Bench Press Safety?

Just saw this and I was wondering what’s everyone’s view on this, just curious?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/754670088/maxx-bench-first-ever-gravity-release-bench-press/description

Checked their site and the flat bench would cost $650-ish now and around a grand when it hits retail. Considering a flat bench from Rogue would cost close to $200, would anyone actually get this and will this have any impact on powerlifting and the fitness industry? Just a thought I’ve had. This would definitely make bench press spotting a lot easier at meets. Failing at the bottom? Have someone step on the hydraulic thingy.

I seriously doubt anyone invests in that thing, sure benching can be dangerous if you are an idiot and don’t have a spotter. Freak accidents happen sure when people have died dropping a weight on their chest but that doesnt necessitate spending a small fortune on the bench press from the jetsons.

That’s garbage. Just use a power rack or an ER rack (or any similar competition rack), they can both be used for squatting and benching. I used to train in a gym that had an incline and a flat bench that both had the same kind of safety pins on the side, but why do you need to lower the whole bench? That looks like complete nonsense to me, just learn how to set the safety pins properly. If you can’t do that properly then no fancy bench can save your dumb ass.

[quote]chris_ottawa wrote:
That’s garbage. Just use a power rack or an ER rack (or any similar competition rack), they can both be used for squatting and benching. I used to train in a gym that had an incline and a flat bench that both had the same kind of safety pins on the side, but why do you need to lower the whole bench? That looks like complete nonsense to me, just learn how to set the safety pins properly. If you can’t do that properly then no fancy bench can save your dumb ass.[/quote]

Pretty much this.

It seems useful for commercial gyms based on safety/liability reasons, especially for people that have no clue what they’re doing. In a commercial gym setting you have to expect a wide range of people to use the equipment and not just powerlifters or people with adequate weight training experience. You have to expect that people with little common sense will use the equipment too. I agree with chris_ottawa that a power rack should be sufficient. I would prefer a power rack for it’s versatility and also for home gyms with limited space. With the rack and bench, you have the option of doing incline bench as well. People with weight training experience wouldn’t waste their money on this product.

It wouldn’t make a difference for a meet situation. The bar falls so fast that it wouldn’t be possible to hit the quick release immediately after a lifter loses control of the bar. You can also see that the lowering speed is very slow. Spotters would pick the bar up much faster than that. I think that most of the injuries occur from impact as the bar drops on a person, not while the bar pins them down for a split second as spotters react to lift the bar.

Great for a guy with money to blow who has his own basement gym and lifts alone.