Variations of the Supine Press -- John Grimek (1953)

Bob Samuels, New Orleans athletic instructor, shown after making a heavy supine lift of over 400 pounds. For a record in the supine press the body must remain in the position shown while the weight is being pressed to arms' length. Any arching or raising of the body is cause for disqualification. 

During the period in which we ran our series on "My Favorite Exercise" by outstanding men in the iron game, we were forced to abandon the idea as a monthly feature because of the great similarity among those who submitted such articles, with nine out of every ten listing the press on back, commonly referred to as the "prone press," as their favorite. 

Why this particular exercise has become such a favorite among a high percentage of weight users is not hard to understand when you take into consideration the relative poundage that can be handled in this lift as compared to other exercises.

Even the novice who finds it strenuous to shove up less than 100 pounds when he first begins, may, after a few months, do 200 with ease. This "improvement" builds up his morale much more than his muscles, but it also gives him a psychological boost which stimulates his ambition and increases his determination. 

There is, however, only one fault with this. In some cases, and it happens all too frequently, such an individual strongly favors the movements in which he is proficient and neglects all others, perhaps more important ones. Such a choice is never the best plan and one should follow an all-round program if perfection is the goal. 

All of us tend to favor our best points. A lifter who is a good presser with continue to show improvement on this lift with almost every attempt, but shows relatively poor progress on the other lifts on which he may not be as proficient, due primarily to neglect of practice. So it's easy to see why we favor those lifts in which we use more weight and thus prove, to ourselves at least, our superiority. 

A limit point is reached quickly on all exercises, but in such exercises as the deadlift, squat, and press on back one can progress to greater poundages before the limit is reached, so one's favorite exercise is often listed on the lift where the greatest weight can be handled. We always seem to work harder on such a lift and we seem to enjoy it most. Maybe it's because we make better improvement on them so never become discouraged. 

Today, however, some fantastic records are being claimed, especially on the supine press. Many of them are genuine while others call anything a record that even remotely resembles the original lift. A partial squat, often less than 1/4 of the way down, is accepted as a squat record. A combination shoulder bridge and "belly toss" is considered a supine press record, all of which is different than the rules that govern such lifts. 

However, as a medium to further muscular development, the press on back is a fine exercise. But, like anything else, it can be overdone and is definitely overrated! 

While most of the upper back muscles, arms and shoulders are pressed into action, the pectorals seem to be affected more strongly and, therefore, respond quicker from this movement, so much so that these muscles are often developed out of proportion to other muscle groups. Overdevelopment of ANY MUSCLE is undesirable, especially of the pectorals, since heavy development here leans towards femininity and these muscles are one of the first to sag and lose their contour. 

Very few bodybuilders have pectoral formation that permits heavy development, but one who does is George Eiferman.  

George "Pectorals" Eiferman illustrates one of his favorite supine exercises, the press on back with dumbbells. While it is always more difficult to use dumbbells in this lift, the exercise is more beneficial than when done with a barbell and should be included in one's training program. 

His pectorals have fine shape and good contour in spite of their bulk, but my own, like the vast majority, have a tendency to sag and present a sloppy appearance when they become heavy. Such a condition should be avoided and sufficient pectoral work should be done, not to increase their size, but to trim them down so they will be hard, firm and muscular. The supine press, and all its variations, are good mediums for keeping the chest muscles firm and shapely if high repetitions are done to keep them from getting sloppy. 

The manner of doing a bench press is varied and there isn't any sound agreement on which is the correct style these days. The main object appears to be to get the weight to arms' length no matter how. For your own personal satisfaction this doesn't matter, but you should pride yourself in doing the exercise correctly and obtain the full benefits this exercise can bring. 

The most common fault is raising the small of the back off the bench when the pressing becomes difficult, which begins to resemble a shoulder bridge and is an easier lift to perform. In the regular supine lift the body MUST remain flat on the bench and the feet extended, yet one author, who should know better, wrote about a certain husky who was making an effort to press 425 pounds that if his FOOT HADN'T SLIPPED he would have succeeded! I ask you, what have the feet got to do with making a supine press if he was doing it according to accepted rules? Nothing, unless this chap was doing a shoulder bridge which was mistaken for a supine press. 

Note: Anyone else remember the John McCallum article with that same bench press "foot slipping" line in it? 

Such an incident happened in our gym. A fellow who frequently comes to train here has always been in the habit of bouncing the weight off his chest and arching his back while digging his heels into the floor. One day as he was pressing a comfortable weight I lifted his feet up by the ankles and held them at the height of the bench to prevent him from raising the small of his back. All at once the weight he was pressing stopped midway, and try as he might he was unable to make another rep. This proved to him the advantage of this style and then he began to practice this lift in strict form. He could do much better after some practice but could still do 40 to 50 pounds more when he arched his back and pushed with his heels.

There are three different positions in the supine press: 

1) regular or "prone" press

2) shoulder bridge, in which the body is permitted to arch with only the upper feet and upper back remaining in contact with the floor or bench, and

3) the "belly toss," similar to the shoulder bridge except the weight is tossed to arms' length after the body is arched as high as possible. 

 In this latter style some impressive lifts have been made. Tony Vega, former York featherweight lifter [note that he had no fingers on his left hand].

He succeeded with 375 pounds, and Bill Lilly . . .  

. . . professional lifter from Philadelphia, the first to popularize this particular style, is officially credited with 483 pounds. Lilly himself did not weight much over 150 pounds. 

Compare this lift with the record held by Joe Nordquest with a little over 370 pounds in the supine press and you can understand the difference. 

Today, anything that is pushed, bounced or tossed to arms' length is considered a "prone" press record. However, for sheer power and perfect form on this lift, Sig Klein and one of his star pupils, Jack Long. . . 

. . . who weighed around 150 pounds, could hardly be duplicated. They made their records unassisted and in strict form which the rules demand, and a number of men who made claims for much higher lifts were unable to duplicate their lifts. 

Some bodybuilders require two or more assistants to help them in their training. When doing their "prones" they require the weight to be lifted and placed on their extended arms, and from this position the weight is dropped and bounced off the chest with such force that it travels partly up, and is completed by arching the back and digging the heels into the floor. This kind of method doesn't exercise the muscles as much as the regular style, even though considerably more weight is handled. 

At one time I witnessed an exhibition where the supine presser tried to bounce a heavy weight off his chest with such force that he succeeded in crushing one or more ribs. It put him out of commission for a month or two and after that he seldom used his chest as a springboard. 

The accompanying illustrations show some variations of the press on back.

Quite often the shoulder bridge, demonstrated here by Prof. Juan Barriero, Mexico City, and Mickey Hargitay, Indianapolis, is mistaken for a supine press. Those of you who have tried these lifts will know how much easier it is to press a weight when the body is arched than when it remains flat on the bench. The developmental qualities vary with different performance, but as an exercise the supine press should be included, using dumbbells and a barbelll to do this lift, but for handling heavier poundages, the shoulder bridge or belly toss method should also be used. In this way you will get beneficial muscular reaction as well as increased strength from these lifts, but under no circumstances should you neglect other exercises just because you favor these. 

You should seek all-round muscular development, if this is your goal, and not specialize on one or two lifts simply because you favor them. In this way you will develop a finer physique and be more of an athlete -- fit for any sport or emergency. 

So don't favor one exercise, no matter how good it is, but include a variety for better, more pleasing results. 

Enjoy Your Lifting!