It is no secret that the bench press can be a dangerous thing to do. As this graphic video will show you, it can even be deadly if not done correctly.
The bench press is one of the most commonly done weight training exercises. There are different variations, which accomplish a ton of different things. However, the one thing they have in common, is that you should almost always do them with a partner.
A video uploaded to Instagram, shows what can happen if you try to bench press solo. In the video, a man can be seen doing bench pressing some serious weight, without a spotter. Tragically, as you can see, this backfires in the most tragic way. The man is unable to hold the weight, and it crashes down, onto his chest. Although he was able to push the weight off of him and get up, he collapsed to the ground shortly after.
Check out the graphic video at your own risk:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B53oRc1pNUO/?igshid=1v0y255wssxjn&fbc
The uploader of the video says that the man died from this bench press. However FitnessVolt has been unable to confirm that, as little information is known about the man in question. In fact, it is unclear where this video took place, although the timestamp does say it happened recently.
Nevertheless, even if he did not die from this accident, he was undoubtedly incredibly injured. He was not doing a light bench press, and at a bare minimum it caused him to pass out. Either way, it certainly proves how dangerous the bench can be, without the proper precautions.
Even if we can not confirm the status of the man in the video, he serves as a cautionary tale. If you are going to do a bench press, do it carefully, and always use a spotter if you are unsure of the weight. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
I was so close to join the #300 club when I had open heart surgery for a bad mitral valve.
Getting to #285 was it, I can’t imagine these guys pressing 800#.
That is seriously impressive.
Back to safety, if pressing your max weekly or so, you need a spotter of course, but to press for gain in 4 escalating sets, A spotter is over kill. Imho.
BTW back in gym this spring, woo hooo!