This is a new monthly series by Todd Hamer, head strength and conditioning coach at a Division I school in Pennsylvania, and the EliteFTS staff. These articles will focus on collegiate strength and conditioning and issues associated with the profession.
The Bench Press and the Collegiate Football Athlete
The bench press has long been revered as one of the best upper body lifts out there. The question I’m posing is, “Does the bench press matter for the collegiate football athlete?” Most athletes will answer this question with a resounding yes. The problem is rarely do athletes really know what is best for them at any given time. So this article will examine the bench press as just another movement and evaluate whether or not it is one we must have in our programs.
To answer this question, I emailed many of my colleagues at other universities and asked them about the bench press. I will review their thoughts and then add in how I use the bench with my athletes.
The five questions I sent to five strength coaches were:
1. Do you use the bench press as one of your ‘core lifts?’
2. What would you consider to be the top three to five lifts for your team as a whole?
3. Do you use the bench press with football year round?
4. Is there any position on your team that doesn’t bench press?
5. Do you spend much time teaching bench press technique?
The answers are as follows:
- All five coaches said yes.
- All five coaches said yes.
- All five coaches said yes.
- All five coaches said no.
- The answers varied from very little to a 30-minute mini-clinic on the bench press.
From these answers, it’s clear to me that collegiate strength coaches believe the bench press is an important lift. They seem to feel that if the movement is performed safely, it can be used for all positions within football with little to no fear of injury. As far as technique, it was clear that all the coaches felt that learning the technique is fairly easy. It is important as strength coaches we know what each other are doing and what is important to other strength coaches. The coaches who responded to these questions are, Ethan Reeves from Wake Forest University, Bill Gillespie from Liberty University, Bobby Sepsey from Cal University of PA, Bryan Mann Mizzou, and Shawn Griswald with the University of Pittsburgh.
The movement
The bench press is a good example of upper body strength. In the powerlifting world, it can even be a good example of full body strength. However, understanding that we aren’t working with powerlifters, it will remain an upper body lift for most of our student athletes.
When looking at any lift or program it’s very important to look at the bell curve on your team. Take your best benchers (we’ve had competitive powerlifters on our team). These athletes will be at the far right side of your bell curve. Most of your team will make up the middle of the curve while the uncompetitive lifters on your team (yes, we all have them) will make up the far left side of the curve.
Now look at this bell curve and determine where your team falls as a whole. Every team has a bell curve and every one of your athletes falls somewhere on this curve. This can sometimes be a hard thing for a coach to do. The idea isn’t to judge each athlete but to be honest with yourself as to where your team is as a whole. If the ‘poor lifter’ side of your curve still consists of hard workers who are receptive to coaching, you should be happy. Start teaching more technique on the bench as well as on all other lifts. This is where there is a distinct difference between being a private sector strength coach and a guy like me who works for a university. If you’re Joe DeFranco, you can pick and choose who you train because it’s your facility. Working for a university, I must train whoever is handed to me. This will affect your programming drastically.
Once you have figured out where your team falls, decide if and when the bench press fits in. I tend to draw a line somewhere around the sixtieth percentile and program around that athlete. With my athletes, the bench press is one of the lifts we test. We also test the squat, vertical jump, broad jump, pull-ups, and sit-ups. We test the clean but only when the athlete shows a certain level of proficiency with this lift. We tend to teach technique more than most other strength coaches that I spoke with. We use dynamic effort, max effort, and rep effort with the bench press. All athletes begin with rep work on the bench. After they have mastered the movement, they move into dynamic effort work.
The dynamic effort work that we do at this point is different from what most people do. We use a hybrid where the athlete benches for time, moving the bar as fast as possible without touching his chest. For example, an athlete might do six sets of eight seconds with 40-60 percent of his one rep max. It is very important that he doesn’t touch his chest, as we don’t want our athletes bouncing the bar off their chests. Once we have adapted to this training, we begin more traditional dynamic effort work. We also begin to introduce max effort work at this point. Below, I’ve placed a three-week sample program that we use with our athletes.
