Barbell bench press

The ten levels

BYOH measures a discipline in ten cleared levels. Level 9 is a genuine feat; Level 10 is the standing world record, which is there to be looked at rather than reached.

Barbell bench press starts at Level 1 with 5 reps at 0.40 × BW. Level 5 asks for 5 reps at 1.00 × BW, and Level 9 - the last level a person can train towards - 5 reps at 1.75 × BW. The largest single jump is from Level 8 to Level 9, 5 reps at 1.50 × BW to 5 reps at 1.75 × BW.

The load is a multiple of your own bodyweight — 0.4×BW, 0.55×BW, 0.7×BW, 0.85×BW, 1×BW, 1.15×BW, 1.3×BW, 1.5×BW, 1.75×BW across the ten levels — so the kilograms follow the hero rather than the table. For a female hero the upper body reference is 0.60 of that.

The record past Level 9

Barbell bench press — Awaiting a governed record format.

Raw and equipped bench records are governed separately and by several federations, so BYOH uses a provisional final gate until one format is chosen. This is a provisional benchmark rather than a governed record.

How it is done

1. Lie back on a flat bench. Using a medium width grip (a grip that creates a 90-degree angle in the middle of the movement between the forearms and the upper arms), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.
2. From the starting position, breathe in and begin coming down slowly until the bar touches your middle chest.
3. After a brief pause, push the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out. Focus on pushing the bar using your chest muscles. Lock your arms and squeeze your chest in the contracted position at the top of the motion, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: Ideally, lowering the weight should take about twice as long as raising it.
4. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
5. When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.

Movement guidance and imagery from the public-domain Free Exercise DB. BYOH adds the level thresholds.

How the attempt is judged

A level only means something if two heroes clearing it have done the same thing. These are the rules BYOH counts an attempt by — they are the rules of a game, not coaching.

What counts as one

One repetition is the bar lowered to touch the chest and pressed back to locked elbows, with the hips kept on the bench.

The set

One unbroken set. You may pause with the bar at arm's length; racking it ends the set.

What you need

A flat bench and a barbell, with safety arms set or a spotter standing by. The load is everything on the bar, the bar included: your bodyweight times the level's figure, and BYOH scales that for a female hero's reference.

What ends it

Bouncing the bar off the chest, lifting the hips off the bench, or a spotter touching the bar at any point, voids the set.

What it builds

Barbell bench press feeds Chest and Arms in a hero’s record, working chest, shoulders, triceps.

• Pressing strength
• Press control
• Triceps
• Shoulders

Barbell bench press is one of 32 strength disciplines. It shares its weights requirement with 10 other strength disciplines. Chest is also built by push-ups, dumbbell bench press, dumbbell floor press and 3 more, and a broad attribute needs several of them rather than one taken far.

Quests that ask for it

• Forged TogetherDiscipline · Level 5