NY Jets left tackle Mekhi Becton is reaching peak form as training camp approaches, being seen in a recent video bench pressing 370 pounds.
Mekhi Becton was already terrifying enough for opposing edge rushers as a 21-year-old rookie.
As time goes on, he is only continuing to become more intimidating.
In a recent Instagram video shared by Duke Manyweather (@thebigduke50 on Instagram), Becton can be seen floor-pressing 370 pounds – a much tougher feat than managing the same weight in a traditional bench press.
A 370-pound floor press from Mekhi Becton – much tougher than a traditional bench press (via @BigDuke50 / thebigduke50 on IG) pic.twitter.com/F04OkFCGO4
— Jets X-Factor (@jetsxfactor) July 14, 2021
Bench-pressing your own weight (as Becton is doing here) typically is nothing impressive, but doing it from the floor certainly is.
As described in an article by Box Life magazine, the floor press is generally a more difficult workout than the bench press.
“Despite requiring greater range of motion, athletes are typically able to lift more weight in the bench press. This occurs primarily for two reasons. One, in the bench press, athletes can utilize the (slight) impact of the bar hitting their chest as a recoil. This gives momentum to the eccentric (upwards) portion of the lift—similar to the stretch-reflex one can utilize when ‘bouncing’ out of the hole in a squat.”
The article continues, “Second, the floor press is traditionally meant to be performed with the legs flat against the ground. This removes the driving force the athlete can generate by pressing their feet into the ground, meaning that the floor press becomes a torso-dominant lift, versus the benefit of additional power generation one can achieve in the bench press.”
The difficulty of the workout can be highly beneficial in building explosiveness in the triceps and shoulders, the article explains.
“In the floor press, the arms rest on the ground at the bottom of the movement, thus removing tension and elastic energy from your muscles. That brief pause makes the lift a lot harder, but it’s compounded even further by the lack of help from a negated lower body drive.
“In terms of building explosive strength in the triceps and shoulders, this actually works out to your advantage. During the initial drive, powerful elbow extension is required in order to lock your arms out. This is one reason why many lifters supplement with the floor press in order to improve sticking points in their bench press.”
The Louisville product put up 23 bench-press reps at the 2020 NFL scouting combine. (The weight used in that setting is 225 pounds—four 45-pound plages to go along with the 45-pound bar.)
Mekhi Becton will be looking to validate his recent selection as one of the NFL’s projected top 10 best left tackles in an ESPN survey of coaches, executives, players, and scouts.
