The Bench Press is a staple exercise in the vast majority of programs including those of athletes. For good reason. It is one of the most effective upper body exercises for developing strength. Obviously, this is something that most people will want to do and should be doing. Like always, there is an exception to this rule that isn’t all that well-known. The fact that it isn’t well known is a problem that needs to be corrected as far too many athletes are not living up to their potential and having their careers cut short because of it. The exception to the rule is baseball players, or more specifically, throwing athletes.
Risk vs. Reward
If the Bench Press is such an important exercise, why is it bad for throwing athletes? Glad you asked. It has to do with risk vs. reward calculations. You do this all the time in everyday scenarios. The risk of driving your car is worth it for the reward of getting essential food that you need to survive. The same calculations must be performed during exercise selection. The question of whether an exercise will provide enough benefit to warrant the risk involved must come back with a resounding yes. It is much more typical for an exercise to be worth doing than not due to risk because most exercises when done correctly are perfectly safe. That is why weight room injuries are very rare compared to injuries sustained in every other area of life. The Bench Press risk/reward calculation provides so much reward for the majority of the population that it should be a staple in most programs due to the hefty benefit involved. The same isn’t true when you add the throwing dynamic to the mix.
The Throwing Movement
Overhand throwing is already an unnatural movement to begin with. The shoulder joint is not designed to move well the way it is used when throwing overhand. It is much more natural to throw underhand, which is why softball pitchers can throw significantly more pitches and pitch on consecutive days while pitchers in baseball are very limited on how many pitches they throw consecutively and how often they can throw without enough rest. Every time a throw is made, and the more wear the shoulder joint receives, the more likely something is going to go wrong.
The Bench Press
Although safe, for the most part, the Barbell Bench Press is also quite hard on the shoulder joints. Anyone who has benched long enough or heavy enough can attest to the wear and tear their shoulders receive. Can it be done long-term without injury? Yes. However, it takes a lot of time and experience to develop perfect form, recovery techniques and a whole host of other adaptations to achieve, and even then, only a lucky few will make it without some form of problem with their shoulders. The difference between them and throwing athletes is that they don’t also have the wear and tear from another movement wreaking havoc on the joint already.
Putting it All Together
Throwing is hard on the shoulder joint. Barbell Bench Pressing is hard on the shoulder joint. Putting them together? Not a good idea. It is only asking for problems. Now to the most important part of all of this and why you should never bench press if you throw overhand in your sport: Not only is there a too high risk of injury, but the reward side of the equation is almost empty. There is basically no reward for bench pressing if you are an athlete that relies on throwing. It won’t make you throw harder; it won’t make you hit farther (for baseball and softball players); it won’t make you faster or more athletic. It may be cool to bench a lot, but it has no translation to the throwing sports in any way that would make it worth it. There are about 100 other exercises that will provide huge levels of benefit with significantly lower risk. If you play any other sport, especially football (unless you are a quarterback), then the reward for benching is high enough to be worth doing. So, if you don’t rely on throwing an object then have at it and reap the rewards! If you rely on throwing, on the other hand, it is best to put your focus on exercises that will actually help you with your sport.
Final Thoughts
Just because you shouldn’t bench, doesn’t mean you should abandon all chest training. It is still important to develop the entire body. Just stick with weighted push-ups and dumbbell variant pressing. Using dumbbells is much easier on the shoulder joint, is great for gaining strength, and will also help develop joint stability.
If a throwing athlete plays for a coach that insists on having them bench as part of their team training program, then we have our athletes bench press with a barbell as sparingly as possible. Just enough to perfect their form so that way they can do it with their team with as little risk as possible. Not our favorite situation but some coaches refuse to let some exercises go even though it would be better for the players and for their winning percentage.
Focus on rotational movements. Bench press has very limited benefit for throwing because throwing is rotational, and bench is not. Spend that extra time developing explosiveness and rotational strength. There are so many movements to choose from that will have an immediate impact on your ability to throw harder and run faster.
Theoretically, barbell benching could be done at younger ages (13-15ish) to help develop upper body strength while their shoulder isn’t under as much stress from the sports side. We have a hard time doing a blanket recommendation for this though as it will be specific to each player. Some need the additional development while others don’t. If you do add it during these building years, we just recommend slowly phasing it out as they get older and stronger and as the demands of the game increase. The benefit of the exercise will be fairly apparent at the beginning but will slowly fade away as they get older. The goal should be to get them using dumbbells for pressing movements as soon as possible.
