Press vs. Bench

[ud2o]

Greetings, all. A question:

Which do you believe is the greater test of a person's upper body strength, the press or the bench? This came up in a conversation I had with a buddy the other day.

I lean toward press; it's just the lifter versus gravity, whereas in the bench it's the lifter and the bench the lifter is pressing against versus gravity. On the other hand, the bench obviously allows the lifter to move more weight so the lifter is being tested at a higher level than the press allows for. This was my friend's point and it's a pretty good one, I think.

What you think?

[Adam Skillin]

Greetings, all. A question:

Which do you believe is the greater test of a person's upper body strength, the press or the bench? This came up in a conversation I had with a buddy the other day.

I lean toward press; it's just the lifter versus gravity, whereas in the bench it's the lifter and the bench the lifter is pressing against versus gravity. On the other hand, the bench obviously allows the lifter to move more weight so the lifter is being tested at a higher level than the press allows for. This was my friend's point and it's a pretty good one, I think.

What you think?

You think the bench lifts some of the weight?

[ud2o]

You think the bench lifts some of the weight?

Definitely not...maybe I didn't word that correctly, but the bench gives the lifter something to push against whereas in the press, the only force generated is that which the lifter is able to produce with his body.

Similar to the discussion about the belt...am I thinking of this the wrong way?

[ud2o]

Upper body strength? Bench. It is almost entirely upper body. Press utilizes the whole body to a greater extent.

This is a good point.

[Chebass88]

Bench press with a full two second pause.

[ud2o]

Bench press with a full two second pause.

And this is a really good point.

[Adam Skillin]

Definitely not...maybe I didn't word that correctly, but the bench gives the lifter something to push against whereas in the press, the only force generated is that which the lifter is able to produce with his body.

Similar to the discussion about the belt...am I thinking of this the wrong way?

Yeah. The lifter performing the press does not, contrary to popular opinion, float in space.

[ud2o]

Yeah. The lifter performing the press does not, contrary to popular opinion, float in space.

C'mon Skills, cut me some slack. I'm a weakling.

Also, if we were in space, guess what my press would be?

Infinity.

[Adam Skillin]

C'mon Skills, cut me some slack. I'm a weakling.

Also, if we were in space, guess what my press would be?

Infinity.

If we were in space, we wouldn't be having this conversation, because there's no wi-fi up there.

The lifter is standing on the floor when he performs the press, is he not? That's the point you're somehow missing.

[Dwayne_KONG_Wint]

Bench...hands down. There is more brute strength in the bench and more skill in the press.


The "bench and the lifter" thing doesn't hold because the bench itself doesn't lift any weight. That would be like saying the shoes and ground lift weight in a Press.


I agree with the full 2 sec pause to eliminate bouncy bench presses and to regulate the thing a bit.