The bench press has got to be one of the most popular strength training exercises.  What?  You haven’t heard about it?  Well, you must be living under a rock, but today is your lucky day because I am going to explain what it is.  You start off laying on your back and you lower a weight to your chest, then you raise it back up until your arms are straight and your elbows are locked (or as close as they can get).  That is it.  You just do that over and over.  Also, some other dude (or dudette) stands over you.  They are called a spotter.  They are pretty much there to help you just in case you fudge up.  You wouldn’t want all that weight on your neck now would you?

Bench presses focus on the development of the pectoralis major muscle (that is the chest for all you non-rocket scientists), and it also works a couple other supporting muscles including the anterior deltoids (shoulders), serratus anterior (upper ribs), Coracobrachialis (upper middle arm), and the triceps.  The bench press is one of the three lifts of powerlifting (squat and deadlift are the others).

So, question of the moment, how much can you bench press?