Bench Press

My son is 12 years old, and he's going through a lot of changes in his life, most of which he'd rather not see published in this column. However, there is one change I have permission to relay: He's started lifting weights under my supervision. I can already hear the protestations of physicians and parents. "Blasphemy!" they cry. "It's not safe!" Many of them believe that weight training should wait until the end of puberty because it can cause serious, growth-stunting injury.

If a movie is ever made about Evan Barr of Los Angeles Loyola, it will be titled "The Accidental Pole Vaulter. " The only reason he went out for the sport is that he heard an announcement in English class his freshman year informing students about tryouts, and a friend quipped, "Let's pole vault. " Barr went out for the team and his friend decided to play baseball. "I had never touched a pole," Barr said. Now Barr has the second-best mark in the state at 16 feet, 2 inches and has signed a letter of intent with California to be a pole vaulter.

If a movie is ever made about Evan Barr of Los Angeles Loyola, it will be titled "The Accidental Pole Vaulter. " The only reason he went out for the sport is that he heard an announcement in English class his freshman year informing students about tryouts, and a friend quipped, "Let's pole vault. " Barr went out for the team and his friend decided to play baseball. "I had never touched a pole," Barr said. Now Barr has the second-best mark in the state at 16 feet, 2 inches and has signed a letter of intent with California to be a pole vaulter.

My son is 12 years old, and he's going through a lot of changes in his life, most of which he'd rather not see published in this column. However, there is one change I have permission to relay: He's started lifting weights under my supervision. I can already hear the protestations of physicians and parents. "Blasphemy!" they cry. "It's not safe!" Many of them believe that weight training should wait until the end of puberty because it can cause serious, growth-stunting injury.

Question: I lift weights at home alone at 4:30 a.m., and I don't have anyone around to spot me. What would be my maximum weight, and how can I test it on the bench press without risking injuries? ERIC WEEKS Olema, Calif. Answer: Let's look at this mathematically. The amount of weight we can lift 10 times is roughly three-fourths of the maximum any of us could lift once. So if you can do 10 repetitions at 100 pounds, your maximum is likely to be about 135 pounds (100 divided by 0.75).

Question: How do I perform a proper bench press to really work my chest muscles? ANNE BRUMBAUGH Kansas City, Mo. Answer: To be certain you're performing a bench press properly: 1. Maintain a five-point contact throughout the entire exercise, both to stabilize your body and to keep you in the correct biomechanical position. * Keep your feet flat on the ground. * Keep your shoulder blades flat and in constant contact with the bench (do not let them come off the bench).

The UC Davis way to play football starts with recruiting solid high school athletes. Solid should not be confused with enormous. The 6-5, 300-pounders with biceps the size of small cars go to Miami, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Those schools look for guys who can bench press 400 pounds and run the 40-yard dash in something close to 4.0 seconds. If you see the name of a Davis football player followed by "4.0," bet the barn it's his grade-point average.

The semi-annual bench press competition is a Los Angeles Police Department tradition, a contest that pits officer against officer, precinct against precinct. The intensely competitive event appears to celebrate one of the department's most controversial attributes -- brute force. But Lt. Paul von Lutzow, considered the contest's bench press mastermind, says otherwise. He argues the tournament reflects more nuanced aspects of LAPD culture and a changing department.

A 5-foot, 115-pound Culver City police sergeant has set women's weightlifting records in recent competitions. Karin Reagan is the American record holder in four weightlifting categories in the 40 to 50 age group, according to records of the U.S. Powerlifting Federation. At the Police Olympics held last year in Oxnard, Reagan set American women's records in squat lifting with 264.5 pounds, bench press with 159.7 pounds, deadlift with 347 pounds and total lift weight with 771.5 pounds.

Chuck Roedelbronn appears possessed when he storms out on the stage, a King Lear on crutches. "Cake," he roars at an inanimate bench and a weight stand and bar straining with its 440-pound burden. "Easy." Seconds later, he is next to the bench and angrily hurls his wooden supports to the floor. Roedelbronn shimmies underneath his tormentor and then caresses the metal bar, first with his hands and then his lips. "Mine," he shouts. Then a one-word obscenity in Swedish. "Ready."

