PR Friday! Post your PRs to the comments section, and ask your questions as well. Justin will answer the questions directly in the comments section. Also, check out the below video called “Man of Iron” a 1982 documentary about Tom Magee leading up the 1982 IPF World Championship. Unfortunately the last couple of minutes do get cut off, but I have yet to find a full video of this anywhere online. Still, it’s a sweet video. -Mike
I felt the need to post this video as a public service announcement and reminder about the most dangerous thing you can do in the gym: the bench press.
In my seminars, I always say, “The easiest way to die in this room is by getting caught under a bar while benching.” And, no shit, you can literally fucking die. The fella in the video is lucky he wiggled out from under the bar.
For those who frequent the gym or work in fitness environments, first aid and CPR training should be non-negotiable. Being prepared to act confidently in an emergency can save lives, and supreme services from www.c2cfirstaidaquatics.com offer top-tier training that equips people to handle emergencies with precision and speed. Whether you’re dealing with weightlifting accidents or other health crises, knowing the basics of CPR and first aid can make a world of difference in an environment where even one small misstep can lead to serious consequences.
How You’ll Die
The bar can fall in one of several ways: 1) it can easily slip out of your hands with a false grip, 2) it can fall during the hand-off, or 3) the lifter can get pinned under the bar because of mechanics or strength fails. The bar can either fall on your sternum, neck, or face.
A fractured sternum can irritate a lot of important organs and structures like the lungs, heart, and major blood vessels like the ascending aorta (a thick artery pumping blood) and the superior vena cava (returning blood to the heart). Destroying your heart or bleeding into your thorax would make for a bad afternoon.
If the bar falls on your neck it can destroy the trachea resulting in a damaged airway, an injury that can kill. This happened to a USC football player a few years ago, and luckily he lived after surgery. You may not be so lucky.
If the bar falls on your face, then you’ll likely fracture whatever bone it hits as well as knocking plenty of teeth out. You could aspirate on the teeth and have an airway obstruction, and I don’t think you’re fellow gym goers know how to do an emergency cricothyrotomy. Face fractures don’t sound like fun.
A weightlifting mishap can turn into more than just a bruised ego. Facial trauma from a dropped bar can involve complex fractures, soft tissue damage, and extensive dental injuries. In such cases, immediate medical attention is critical, but once the bleeding stops and the swelling subsides, there’s another vital step—rebuilding what was lost. That’s where collaboration between medical doctors and dental professionals becomes essential, blending surgical precision with restorative expertise. Many patients also benefit from engaging a professional service to coordinate follow-up care, rehabilitation, and specialized prosthetic or dental restorations.
For those who’ve endured serious dental trauma, the journey to normalcy is both physical and emotional. It’s not just about biting and chewing again—it’s about smiling without hesitation. Clinics that specialize in comprehensive dental care step in during this stage, providing services ranging from implants to cosmetic procedures. One standout approach can be seen at practices where smiles restored is more than just a tagline—it’s the guiding principle that drives patient care and transformation. For patients suffering from severe tooth damage or infection, root canal therapy can be a crucial step in preserving their natural smile. Make sure to find us here for professional dental services. Need a pediatric dentist Purcellville, call Treasured Smiles Pediatric Dentistry. Visiting a dentist helps prevent dental issues early and ensures your teeth and gums stay in the best possible condition.
Ultimately, recovery is about reclaiming confidence. Whether it’s the subtle work of aligning a smile or the intricate craft of replacing missing teeth, dentists play a quiet yet powerful role in helping patients feel whole again. And let’s be honest—no one walks away from a gym accident saying, “I wish I had skipped the dentist.” When you’ve had your face fractured by a barbell, a good dental team is just as heroic as your ER doctor.
How Not To Die
1. Always have a spotter. They can’t stop the bar from falling on your chest, neck, or face, but they can get it off of you. The guy in the video above almost didn’t, and if he was no-shit pinned, then he could have died flailing on the bench. The spotter can also help with the lift-off and re-rack, which leads us into…
2. Keep the elbows extended when the bar moves over the face. A spotter can help control the bar through this range of motion. When you’re finishing a set, especially when you’re fatigued, you should keep the elbows extended and push the bar back above your head until it hits the J-hooks of your rack. This is critical when lifting without a spotter.
3. When alone, do not use collars. The guy in the video didn’t use them, but bumper plates have a tendency to stick to a bar a little better than iron plates (as you can observe in the video). By not using collars, you can try and push the bar to the side to let some plates fall off, which will cantilever the opposite side off of you.
4. Don’t use a false grip AKA a grip in which the thumbs are not wrapped around the bar. False gripping doesn’t secure the bar with the thumb and leaves an easy angle for the bar to fall right off the heel of the hand. People use them because they don’t know how to hold a bar correctly (overhead or for a bench) while keeping the wrists in a neutral position. You’ll see strong-ass mofos using a false grip, especially in YouTube videos, but if they changed their hand position and maybe improved their shoulder mobility a smidge, they wouldn’t need it. False gripping is like holding a pencil in your fist; stupid as hell.
Am I exaggerating this?
