Objective.

A review of the literature was carried out with the aim of grouping the current knowledge on the analysis of the internal structure (muscle activity) and external structure (kinematic) studied together in the bench press exercise for a proper understanding of the phenomenon.

Methods.

A search was made in the PUBMED database of articles that carried out an investigation on the muscle activity and kinematic of the bench press exercise. A total of 40 articles were obtained. Once analyzed, the inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, a total of 8 articles were included.

Results.

The pectoralis major, anterior deltoids, and triceps brachii muscles have been studied as the primary movers of exercise, observing the response of muscle activity in terms of changes in intensity, external stimuli, order of exercises, and subphases of movement. The pectoral and triceps stand out as muscles that present greater activity during exercise. In most studies, an increase in intensity leads to the appearance of the so-called sticking region, where a decrease in kinematic parameters appears during the lifting of the bar, accompanied by limited activation of the pectoral and anterior deltoid.

Conclusions.

There is a greater knowledge of the internal structure, carried out methodologically in different ways, so it is necessary to unify the procedures to improve knowledge of the phenomenon. However, there is no much studies focus on kinematic knowledge of movement and its study, as well as establish the relationships between these parameters and muscle activity in order to obtain the causeeffect relationship between muscle activity and the movement it produces.

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