Electromyographic activity during bench press differs by attentional focus strategy and sport: a cross-sectional comparison of bodybuilding, powerlifting, and paralympic powerlifting.

purposeTo provide new insights into the regulation of muscle activation by attentional focus strategies by examining whether differences in attentional focus among athletes who use the bench press (BP) as part of their training are reflected in distinct acute electromyography (EMG) responses during BP.

methodsThirty-seven participants were included: ten bodybuilding (BB) athletes, ten powerlifting (PL) athletes, seven paralympic powerlifting (PP) athletes, and ten untrained controls (CON). BP tests were performed under four conditions: external focus, pectoralis internal focus (IF), triceps IF, and a no-instruction baseline. Under each condition, the participants completed three repetitions at 60% and 80% of the One-repetition maximum (1RM). The surface EMG of the pectoralis major and lateral and long heads of the triceps brachii were recorded and normalized to the maximum voluntary contraction.

resultsAt 60% 1RM, selective activation of the pectoralis major during BP was observed only in the BB group (p < 0.01) and not in the PL, PP, or CON groups. Across conditions, the long-head EMG of the triceps in the PP group was consistently higher than that in the other groups under every condition (p < 0.05, p < 0.01), whereas no significant between-group differences were observed for the pectoralis or triceps lateral-head EMG.

conclusionThe findings indicate that even among athletes proficient in the same BP exercise, attentional focus influences EMG amplitude depending on the combination of sport-specific characteristics and load intensity. These differences suggest the presence of sports-specific and intensity-dependent differences in the neural control of force production.