Another death from bench pressing....

[induced_drag]

Saw this. Guy at a big gym benching by himself. Looks like he is there very early. Does not even look like a ton of weight. Maybe 185?. Anyway, drops it and the stands up to "brush it off" and collapses and dies......

Link takes you to vid. Disturbing to watch, but I watched as a reminder that you never do really know and play it safe when working out alone.

https://generationiron.com/man-dies-bench-press/

[supramax]

Looks like the drop might have broken or forced a rib to puncture something vital.

[shmobin]

Jesus. It's like he smashed his heart.

[keyboardworkout]

Hard impacts to the chest at the wrong time can stop the heart. Had a local kid get hit in the chest with a baseball and his heart stopped and he died.

Quick response with a defibrillator likely would have saved him.

Commotio cordis is a phenomenon in which a sudden blunt impact to the chest causes sudden death in the absence of cardiac damage.

[All-Star11]

****kk
brb using safeties everytime now

[StinnerOzz]

Holy ****. I never drop my jaw for being totally dumbfounded, but that did it.

[KidFreeze]

I saw this, wow. Did he really die? Terrible if true. Never use suicide grip.

[Millz12323]

I dropped 185 on my chest from almost full height earlier this year.

I always bench in the rack now.

Sad to see things like this happen.

[bodyhard]

Wow RIP man, so sad.....That made my heart jump..

[Payton1221]

. . . Never use suicide grip.

That was my question (and the video is too far and too grainy to tell for certain), but I question if he was using a false (aka suicide) grip.

[ElrondHubbard]

That's sad to see. Working out by myself at home, I always do and always will bench with safeties. Scenes like this just reinforce that decision.

He didn't even drop it from full height. He probably could have dropped that thing 100 times without any problems. But then there's always that one circumstance...

[Bando]

I can't watch these vids. There's a motivational vid by CJ Fletcher where he talks about his doc telling him he will die if he attempts a 705 bench. He fails the attempt but was willing to die for it.

1st time I attempted 300, I was essentially alone. It was a ride or die thing and I benched 300. Totally unplanned (hence no spotter) but I was pretty emotional afterwords. Now I don't flat BBBP unless I'm going to compete. It's dangerous and unnecessary.

[mikieson]

I saw this, wow. Did he really die? Terrible if true. Never use suicide grip.

i only used the suicide grip all the time I worked out. Never had issues with 100# or nearly 400#..

[Bando]

FLEX uses a suicide grip and I've spotted quite a few of his competition benches. It's not my style, but with 3 spotters and 3 judges that could jump in I'm fine.

I would likely turn down spotting a guy for a 1rm in the gym if he had a thumbless grip and I hadn't spotted him before.

[MajorTendonitis]

I’ve suicide gripped since the mid 80s without an issue . I couldn’t really see his grip that well , but some people should just stick with dumbbells.

A spotter would not have helped in this case ,as it happened to quickly. I don’t think that guy has a lot of chest muscle , because at that weight and the height the bar was at , if his chest muscles were tensed up , he should have walked away

[NorwichGrad]

How sad. RIP.

[Karl_Hungus]

FLEX uses a suicide grip and I've spotted quite a few of his competition benches. It's not my style, but with 3 spotters and 3 judges that could jump in I'm fine.

Not sure I agree with this. Three spotters will pull the bar off of you quickly after it smashes you, but they aren't going to catch a 400+ pound barbell in free fall.

That said, I wrap my thumb around the bar and even then I have come close to dropping it a few times. In every case it was because the bar was bent and rolled in my hand when going for a heavy weight. Now I check the bars first and won't use it if it is bent.

So, for all of you idiots who are doing heavy rack pulls and just dropping the bar on the safeties afterward, stop it.

[Jtbny]

Not sure I agree with this. Three spotters will pull the bar off of you quickly after it smashes you, but they aren't going to catch a 400+ pound barbell in free fall.

Exactly. I've worked quite a few meets and have spotted benches in the 800-900 range (geared). We have 4 side spotters but it isn't likely we catch that bar on a free fall. I did catch a bar with 800 right before it hit a guys head but it was one of those you can see it coming type lifts.

[KeepItMoving]

I really don't flat bench anymore because it just doesn't make sense for me. But if I did, I'd think of that video every time from now on.

[induced_drag]

I have heard all the time guys with many years , even decades in the gym using thumbless and no issues.

