Pressing and Pulling for Power

Aquestion one commonly asks any person who lifts weights is, How much can you bench? The answer to this question has become such a universal way of determining someone's strength that bench pressing has become almost an obligatory exercise. That many people concentrate on bench pressing is unfortunate, because aside from powerlifting, a sport in which it is a required component, you rarely use the strength gained from it functionally in sports or daily life. It certainly isn't a measure of overall strength; you don't use many muscles to do it. It is far from a total-body movement like a squat, which incorporates the upper body to maintain correct posture and to hold the barbell in place and the lower body to lower and lift the weight. It isn't a good way to measure general strength-especially for women, because our upper bodies are typically weaker in proportion to our lower bodies. We don't usually work on them as guys do. But even though you shouldn't use the bench press to gauge how strong you are, it is still a good exercise for developing upper-body strength and power, which we definitely need. However, you must use bench pressing in combination with other pressing and pulling movements to balance the entire upper-body musculature and shoulder complex.

Understanding Shoulder Anatomy and Function

Building Resilient Shoulders

Developing Symmetrical Shoulders