Groans and grunts by heavy-lifters and others at the gym? Over the years, many gyms and fitness bloggers have weighed in on both sides of the workout not-so-white noise. Julie Deardorff in this Julie’s Health Club blog at the Chicago Tribune writes about a buff and otherwise courteous dude who was recently asked to keep it down: "You don't get to bench press 400 by just showing up to the gym and magical osmosis when you are there," he says in the post. "You put in the work and that's what I do. I'm inspiring guys at the gym to do the same.

Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder acknowledged to reporters Tuesday that "we're disappointed and we're embarrassed" over his football team's 2-5 start. But that may not be enough to appease a frustrated fan base. In response to the team's recent ban on homemade signs inside FedEx Field, a blog at fire-snyder-sign.blogspot.com is asking fans to create a "Fire Snyder" sign that wouldn't require poster board. For the Redskins' home game Nov. 15 against the Denver Broncos, the website has instructed fans sitting in selected sections in the upper deck to wear either white or red, depending on their seat number.

USC running back Stafon Johnson underwent more than six hours of throat surgery Monday after he was injured in a weight-room accident on campus. Johnson, a senior, was still in surgery at California Hospital Medical Center as of 9 p.m., the school said. Johnson was in "critical but stable" condition, a hospital spokeswoman said at 7:20 p.m. Johnson, who starred at Dorsey High, was just starting a set of bench-press lifts near the end of a midmorning workout when he apparently lost control of the bar and it landed on his neck, Coach Pete Carroll said.

THE world is an unstable place. And your exercise routine needs to deal with that. Weight machines, most of them anyway, aren't enough. They may build biceps or tone thighs, but they won't strengthen your core or tune up your neuromuscular connections. But functional fitness will. The new buzzwords in the fitness industry are about building a body that looks fantastic in a mirror and breezes through the real world, with its pitted sidewalks, heavy grocery bags and rambunctious toddlers.

The semi-annual bench press competition is a Los Angeles Police Department tradition, a contest that pits officer against officer, precinct against precinct. The intensely competitive event appears to celebrate one of the department's most controversial attributes -- brute force. But Lt. Paul von Lutzow, considered the contest's bench press mastermind, says otherwise. He argues the tournament reflects more nuanced aspects of LAPD culture and a changing department.

Question: I lift weights at home alone at 4:30 a.m., and I don't have anyone around to spot me. What would be my maximum weight, and how can I test it on the bench press without risking injuries? ERIC WEEKS Olema, Calif. Answer: Let's look at this mathematically. The amount of weight we can lift 10 times is roughly three-fourths of the maximum any of us could lift once. So if you can do 10 repetitions at 100 pounds, your maximum is likely to be about 135 pounds (100 divided by 0.75).

The Trojans will hold a scrimmage Saturday night at Cal State Fullerton and are closing it to the public. It is to be game-like, complete with an overtime period, so players can get a feel for the NCAA's new tie-breaker rule. "We've got a lot of young people," said Coach John Robinson, whose team opens Aug. 25 against Penn State in the Kickoff Classic at the New Jersey Meadowlands. "I want them to have a sense of going somewhere else to play."

Groans and grunts by heavy-lifters and others at the gym? Over the years, many gyms and fitness bloggers have weighed in on both sides of the workout not-so-white noise. Julie Deardorff in this Julie’s Health Club blog at the Chicago Tribune writes about a buff and otherwise courteous dude who was recently asked to keep it down: "You don't get to bench press 400 by just showing up to the gym and magical osmosis when you are there," he says in the post. "You put in the work and that's what I do. I'm inspiring guys at the gym to do the same.

Question: How do I perform a proper bench press to really work my chest muscles? ANNE BRUMBAUGH Kansas City, Mo. Answer: To be certain you're performing a bench press properly: 1. Maintain a five-point contact throughout the entire exercise, both to stabilize your body and to keep you in the correct biomechanical position. * Keep your feet flat on the ground. * Keep your shoulder blades flat and in constant contact with the bench (do not let them come off the bench).

The Trojans will hold a scrimmage Saturday night at Cal State Fullerton and are closing it to the public. It is to be game-like, complete with an overtime period, so players can get a feel for the NCAA's new tie-breaker rule. "We've got a lot of young people," said Coach John Robinson, whose team opens Aug. 25 against Penn State in the Kickoff Classic at the New Jersey Meadowlands. "I want them to have a sense of going somewhere else to play."