When an athlete has trained using all three methods for the bench press, we test the bench. We test using a one rep max. I don’t believe that rep maxing is a good idea because I feel it increases the opportunity for an injury to occur. Think of it this way—if we’re going for a 3RM, we still have to handle 90 percent or more, so our time under tension with 90 percent will be high and we will still have to handle an extreme load. In addition, as fatigue sets in, we will increase the chance for something to go wrong with the lift. The psychological aspect of lifting 405 lbs for one rep versus lifting 365 lbs for two sets of three can’t be overlooked either. Make your athlete compete with the weight. Remember—every one of your athletes has benched. If you don’t test them, they will find a way to test. They’ll do it at night or on their off days in the student rec center. Wouldn’t you rather have them testing under your supervision?
Tying the bench together
As a coach, it’s important to understand that the bench press is a movement every one of your football players cares about. You will rarely find a male who hasn’t spent some time in his life under a bar benching, and as I’ve shown, collegiate strength coaches (including myself) use and do care about the bench. So use the bench as a good way to build upper body strength. Also, use the bench as a great way to build an attitude on your team. I’m not in any way saying that a big bench builds a great athlete, but an athlete who believes he is stronger will play stronger.
If you don’t believe me that the bench press is important then watch the video below and you will!
First bench day, week 1
Push press complex, 4 x 4 (standing press, push press, push jerk, split jerk)
Bench press (DE), 5 x 10 seconds, 40-60% depending on training age
1a Dumbbell bench, 4 x 10
1b Elevated row, 4 x 10
2a Face pulls, 3 x 30
2b Eccentric quasi-isometric (EQI) push-up, 3 x 45 seconds
2c Barbell curls, 3 x 15
Finisher, 100 push-ups for time
Second bench day, week 1
Log push press, 6 x 3 (no percent given; speed is the intent of the movement)
Bench press, 5 x 8 (add weight each set without missing)
1a Single arm dumbbell bench, 5 x 8
1b Pull-ups, 5 x 8 (weighted)
2a Seated dumbbell clean, 3 x 10
2b Weighted T push-up, 3 x 6 per side
2c Scarecrows, 3 x 20
Finisher, 100 curls without setting the barbell down
First bench day, week 2
Push press complex, 4 x 4 (standing press, push press, push jerk, split jerk)
Bench press (DE), 6 x 8 seconds, 40-60% depending on training age
1a Dumbbell bench, 5 x 8
1b Elevated row, 5 x 8
2a Face pulls, 3 x 30
2b EQI push-up, 3 x 45 seconds
2c Barbell curls, 3 x 15
Finisher, 100 push-ups for time
Second bench day, week 2
Log push press, 6 x 3 (no percent given; speed is the intent of the movement)
Bench press, 6 x 6 (add weight each set without missing)
1a Single arm dumbbell bench, 5 x 8
1b Pull-ups, 5 x 8 (weighted)
2a Seated dumbbell clean, 3 x 10
2b Weighted T push-up, 3 x 6 per side
2c Scarecrows, 3 x 20
Finisher, 100 curls without setting the barbell down
First bench day, week 3
Push press complex, 5 x 4 per set (standing press, push press, push jerk, split jerk)
Bench press (DE), 8 x 6 seconds, 40-60% depending on training age
1a Dumbbell bench, 5 x 8
1b Elevated row, 5 x 8
2a Face pulls, 3 x 30
2b EQI push-up, 3 x 45 seconds
2c Barbell curls, 3 x 15
Finisher, 100 push-ups for time
Second bench day, week 3
Log push press, 6 x 3 (no percent given; speed is the intent of the movement)
Bench press, 5 x 5 (add weight each set without missing)
1a Single arm dumbbell bench, 4 x 10
1b Pull-ups, 4 x 10 (weighted)
2a Seated dumbbell clean, 3 x 10
2b Weighted T push-up, 3 x 6 per side
2c Scarecrows, 3 x 20
Finisher, 100 Curls without setting the barbell down
Notes:
- This is a beginner workout and a great way to introduce dynamic effort work.
- There aren’t any major changes in accessory movements.
- Supersets are noted with an ‘a’ and ‘b’ (i.e. 1a, 1b)
- We always have a finisher as a way to make the athlete feel strong.
- All accessories are supersetted.
- This is also written as if it were a 4 days program with two lower body dominant days.
Thank you to the strength coaches who particapted;
Bobby Sepsey, Shawn Griswald, Ethan Reeves, Bill Gillespie & Bryan Mann