Slingshot

The bench press may be the first thing that comes to mind if you are in a gym space, and you hear this word. The slingshot is a piece of equipment that acts to store and release energy during a bench press. It promotes higher performance in those looking to lift heavier weights. What may be happening is that it is amplifying an already efficient means of getting the barbell off of your chest.

The ability to move in the world is crazy complex, so much so that biology is one of the most infantile sciences, we just do not know enough about it yet. One element of movement that has flown under the radar is the elastic mechanisms that facilitate motion. The traditional viewpoint of movement is by lever and pulley, however if that were the case the energy demands for movement would be far outside our capabilities. Muscles actually stop movement when they become active, the stoppage in one location creates motion in another. What happens in between is a stretch and squeeze of tissues to store that energy and propel the body forward.

Let’s return to the bench press. As the bar is loaded into the hands, time and space immediately diminish. Motion is now restricted, not the worst thing in the case of a heavy bench press. As the bar is lowered energy is being stored in the body’s own internal slingshot. Bones bend, connective tissues contort in order to absorb as much energy as possible. The bar stops on the chest and as the press begins, the stored energy re-expands into the bar, returning it to the starting position.

Muscles alone are not capable of producing movement, in fact they allow for other tissues to accomplish most of the work. A slingshot is a great example of how the body uses energy from the environment to create motion. The rules are simple, but the complexity that emerges from them is more than we are currently able to understand. Elasticity may be one of the best ways for us to get closer to the truth.

Austin Ulrich, Physical Therapist