I used to not give them crap. But then about 6 years ago, I was working out at my old powerlifting place. A guy my age, with 20+ years in the gym asked me for a spot. He was a BIG bencher. Incline 405 for reps type big bencher. Also ALWAYS used suicide grip.

He was doing some slow strict reps with 365 so it was 'light' for him. He really did not ask for a spot, but rather a lift off. He was strict about keeping his shoulders tight and always got a lift off over 315. I hung around just because it is kind of bro code.

On about the 7th rep (this guy was not even tired yet), the bar rolled out of his hand at about the top 3/4 position. I had zero time to react and it slammed his chest. He was a solid guy, but you could tell it scared him (and me). He was ok and I hung out with him and watched him for any signs of distress. He was VERY lucky.

He never figured out what happened. He said it felt just like any other bench set to him....until it just dropped. He made the switch to conventional grip after that. When I would go in the gym and see him working out alone, often he would be benching off the floor doing floor presses. He said he was working the different range of motion, but I know that fall left an impression on him....Literally!

[wesleysh21]

He died doing what he loved

Oh wait, this is the adult section of the board...

...so sad.

[bustasinclair]

It's really funny now that I have two pec tears, I CANNOT watch people bench press. Whenever I walk by someone on the bench, I have to look away. It's pretty strange and weird to me as I know it's all psychological, but I just can't watch. That said, I loaded the video you posted and pressed play. Before the vid started, I closed it abruptly. I just couldn't watch. Later, I had a coworker load it on their computer and I watched from a distance. Pathetic, I know.

It's amazing how much my attitude toward lifting has changed so dramatically since my return to the iron in 2008. Some would consider me a pussy, but hey, we all have our own way of dealing with things. In my opinion, life is way too short to take silly, ego driven risks.

[andy0w]

Saw this. Guy at a big gym benching by himself. Looks like he is there very early. Does not even look like a ton of weight. Maybe 185?. Anyway, drops it and the stands up to "brush it off" and collapses and dies......

Link takes you to vid. Disturbing to watch, but I watched as a reminder that you never do really know and play it safe when working out alone.

https://generationiron.com/man-dies-bench-press/

Did he use the suicide grip?

Prefer a smith machine with a safety stop set.

[BajaRun]

I would like to see the autopsy.

[Irvine405]

Very strange the way he picked the weight up off of his knees after it fell, it almost looks light enough to be a hoax or something.

[MajorTendonitis]

I have heard all the time guys with many years , even decades in the gym using thumbless and no issues.

I used to not give them crap. But then about 6 years ago, I was working out at my old powerlifting place. A guy my age, with 20+ years in the gym asked me for a spot. He was a BIG bencher. Incline 405 for reps type big bencher. Also ALWAYS used suicide grip.

He was doing some slow strict reps with 365 so it was 'light' for him. He really did not ask for a spot, but rather a lift off. He was strict about keeping his shoulders tight and always got a lift off over 315. I hung around just because it is kind of bro code.

On about the 7th rep (this guy was not even tired yet), the bar rolled out of his hand at about the top 3/4 position. I had zero time to react and it slammed his chest. He was a solid guy, but you could tell it scared him (and me). He was ok and I hung out with him and watched him for any signs of distress. He was VERY lucky.

He never figured out what happened. He said it felt just like any other bench set to him....until it just dropped. He made the switch to conventional grip after that. When I would go in the gym and see him working out alone, often he would be benching off the floor doing floor presses. He said he was working the different range of motion, but I know that fall left an impression on him....Literally!

This is what I’m trying to say , a spotter would not have helped this guy in the video other than; getting it off him quickly after he was squashed .
To this day I still don’t understand how people let go of the bar . I’ve watched many videos where they called it a suicide grip, but they had their thumbs on the other side of the bar .
I have my thumb back like my fingers , and touch wood , never an issue or a close call

[smokinal]

Jesus that's awful

And I'm a suicide grip crew too; always have; probably always will. Have never felt even close to an issue

[Mark1T]

I cannot watch someone die in the gym. Reading the posts is enough.

If I bench it’s not suicide grip.

[LMS62]

I guess it’s also possible that a medical condition could have caused him to drop the bar like that. If more information was released regarding the circumstances, it would be an interesting read.

[NerdyLady]

That poor, poor man. It looks like the bar crushed his ribs and one likely punctured his heart. Sudden death. That's such a tragic waste of life. I can't imagine how his family must be feeling.