Sports activities are becoming more popular because they provide an opportunity to be healthy and awaken the spirit of competition.
A favorite pastime of powerlifters is competing and setting new bench press records with and without equipment.
Everyone who comes to this sport dreams of beating the existing maximum indicators and being on the crest of glory. It’s not that difficult to do this; the difficulty is staying at the top, as new and new strongmen come who raise the bar higher.
Execution options
In bodybuilding, varying the bench press technique allows you to focus the load on different muscles. When performing a bench press with a narrow grip, more load falls on the triceps. The bar can be lowered to the upper, middle and lower chest, which helps prevent “stagnation” in muscle growth. Bench press variations also include the Smith machine press, dumbbell press, and incline press.
- During a bench press on a horizontal bench, due to the anatomical characteristics of the pectoral muscles, most of the load is received by the lower pectoral muscles and triceps, especially if a “bridge” is used, as in powerlifting.
- When bench pressing on an inclined bench upside down, depending on the angle of inclination, the load shifts from the lower sections of the pectoral muscles towards the middle and upper sections, but at the same time the anterior bundles of the deltoid muscles are also more involved in the work.
- When pressing on an incline bench upside down, the lower pectorals and triceps are more accentuated, while the anterior deltoid muscles work less.
- The dumbbell press allows you to lower the weight at the bottom point significantly lower, since the barbell allows you to lower the weight only to chest level. In addition, when pressing dumbbells, you can change the trajectory of movement, bring the dumbbells towards each other at the top point, squeeze dumbbells located parallel to each other, which allows you to use new muscle bundles and acts on them differently [1].
When using the maximum or close to it weight, the person performing the exercise, as a rule, uses the help of a spotter, and when pressing a very heavy weight, two or three spotters.
Women in competition
But men aren't the only ones who set world records in the bench press; women don't do the rearing either. Representatives of the fair sex are trying to prove to the opposite sex that they are not the only ones who can be so strong, and are in no way inferior to them in the mass that is squeezed from the chest.
The absolute bench press champion in 1994 is American Tamara Rainwater-Grimwood. She bench pressed 182.5 kg, having a body weight of 82.5 kg. She is the first and only woman who managed to overcome the 180 kg mark.
In 2011, in the bench press competition, the maximum record belonged to Ukrainian Larisa Solovyova. She lifted 165 kg.
Also, one of the representatives of the fair sex set the maximum figure among girls under 14 years old. The world record for the bare bench press remains unbroken. But Russian Maryana Naumova, at the age of 11, lifted 60 kg in 2010. She was the first in her century category to lift such a weight, and became the world champion in bench press. She was included in the Russian Book of Records.
These competitions are popular not only among absolutely healthy and healthy men and women, but also people with disabilities also enjoy setting records and showing that they are no worse than others.
So, the maximum weight is 290 kg. It was installed by Iranian Siamand Rahman, who suffers from damage to the musculoskeletal system and uses a wheelchair. His dream is to overcome the barrier of 350 and 400 kg.
Execution technique
Technique for performing bench presses during training[2]:
- A bench with an inclination of 0 or 30 degrees is installed or selected.
- The bar is installed on racks or on the limiters of the power frame with the required weight.
- The athlete lies down on the bench so that the bar is located directly above the eyes.
- The legs are spread wide and the entire foot rests (the shin is perpendicular to the floor) for greater stability.
- The back is arched to a natural extent for a horizontal press or pressed against the bench for an incline press and fixed.
- The barbell is grasped independently or with the help of an assistant with a closed planar grip, the width of which ensures that the forearms are perpendicular to the floor when lowered (wide grip) or ensures that the wrists are above the humerus with the elbows together (narrow grip).
- For a horizontal press, the bar is lowered just below the nipples, for an inclined one, between them and the collarbone (positions that ensure the forearms are perpendicular to the floor from the side).
- A bench press is performed and the barbell is lowered along a vertical or slightly inclined path towards the head.
Leg press
Leg press competitions are also interesting for athletes. This exercise allows you to lift heavier barbells than from the chest and therefore the numbers are truly staggering:
- American Pat Robertson lifted up to 1225 kg with his legs, this is a world leg press record.
- The video footage shows Ronnie Coleman bench-pressing 1225 kg.
- Some data says that athletes lift up to 1363kg with their legs.
Each of the champions has a training regimen, and they have no desire to share it, since they want to remain first in these exercises for as long as possible. Ryan Kennealy believes that the key to working out is perseverance. Only with its help can you achieve dizzying results. He also reveals that his secret is that he trains a maximum of twice a week and lifts as much weight as possible three times a year to keep track of his development.
These figures prove that sports remain popular and every year more people become famous bodybuilders and powerlifters. And if you make the necessary efforts, you can achieve heights in sports and other activities.
