i'm crazy, watched it several times if 500lbs was "slamming" into his chest you would see some kind of concave or compression of his chest taking the impact. that's great you can bench over 500lbs u must be an expert on the bench press.

[Jesse Gibson]

Well, that's a false dichotomy, dude. It could be the case that you are crazy and I am blind. ;)

Quite simply, that is a "bounced" bench press. A "touch and go" is quite like to a paused bp, sans pause. The bar comes down under full control and grazes the chest without a detectable pause. A bounced bp does not have to penetrate the chest cavity to be bounced.

I agree my term "slam" was hyperbolic. Mea Culpa... After watching it again, it appears that it wasn't as I first thought. The guy is very powerful, without doubt.

As for being a bench press expert, far from it,  but I have had several lifts well over 500 lbs. passed in meets. But that's nothing to brag about, as your sarcasm notes.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

Whats funny about this thread is the fact that WE have three weightlifters, all decent bench pressers, arguing about the bench press. 

I'm probably the worst bencher arguing in the mix (200lbs@114lbs or 255lbs@123lbs best). But, Jesse has stated his opinion and moved on. Let's all do the same, and even get back on topic? Relevance of bench press to weightlifting maybe or another more productive topic?

[Bruce Darley]

What if you are a good bench presser, and a terrible weight lifter like me! LOL Does my opinion count?

[Stephen Georgiou]

1) Can bench pressing cause tighness/loss of motion/loss of flexibility in the shoulders/chest etc ?

my view would be that such a phenomenon would or could only occur IF there is a strength imbalance between the muscles at the front vs the muscles at the back. If there is no imbalance, then I dont see a problem. (Of course felxibility would still need to be actively maintained by peforming snatches...the principle of 'use it or loose it').

So bench presses should be balanced up with things like deadlifts, chin ups, rows, shrugs etc. But then again, snatches and cleans are essentially acheiving this anyway...


2) Is strengthening the benchpress going to tranfer over to snatch, clean or jerk?

Probably not much, if at all...having said that, I guess this depends on the individual.
For example, they may play a role if general strength is a dramatically limiting factor. But even if this is the case, wouldnt overhead pressing and overhead squatting transfer over better? A steady diet of squats and overhead pressing, and some chin ups, to supplement the olympic lifts surely makes more sense if more general strength is required?
Theoretically I guess you could also have someone who has very good lifts, very good general strength, and has reached a point where they only limited by minor weaknesses in very particular areas, which could be targetted by bench pressing.


3) Is there anything wrong with performing bench presses because they are fun and I like them?

As long as you are not spending too much of your training time dedicated to benching, then there is unlikely to be a problem. Reassess what your training goals are, and train accordingly.


Just some of my views on the matter. Personally i find benching a pointless and unsatisfying activity. But thats just me.

[Chuck Lopez]

I believe benching will transfer over to a stronger and more stable jerk especially if one's technique is ingrained but is lacking in the strength department, if one's shoulders are flexible enough to snatch some lower volume benching 1-3x a week won't hurt it.