How to kill yourself with the bench press

[Gino]

I've had a lot of shoulder trouble over the years which I'm convinced is due to heavy bench work when I was younger. Now this story (see below).

Be VERY careful when doing bench presses.

USC's Johnson likely out for season after accident

Updated: September 29, 2009, 3:08 AM EDT

USC senior running back Stafon Johnson is unlikely to play again this season after a weightlifting accident in a campus weight room Monday morning.

Johnson was bench-pressing with an assistant strength and conditioning coach spotting him when the bar fell out of his right hand and landed on his throat.
California Hospital Medical Center spokeswoman Katreena Salgado said Johnson was in critical but stable condition late Monday after more than seven hours of surgery in Los Angeles.
Stafon Johnson leads the team in touchdowns. (Jeff Golden / Getty Images)
He was treated for crushing injuries to his neck as well as severe injuries to his larynx, the hospital's trauma medical director Gudata Hinika said.
It's unlikely Johnson will be able to play again this season, but doctors expect him to make a full recovery, Hinika said in a statement.
"It hit him with a lot of force, and it hurt him," coach Pete Carroll said after the Trojans' brief practice Monday night.
The Trojans' head strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle said that the bench press is one of the safest exercises in the weight room.
"I've seen players have the bar slip and fall onto their chest, but never in my 25 years of coaching have I heard of someone dropping a bar on their throat," said Carlisle, who according to USC's Web site was within 10 feet of the accident. "We're fortunate he was being spotted."
Carroll said Johnson "was OK," but couldn't speak when the running back was going to the hospital.
"That happens sometimes when you're doing bench presses, but this one just hit him wrong," Carroll said. "You can miss the rack or something. This was right at the end of his set, and he wasn't putting the bar down on the rack yet."
The loss of Johnson, 21, is a serious blow to the No. 7 Trojans who rely heavily on their ground game.
He's USC's second leading rusher and has the most touchdowns on the team with five.
Johnson, who led USC in rushing last season with 705 yards and nine touchdowns, scored the Trojans' go-ahead touchdown against Ohio State two weeks ago.
Several of his teammates were in the weight room when the accident happened. "There was a bunch of guys in the weight room because it was a regular workout, so they jumped to make sure he was OK right off the bat," Carroll said. "One of our strength coaches was right there with him, doing the drill with him. He was cared for immediately. It was scary."

[Emevas]

I dropped the same weight on my face/throat



That was all I got out of it.


That said, here's a great article to prevent it from happening

http://elitefts.com/documents/spotting_bench_press.htm#

[searcher66071]

In college, I was spotting a guy who dropped the bar on his chest, when his sternal fibers of his pec ripped loose. The entire pec balled up near his arm pit.

The bar hitting his chest was the least of his problems.

[LI GUY 1]

Lol my friend was doing DB Bench a while back. At the top of the rep he yells "oh ****!!"" as his arm caved inwards and BAM!!...DB on forehead. Funny thing was he wasn't maxing out or anything, things just go wrong sometimes. Very funny things.

[TheRuss]

I want to strongly recommend using spotter bars of some sort when bench pressing (squatting should go without saying - look up J.P. Fux) if at all possible, shirt or no shirt, rack press or full ROM. If something bad happens and you lose control of the bar, it's unrealistic to expect your spotter(s) to catch it before it hits you, but a properly-placed spotter bar (usually lower than the chest but definitely higher than the neck) can reduce what would have been internal organ damage/crushed windpipe into a nasty bruise and an embarrassing clang.

If you expect your spotter to catch the bar before the first bounce, you're kidding yourself.

[searcher66071]

If you expect your spotter to catch the bar before the first bounce, you're kidding yourself.

You hit that on the head. I am to this day, a huge fan of benching in a power rack.

[Travis17]

Yeah back when I was like 17 or 18, a friend and I were spotting each other while doing the bench press. We did like 7 sets to muscle failure basically dropping the weight every set by 5 to 10 pounds. We were doing high reps. I had the weight around 100 on this last set. I got stuck pushing the weight up for a few seconds, (was up almost all the way) and my arms just gave out on me, and I dropped it on my nose. It surprised both of us. I thought I was going to push it up. Luckily it didn't drop on the bone and just dropped on the tip of my nose. Still bled pretty bad. Never did something like that again.

[PizDoff]

Thanks for the article link.

Saving Face: Effective Spotting of The Bench Press
By Dave Tate, The Angry Coach and Jim Wendler
http://elitefts.com/documents/spotting_bench_press.htm

[Res Judicata]

You hit that on the head. I am to this day, a huge fan of benching in a power rack.

This. Yes.

The barbell floor press is also a pretty safe substitute because of the diameter of the 45 plates.

[ignatzami]

Why would setting the bars lower then the chest, but higher then the neck help?

If I'm going to slip, and drop the bar, it'll most likely be over my chest and setting the bars in that position won't do any good.