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Bench Press

Bench press is a standalone barbell strength discipline and part of powerlifting. A valid lift is performed on a bench with controlled descent, a pause on the chest, a press command and a clean rack; the focus is the valid single lift within the weight class.

LevelVariant FamilyStrength Sports CategoryStrength sport

Representative sports image for Bench Press — SAgbley · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image source

Classification

Category Strength sport

Family Strength Sports

Level Variant

Getting started

Kurzbeschreibung Bench press is a competition barbell lift on a bench.

Geeignet für Suitable for people who like measurable strength progress, clear technique and repeatability.

Cost Gym or club fee; shared equipment is enough at first. Medium depending on gym, coaching, meet entry and equipment. Powerlifting/strength club, gym with rack/safety arms or coach. Spotter or safety arms are not optional for heavy sets.

First progress Technique progress comes quickly; competition-stable max attempts take months.

Fitness level medium

Was du brauchst

bench
rack
barbell
plates
collars
spotter/safety arms

First steps

learn setup
press empty bar
practise pause
use spotter/safety
track progression

Strength club, powerlifting club, coached gym or IPF-adjacent team.

Always train heavy sets with safety arms or spotter and increase load conservatively.

Weitere Angaben

Aliases Bankdrücken, bankdrucken

Tags strength, barbell, indoor, single-lift, benchpress, strength-sport, bench-press, kraftsport

Rules and format

Die Grundlagen

Ziel

Lift the highest valid bench-press weight within the class.

Teilnehmer

Individual lifters by sex, age and weight classes.

Spielfeld

Strength platform or gym area with bench, rack and safety space.

Wertung

Best valid weight; part of the total in full powerlifting.

Gewinnbedingung

Highest valid weight or placing by rulebook.

Ausrüstung

bench
rack
barbell
plates
collars

Regelquellen

Federations and sources

Federations

International Powerlifting Federation (IPF)

IPF Technical Rules Book 2023 International Powerlifting Federation · rulebook · high
IPF Results International Powerlifting Federation · official-results · high
Essential Tips to Prepare for Your First Powerlifting Meet StrongFirst · coach-blog · medium
Beginner's Guide to Powerlifting ISSA · beginner-guide · medium