The bench press is an upper body strength exercise that involves pressing a weight upwards from a prone position. The exercise works the pectoralis major as well as the supporting muscles of the chest, arms and shoulders such as the anterior deltoids, serratus anterior, coracobrachialis, scapula fixators, trapezius and triceps. A barbell is typically used to support the weight, but a pair of dumbbells can also be used. The barbell bench press is one of the three powerlifting exercises and is widely used in bodybuilding, strength training and other types of training to develop chest muscles. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The person performing the exercise lies on their back on a bench with a weight grasped in both hands. They push the weight up until their arms are extended, preventing the elbows from locking out. They then lower the weight to chest level. This is a repetition. The bench press has evolved over the years, from ground, bridge, and stomach throwing variations to the methods used by today's bodybuilders and powerlifters. At first, the strict floor press was the most popular method. In 1899, using a barbell, George Hackenschmidt, inventor of the barbell hack squat, rolled a barbell over his face and performed a strict floor press. This stood as a record for 18 years until Joe Nordquest broke it in 1916. Around this time, new methods began to gain traction. Weightlifters began to understand that strong glutes could help them raise the bar from the floor over their head. They would lie on the floor and position the bar across their abdomen, then perform an explosive glute bridge movement, catapulting the bar upwards and catching it at lockout. Lifting techniques, training and medications have improved over the years and the raw bench press record went from to in less than 100 years. A conventional bench press uses the pectoralis major muscle, anterior deltoid, and coracobrachialis to horizontally adduct the shoulder. It also mainly uses the triceps brachii and anconeus to extend the elbows. Wider hand spacing places more emphasis on shoulder flexion and narrower hand spacing uses more elbow extension. For this reason, a wider hand spacing is associated with training the pecs and a narrower hand spacing is associated with training the triceps. In addition to the main phasic muscles, the bench press also uses tonic muscles: scapular stabilizers, humeral head and trunk stabilizers. Variations of the bench press involve different muscle groups, or involve the same muscles in different ways: The flat bench press involves both parts of the pectoralis major muscle, but focuses on the lower part of the head as well as the anterior deltoid muscle. The term "bench press" alone is assumed to refer to a flat bench press. A tilt raises the shoulders and lowers the pelvis as if lying in a chair; this variation places emphasis on the anterior deltoids with little emphasis on the upper head of the pectoralis major. This variation is called the incline bench press. A decline bench press raises the pelvis and lowers the head, and emphasizes the lower part of the pectoralis major. A reverse grip bench press uses a.