REVIEWS  EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2015 June;55(6):604-8

Copyright © 2015 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Bench press exercise: the key points

Padulo J. ^{1, 2}, Laffaye G. ³, Chaouachi A. ⁴, Chamari K. ^{2, 5} ✉

¹ University e Campus, Novedrate, Italy; ² Tunisian Research Laboratory “Sports Performance Optimization”, National Center of Medicine and Science in Sport, Tunis, Tunisia; ³ UR CIAMS - Motor Control and Perception Group, Department of Sport Sciences, Université Paris‑ Sud, Orsay, France; ⁴ AUT University, Sports Performance Research, Institute New Zeland, Auckland, New Zeland; ⁵ Aspetar, Qatar Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, Research and Education Centre, Doha, Qatar

The bench press exercise (BPE) is receiving increasing interest as a field testing, training/therapeutic modality to improve neuromuscular performance or to increase bone mass density. Several studies have been performed using BPE as a standard for increasing upper-limb strength. For this purpose, the position of the bar, the loads, the sets, the number of repetitions, the recovery time in-between sets, the movement speed, the muscular work and the use of the determination of the one repetition maximum (1-RM) are the classical tools investigated in the literature that have been shown to affect the BPE effect on neuromuscular. The goal of the present short review is to make a picture of the current knowledge on the bench press exercise, which could be very helpful for a better understanding of this standard movement and its effects. Based on the related literature, several recommendations on these key points are presented here.