title: Bench press training program with attached chains for female volleyball and basketball athletes.
abstract: Attaching chains to barbells to increase strength and power has become popular for athletes; however, little scientific evidence supports this practice. The present purpose was to compare chain training to traditional training for the bench press. Women collegiate athletes in volleyball and basketball (N = 19) participated in a 16-session bench press program. They were matched into either a Traditional or a Chain training group by 1-repetition maximum (1RM). The Traditional group performed the bench press with conventional equipment, while the Chain group trained with attached chains (5% of weight). Analysis showed a significant increase in 1RM for both groups over 16 sessions, Traditional +11.8% and Chain +17.4%. The difference between the groups was not statistically significant, but suggests the women who trained with attached chains improved their bench press more than the Traditional group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Exercise, and Health Sciences, Exercise Science Laboratory, Central Washington University, Ellensburg 98826-7572, USA. tim.burnham@cwu.edu
authors.forename: Timothy R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Burnham
authors.forename: Jason D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Ruud
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McGowan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes / Q000193:education*; D001490:Basketball / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053580:Muscle Strength; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000379:methods*; D010809:Physical Fitness; D054798:Volleyball / Q000193:education*; D014891:Weight Lifting / Q000193:education*; D055815:Young Adult