Wasn't Rippetoe saying that out of 11 yearly fatalities in the US due to weightlifting, 9 are during a bench press?
No idea what he said. The thing you have to take into consideration when looking at statistics involving exercises, is that the ones that show up as causing the most (insert anything), are often the exercises which are most common. The bench press is one of those exercises that most everyone does, even if thats all they do when they first get a weight set, so its going to show up high on any of those lists.
In my opinion, and what Ive seen over time, the bench press is responsible for more pec and shoulder issues than any exercise in the gym. Overhead work is a good way to help balance things out, but once you get strong enough to hurt yourself with the bench press, you HAVE to pay attention to how your body handles it. Different form works for different guys, but here is a general guideline that I use when teaching the lift, and how its performed at my gym.
1. grip is always narrow, no more than a thumbs distance from the start of the knurling, and less for a lot of longer armed athletes.
2. The mass of the lifters bodyweight is placed on the upper rear delts and traps, with a shrugged up posture, NOT shoulders DOWN and back. I want the traps touching the ears, and the weight driven into the traps from the legs, the duration of the whole set.
3. The upper arm is lowered at a close to 45 degree angle to the torso, never flared, yet never "tucked" hard either. Either of the latter tend to cause too much shoulder and or pec strain in raw heavy benches for most guys.
4. Always start with shoulder mobility work and an overhead movement, snatches, push press, etc. all work fine.
Those 4 things have proven themselves over time, and helped remedy some of the issues that the bench is normally known for causing.
