Does relative strength influence bench press kinematics in resistance-trained men?

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to examine whether relative strength influences lifting kinematics (e.g., lifting time, barbell velocity, vertical displacement) during the bench press (BP) exercise with healthy men. Loaded BP 6-repetition maximum normalized to body mass (i.e., relative strength) was examined in 110 resistance-trained men (age: 22.9 ± 2.5 years, height: 180.9 ± 6.9 cm, body mass: 80.3 ± 7.9 kg), by analysing lifting kinematics using a linear encoder. According to relative BP strength, subjects were classified as beginners, recreationally trained, intermediate, and advanced. Results showed that in the intermediate (p = 0.004, ES = 0.85) and advanced (p = 0.016, ES = 0.81) groups barbell velocity was lower in the sticking region of the BP action, compared with beginners, however there were no significant differences between groups for vertical displacement (p = 0.122–1.000) and lifting time (p = 0.052–1.000). These findings suggest that greater relative strength improves the capacity to perform the eccentric but not the concentric phase of BP. Enhanced barbell lowering indicates that the sticking region is caused by a high demand for eccentric force production during biomechanically disadvantageous conditions.

KEYWORDS:

• 6-RM strength
• performance
• resistance training
• chest press
• free weight exercise

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all participants for their participation. Furthermore, we would like to thank Dr. S. Scott for her insight, feedback, and contributing editing the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.