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Thread: Bench Press - Lesser of Two Evils

  1. #1
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    Default Bench Press - Lesser of Two Evils

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    Hello, hope everything is well with whoever reads this.
    I have a situation regarding the bench press, being that I have two pieces of equipment to perform the movement available. One is a smith machine and the other is a normal bench (similar to the image I will post below) but in which I cannot grip the bar in the correct width, I either have to go too wide or narrow, since the spots where the bar is resting is the exact spot I should grip the bar.
    For now, I don't have the means to invest in building a home gym, which would be the optimal solution I presume.
    So, in this situation, what is the lesser of the two evils?
    Thank you.





    weight-bench-wb20.jpg

  2. #2
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    With an exercise that can kill you, only a fool accepts the lesser of two evils.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe View Post
    With an exercise that can kill you, only a fool accepts the lesser of two evils.
    WTB this on a shirt please

  4. #4
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    Since my wife managed to pin herself under the bar yesterday and didn’t have time to shout for help, I’m mightily glad I invested in a rack and properly positioned safety pins or I might well have been eating alone tonight.

  5. #5
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    So, no benching until I can get a rack and the full setup?

  6. #6
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    I actually have this program with my home gym setup. I unrack it narrow gripped and slide my hands out to the right width. Might be hard to do for you, depending on your bar. It also helps to still have a spotter help you with this, as you can move the hands easier with another set of hands holding the bar up. Of course, in the end, my home gym setup sucks and it is stuck like this due to my money and space constraints. If you have the room/money yourself, get a proper power rack. You can do everything you need to do with a power rack, a bar, plates, and a plain old bench.

  7. #7
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    Yes. I will try it out but then the problem there becomes safety. The Smith Machine has safeties but I can't really call that a bench press. Neither will be close to optimal, that's for sure.
    I will work on getting enough money to afford the proper setup during the summer and hope that covid doesn't fuck those plans again.
    Thank you for the answer

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by LeonardoCav View Post
    So, no benching until I can get a rack and the full setup?
    That’s up to you, it’s literally your neck. I would only chance it in a commercial gym, or when you have an experienced spotter. The problem still exists, that if something goes wrong and you drop weight onto your neck, face, or chest, then it’s equivalent to being in a road accident. Personally, don’t risk it. Of all the lifts it’s the one that can get you killed.

  9. #9
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    I had a bench like this several decades ago when I was younger. I did not like it then as it was top heavy and wasn't the most stable bench even with standard 5ft bars. There's no way I'd trust that bench with olympic bars or the amount of weight we train with in strength training. Could be very prone to tipping if not perfectly balanced, and then there's no protection for the neck or head if you drop the bar or miss re-racking it. Too many things to go wrong. Lastly, the weight limit of that bench is easily exceeded in this program, especially when you add in bodyweight; all this makes it more prone to tipping or collapsing and you dropping the bar on you and killing yourself.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by LeonardoCav View Post
    Yes. I will try it out but then the problem there becomes safety. The Smith Machine has safeties but I can't really call that a bench press. Neither will be close to optimal, that's for sure.
    I will work on getting enough money to afford the proper setup during the summer and hope that covid doesn't fuck those plans again.
    Thank you for the answer
    What about Option C: Make your own? Lots of pretty cool specs on this site for racks and amazing how little you can do it for.

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