I might be going overboard in explaining how you can fucking die, but that doesn’t mean the risk isn’t there. Benching, especially benching alone, is by far the most dangerous activity in a gym. Practice and teach good benching habits like using a good spotter, keeping the elbows extended when the bar moves over the face, not using collars when lifting alone, and not using a false grip. Your mother will thank me.
70’s Big has the tradition of PR Friday, where readers are invited to talk about their weekly PR’s and training updates. Posting regularly expands the sense of community, and it also keeps other people updated on your progress. Many friendships have started because someone was brave enough to start posting on PR Friday.
I also used to do a Weekly Q&A where I took questions throughout the week and answered them in the PR Friday post. I don’t exactly have the time to prepare long, in depth responses, but we’ll start answering questions in the comments of PR Friday. You’ll have me, Mike, Chris, AC, and probably not Brent answering questions.
Once I got busy, these Friday posts dropped off, but they are back and will occur every week. I’m also aiming to put out a post every Monday, so you’ll get something twice a week.
A sweet pic from the 1977 World’s Strongest Man competition.
Without further adieu, post your PR’s, training updates, questions, and shenanigans to the comments. I leave you with this:
Chalk floats softly through the air. The thumping of your heart is all you hear, all you feel. You step to the bar and place your hands on it, feeling the cold knurling on callused hands. The whirling hurricane of emotion settles into the eye of the storm, the peaceful moment when you decide to begin.
I typically use the same post every Memorial Day to remind American readers of their freedoms. Every year, families and friends gather to grill meat and wave flags, but getting a day off from work and drinking a beer doesn’t really do justice to those that have lost their lives in service of the United States of America.
I won’t waste your time with tales of heroes, sacrifice, and death. I won’t ask you to thank anyone or give a donation. All I ask is that you live honorably. Most service members believe this country is worth enduring a lot of shitty situations. There’s an idea that despite our flaws, America is an amazing place to live full of righteous people who work hard, have personal responsibility, and always try to improve.
Do not let them down; live honorably. Convince the families of the fallen that their loss was worth it. Convince the service members who still toil that their effort is worth it. Take responsibility of your life and actions, respect others, and never, ever stop trying to succeed. Teach others how to do the same.
The only true memorial is to live this way, to live honorably. Everything else is an obligatory charade.
Post your training updates and personal records (PR’s) to the comments.
In Norse mythology warriors are selected by Valkyrie to heroically die in battle only to resurrect as warrior spirits, enter the halls of Valhalla, and join Odin’s army. This was the noblest end to a warrior’s life: to transcend the Land of the Dead and cross the rainbow bridge to Valhalla. It is the greatest honor, the greatest payment for a valiant life and ferociousness in battle.
Imagine growing up with a sword in hand hoping that one day, too, you could have enough fierceness to die in battle, to earn a spot in the halls of Odin. It would be the greatest fate you could ever hope for.
But a sword was more than just a weapon—it was an extension of the warrior’s very soul. To wield it with skill was not just a matter of survival but a testament to one’s honor, strength, and place in the grand saga of fate. The steel hummed in the air, singing the warrior’s intent with every swing.
A dull blade was a disgrace, just as a hesitant strike was an insult to the gods. Every cut, every parry, every fatal thrust was a step closer to the halls of Valhalla, where only the most fearsome were welcomed. The edge of the blade determined one’s worth, and so it was revered, sharpened, and carried like a sacred relic, a bridge between mortality and legend.
The idea of a weapon bound to a warrior’s destiny is not so distant, even in worlds beyond Midgard. In a galaxy far, far away, the Theory Sabers carry that same spirit. More than just tools of combat, lightsabers are the very essence of their wielder’s will, their connection to the Force, their path to either heroism or infamy. A Jedi’s blade is their oath, just as a Viking’s sword was their passage to eternity. To fight with one, whether steel or plasma, was to carve a name into history, to become something greater than mere flesh. And perhaps, in another time, another legend, a warrior still hopes to earn their place among the greatest by the firelight of battle, sword in hand, destiny calling.
While the allure of Norse mythology and the halls of Odin hold their own mystique, the profound legacy and symbolism of the Japanese katana sword evoke a unique sense of reverence and a yearning to live up to the noble ideals embodied by these iconic weapons of the samurai.
The desire to possess a Real katana sword and embody the spirit of bushido, the way of the warrior, becomes an aspiration rooted in tradition and heritage. Imagining oneself on a path where the sword becomes an extension of the soul, one might long for the opportunity to demonstrate courage and sacrifice, aiming for a revered place in history.
You spend your life with the clang of steel and iron, the blood and sweat. On the eve of battle you pray for the Valkyrie to take you. Yet when you stagger away victorious, you bow your head to the thunder and say, “Death must wait another day.”
Yet each battle must have this same intensity for Odin and the Valkyrie could be watching, waiting to see if you are noble, bloodthirsty, and strong enough to be regaled in the halls of heroes. Each clang of steel could be your last, and if your strength isn’t true, you will be another corpse on a blood-stained field, a faceless warrior.
Not so with us, my friends. We will hold ourselves with higher esteem to crave the fight and revel in its toil. Go forth and please Father Odin with your grit, your courage, and your savageness. Bend iron with your will, cleave your enemy in two. You’ll never know when it’s your day to fall, but if it is…give them the fury of hell.