Theologian,thrower,and coach Dan John has said,on many occasions,that the body is one piece,and he’s right. When performing in athletics,no one part works in isolation. The position and motion of almost every joint impacts the position and motion of almost every other joint. Still,despite the coordination and balance demanded by nearly every sport,some people feel the need to train their body in isolation.
While everyone knows that machines are the worst culprit,they’re not what I’m writing about here. Athletes,male athletes especially,have a tendency to need to feed their egos. They commonly do this through building large upper bodies and focusing on weight at the expense of form. They arch,lift their asses,and cut ROM on their bench presses. They bounce and neglect full ROM on chins (I’m guilty as charged here). And they generally squirm,wriggle,and cheat the weight up in any way possible.
This focus on upper body and disregard for form can lead to two things:a disproportionately big and strong upper body,and poor coordination between the upper body and trunk,both of which can lead to problems out on the field. To give what is perhaps the most common example,most young men put a lot of energy into the bench press,but the bench press comes with a few problems,at least when performed as it commonly is. First of all,arching excessively when pressing essentially turns off the abdominals. Regularly bench pressing with an extreme arch can “disconnect” the pressing muscles from the abs,and this will impact stability and the transfer of force between the upper and lower body when out on the field. Second,too much bench pressing can generate gains in upper body mass and strength far in excess of what the midsection is able to stabilize and transfer down to the lower body,further worsening the situation created by the first problem. It’s not just the bench press though,other lifts can have similar effects. Weight training isn’t just about building muscle,but about building a balanced and coordinated body too.
So,how does one go about building up their upper body while making sure the strength and coordination of their core rises in concert? Simple,just train with the right movements and cues.
For the pressing muscles,the best movements to use are overhead presses (barbell or dumbbell),push presses,and weighted push ups with the hands and feet elevated for extra ROM. For the pulling muscles,the best movements are bent over rows (barbell or dumbbell),chin up variations (with the right cues),and front levers. Really,any movement where the lower body or core needs to provide stabilization while the upper body is working are good. For all of the movements listed above,the two cues that needs to be kept in mind are to keep the abs contracted and to hold the pelvis neutral (neither a posterior or anterior tilt) while lifting. These cues ensure that the body learns to coordinate upper movement with torso stabilization.
Having typed all of that,traditional lifts like the bench press are just fine to include,but it’s best not to go overboard. If you’re going to bench press or build a big upper body in general,follow the aforementioned cues,and make sure that your midsection is strong enough to stabilize the weight of and force generated by your upper body. While a big upper body may look impressive,if it’s developed out of balance it’ll only hurt your performance come game time.