Efficacy and safety of the bench press
From the perspective of health, neuromuscular conditioning program (ANDS) should present criteria of efficacy and safety criteria. This text addresses the criterion of efficacy based on muscle activation triggered by the execution of the exercise while the safety criteria are based on biomechanical analysis of movement involved during exercise. The aim of the present review is to develop the aspects of safety and efficacy of bench press exercise and its variants. To do this, there has been a literature search in the databases PubMed, SPORTDiscus, and PEDro and specific manuals. It can be concluded that, while maintaining adequate safety and efficacy criteria, the bench press is an exercise that can be prescribed in neuromuscular conditioning programs.
INTRODUCTION
The bench press is an exercise aimed at strengthening the upper body, resulting in a movement known for all the regulars to the weight rooms (Figure 1). This is a lobbying done by the upper limbs involving mainly the glenohumeral joint. On this combined joint flexion (sagittal plane), Gynexin abduction / adduction (frontal plane) and horizontal flexion (in the transverse plane) (Barnett et al., 1995), which in combination with the movement flexion and extension of the elbow joint, leads resulting linear motion of the exercise itself.
This exercise involving both the shoulder joint as the elbow, is aimed at strengthening the pectoralis major muscle involved as the primary (agonist), and both the anterior fascicle of the deltoid and triceps will be activated as synergists of action ( Beachler and Earle, 2000). It is known that muscle contractions are produced from origin to insertion of the muscle bundle, being more effective when both points are on the same line as described by the motion (Shelvin et al., 1969, Glass and Armstrong, 1997) taking this issue a great influence on the hipertrrofia and functional adaptations of the different muscle bundles (Antonio, 2000, Abe et al., 2003). For this reason, different variants are intended to stimulate these different portions of the pectoralis major, these are: incline bench press and bench press declined. Also, the grip of the bar which we will carry out the exercise (wide or narrow) will also influence the activation of different portions of the main muscle. Other variations of this exercise are based on the use of different materials such as an Olympic bar, dumbbells, machines, pulleys or rubber bands. Also, the elements of instability as the fitball and Bossu also been introduced in the work against resistance (Behm and Anderson., 2006).