Records
- The absolute world record in multi-layered equipment belongs to athlete Ryan Kennelly
. Ryan lifted the barbell to 486 kg. In the IPF, the world record in the weight category over 120 kg using single-layer equipment is 401 kg and belongs to Fredrik Smulter[3]. The absolute world record for bench press using single-layer equipment is 427.5 kg and belongs to Mike Womack[4][5]. - The absolute world record for bench press without equipment - 335 kg belongs to Kirill Sarychev.
Equipment chest press
Of great interest is the chest press with equipment and the records set in this competition.
Special uniforms allow you to take on more weight than without it. These can be belts, T-shirts and wrist straps. They prevent the muscles from relaxing.
The first world record in the bench press is considered to be the weight lifted by an American back in 1957. Paul Anderson, who was called the “crane,” bench-pressed 280kg while wearing gear. The curious thing is that he did not seriously study this, his interest was in squats with a barbell.
American Gene Rylchak broke the 400kg mark for the first time. In 2003, he lifted 408 kg.
Today, the American Ryan Kennelly holds the championship in the bench press in multi-layer equipment. He pressed the heaviest weight - 487.6 kg. This is the absolute maximum of this competition. He began to seriously train with iron when the sports sections that the man attended turned him down.
Frederick Smulter lifts 401 kg, he set the highest bench press in the weight category above 120 kg.
Mike Womack has the absolute maximum in this exercise, he is 427.5 kg.
Ukrainian super heavyweight Viktor Testsov set an unattainable world record in the bench press competition - 350 kg.
Notes
- Brungardt K.
“Ideal arm muscles.” Chapter 7: Execution technique. — “Medley”, 2003. - Stuart McRobert.
Part 2 - “Technique of performing exercises.” Section 2. “Bench Press.” Section 13. “Incline press.” Section 5: Close Grip Press // The Comprehensive Guide to Weight-Training Technique = The Insider's Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique. - Wider Sports, 1999. - P. 153. - 298 p. — ISBN 5-8183-0212-1. - World Bench Press Championship: Mens Open - protocol, photos, videos, comments. allpowerlifting.com. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
- Wall. new.vk.com. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
- bigelzy.
Mike Womack 942 bench press and a 1001 lbs attempt (March 28, 2009). Retrieved June 15, 2021.
Competitions without equipment
As for the world records for the bench press without equipment, here the athlete squeezes the mass honestly, without additional help, relying only on his own strength.
Raw bench press competitions began in the 50s. The first champion was Doug Hepburn, who in 1953 set a world record by lifting the maximum weight at that time, 263 kg.
Until 2007, the world record in the bench press without equipment belonged to the American Scott Mendelsohn; he lifted a barbell weighing 324.5 kg. He even set a record in the bench press with equipment, lifting 457.6 kg, but the absolute world champion Ryan soon beat him.
Today, the world bench press record belongs to Russian Kirill Sarychev. On his second attempt, he managed to lift a barbell weighing 330 kg lying down without equipment, and then 335 kg. Before him, the highest figure was 327.5 kg and was lifted by the American Eric Spotto.
How it happened
A new world bench press record of 335.5 kg was set by American athlete Julius Maddox. This happened on the last day of August, 31st 2021. It was on this date that the OLD TIME record of the Russian athlete was broken. Although the difference is not great - only 0.5 kg - this is undoubtedly a new record, friends!
In the first approach, Julius ordered 305 kg. This weight was taken very easily, as can be seen in the video.
So far little is known about him. He is 31 years old, born and raised in America. He started training only at the age of 25 and in such a short period of time was able to achieve outstanding results by powerlifting standards.
The athlete weighs just over 200 kilograms. Yes, in fact, you can see his big water belly in the video.
He trains 4-5 times a week. The training time is about 2-2.5 hours.
Sarychev's reaction to the new record
Kirill was one of the first to congratulate his colleague on his Instagram profile:
“You are the best, brother. Congratulations and thank you for the motivation. See you on the platform."
What does it mean? Will Kirill really come back and show the whole world once again who is truly the strongest? Or are these just words... Time will show.
As far as I know, he is now busy with other routine activities, and training requires a lot of time, effort and, most importantly, money. You understand that without financial support such events do not happen and champions do not become.
By the way, Eddie Hall recently said that he also wants to take part in the fight for the title in the bench press and perhaps in 2-3 years, or maybe earlier, we will see a real fight among the giants. He currently holds the world record for deadlift of 500 kilograms.
Here's a video of Eddie talking about his preparation. Very interesting, I recommend watching it.
Methods for determining 1RM[edit | edit code]
The Wilkes formula is used to determine the best weightlifter in any weight category, as well as to compare men and women[4]. Usually the winner is determined in each weight and age category, separately for each gender. The Wilks formula comes into play when it is necessary to determine the absolute champion among various categories. The formula can also be used in team competitions where team members may have significant differences in weight. The sum of weights in triathlon is entered into the Wilks formula.
