Indeed, his stiffest opposition came from another goliath of the early days of physical culture, the Estonian wrestler and weightlifter George Hackenschmidt. Saxon wasn’t the only one fond of the Pullover and Press.

Writing in The Development of Physical Power in 1905, the Germanic powerhouse Arthur Saxon, pictured below, regularly lifted over 300 pounds. Similar to the floor press, albeit slightly more specialized, the weights used in this lift are nothing short of remarkable. Lying on the ground, lifters would pull a barbell over their head at arm’s length and then press it either from their chest or from their stomach, a point we’ll get into later. In this vein came the pullover and press. (Photo by Krizz. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0) Few could call upon the vast resources we have today to discover how to develop their legs, arms, chest etc. As trite as it sounds, we have to remember that trainers in those days experimented much more with their lifts. With greater interest came more variety in lifts and displays of strength. Seen, for good reason, as the precursor for modern gym culture, physical culture witnessed the emergence of gymnasiums, barbells and dumbbells in much greater numbers. Led by names like Eugen Sandow, Arthur Saxon and George Hackenschmidt amongst others, physical culture represented a worldwide health phenomenon interested in matters of bodily development. While undoubtedly we could begin the history in Ancient Greece when soldiers would use push-ups for chest development, it seems best placed to begin instead in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. What the health lift was for the deadlift, the pullover and press was for the bench press - they planted the seed for what would become one of the foundational big three. There were predecessors and pretenders to the throne along the way. Beginning with the early history of the bench press, today’s post traces the lift’s history, from the early days of physical culture to the modern age.Īs is the case with so many lifts, the bench press did not emerge as a fully coherent lift for many decades. It wasn’t until a series of societal and technological changes were wrought that the modern bench press became a training staple. What might surprise modern lifters is the fact that prior to the 1940s, the bench press, the ‘King of the Upper Body Lifts’, was a rather specialized and underused lift.

Those entering the gym for both the first and the five hundredth time test their strength against The Bench. Upon entering the gym, keen observers will note the almost mythical attraction this lift has for trainees of all experience levels.

The bench press has been called the King of the Upper Body Lifts, and given its unstoppable popularity amongst gym goers, chances are it’ll retain this title for the foreseeable future.

Barbell pullover and press