A post over in /r/todayilearned notes how benchpress records have increased dramatically over the past 100 years. Several comments indicate that part of the reason for the increase is the relative ease we today have in obtaining sufficient food to support intensive training.
This implies that it would have been difficult or expensive for someone living in early 1900's America to obtain double or triple the food required for a regular diet.
Is this an accurate view? Was getting a protein-heavy diet very expensive for most of the population?
The bench press is probably the worst record to look at historically since it has evolved so much over a short period of time. As a disclaimer, I am an amateur competitive power lifter.
In the late 1800’s and early 1900's weight lifting, whether it is what we categorize as ‘Weightlifting’ or ‘Powerlifting’, was not terribly organized. Like many sports at the time, there were various competing organizations, publications, and adherents trying to undermine each other and push their own agenda for profit and personal gain. The lifts themselves were not standardized in technique, or even in which lifts would be performed in a particular meet. One lifting competition might involve dead lifts, overhead snatches, and front squats, while another could involve one handed presses with dumbbells, kettlebells, and other dynamic movements.
A quick lesson on definitions. ‘Weightlifting’ consists of the Olympic movements. They tend to be dynamic and quick, and now consist only of the Clean and Press, and the Snatch. ‘Powerlifting’ now consists of the Deadlift, Squat, and Bench Press. They tend to be slower strength based movements. Lower case weight lifting can mean either one in a more generic sense. These definitions can be confusing since both involve lifting weights, and from a technical stand point Olympic movements actually require more power than Powerlifting movements due to the time/distance/weight moved relationship.
Back to history. To show the evolution of weight lifting let’s look at the Olympics. Weightlifting was only occasionally in the Olympics at first. In the 1896 Olympics there were no weight classes, and the two events were one handed lifting and two handed lifting. The goal was simply to lift as much weight as possible over your head. Weightlifting was omitted from the 1900, 1908, and 1912 games, before becoming a regular event from 1920 on. There was no 1916 Olympics due to World War I. The movements changed often in the early days. In 1920 the movements consisted of the one-hand snatch, the one-handed clean and jerk and the two-handed clean and jerk. In 1924 the two-handed press and two-handed snatch were added. Eventually all the one handed moves were removed leaving just the clean and jerk, the snatch, and the clean and press.
At this point we need another lesson in definitions. The 'Press' in weight lifting circles means to press a weight over your head while standing. To the general public 'Press' often means bench press. This change in meaning causes much sadness to veteran lifters, since the traditional overhead press is considered the ultimate test of strength due to its great difficulty and total body strength required. Nothing tests your strength like a heavy press.
The clean and press involves lifting a weight up from the ground to shoulder height – the clean, and then pressing it overhead without using your legs or leaning back too much for assistance. Unfortunately for the clean and press, judges often found it difficult to judge the cleanness (no pun intended) of the press portion. This was due to the fact that in the 50's and 60's lifters found that the more you lean back during a standing press, the more you could press overhead. This is mainly due to available muscle recruitment being greater and general body mechanics. The clean and press was eliminated from the Olympics in 1972 due to this problem. Power Lifting went through a similar change. The overhead press was eliminated from many competitions in the 70's and replaced with the far more popular bench press. Competitive Powerlifting has a long and dramatic history I won't go into detail about here. When lifters in the 50's and 60's found out that this leaned back press was more effective, they started practicing lifting that way and training for it. As you can imagine the popularity of the bench press exploded for this reason since the press portion of the clean and press had turned into a hybrid standing bench press. But there was another reason it exploded. Bodybuilding.
Bodybuilding had waxed and waned in popularity for a long time, but the 1950's and 1960's saw an explosion in popularity with the creation of the Mr. Universe and Mr. America competitions. Comic Books and Muscle Beach culture only fueled the fire for body building. Bodybuilders strive to create muscular bodies, and one portion of the body that was often 'neglected' were the pectorals. Compare early champions like Eugen Sandow's chest with Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the 60's there was an evolution in aesthetics within the body building community from having the 'perfect body' towards having the 'most developed body'. Having large pectorals became a part of that development, and required a particular exercise for maximum development - the bench press.
So you have a combination of changes during the 50's and 60's that contributed towards the rapid popularity of the Bench Press. With popularity comes more competitors, and more competitors often means more broken records.
You also see an evolution in equipment and how the exercise is performed during this time. For example, some of the earliest records were performed lying on the ground and without a bench. The first record for instance, George Hackenshmidt 361 lb lift, was performed lying flat on the ground. The bench with loading rack we are used to seeing did not exist yet. Without your feet stabilizing you and arms and shoulders being freer to move the press is far more difficult. The movement slowly evolved to the movement you are likely more familiar with.
First people started placing their feet on the ground and hip thrusting the weight up and catching it in their arms before finishing the press. Then the bench itself came along. Even then, the rack to support the weight did not become common until later. Many veteran lifters can tell you they had to walk the whole loaded barbell over to a bench, support the barbell while simultaneously laying down, press it, then sit up and put the bar down again. If you were lucky you could get two other people to carry it over to your waiting arms. The more common addition of the rack in the 50's allowed heavier weights to be lifted unassisted.
Lastly, in more modern times we have equipment that the lifter can wear. In the 1980's and 1990's, lifters would wear extremely tight custom-made jean shirts and jackets to assist with lifting. They work by functioning like a spring. As the weight comes down the shirt tightens and assists with pressing the weight back up. Since the 1990's these shirts have rapidly evolved into complex double-ply suits that can add hundreds of pounds of assistance. Don’t think these are easy to use, they require you to be very strong in the first place, and have their own challenges.
So if you look at those records again with all this information in mind, it tends to make a lot more sense. From the first record in 1898 until 1950, you see the development of the press technique itself and the beginning of popularity. The invention of the modern bench and body building fuels increases through the 1970's, and then benching shirts come along in the 1980's. One element I won't go into detail about due to a lack of personal knowledge is the availability and quality of steroids, growth hormones and other performance enhancing drugs. They became available in the 1950's, were legal through the 1970's, and though illegal today continue to advance in efficacy. Steroids also aren't magic. They require a lot of hard work to use effectively.
Does food availability factor into it? Yes and no. USDA records show that available calories per person in America has remained relatively the same since 1900 through the 1980's. That aside, an elite competitive lifter does require an obscene amount of food. Arnold Schwarzenegger comments about how his early competition and development was affected by his poor family's lack of meat and protein sources. He grew up in post-war Austria to a poor family where available food was lower. It was only when he joined the Army, which supplied him with all the food that he could eat, that his competitive form we are used to seeing came about. However, food is only one part of many components that lead to the rapid increase in bench press records.
Sources:
Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training 3rd edition by Mark Rippetoe
Encyclopedia of of Modern Bodybuilding by Arnold Schwarzenegger
U.S. Per Capita Food Supply Trends: More Calories, Refined Carbohydrates, and Fats
I am not a historian but keep in mind technological advances for the last 100 years as well. We've developed spandex suits that can help increase lifts by several hundred pounds (IIRC the difference between the 'natural' and 'equipped' world record quats are separated by about 300 lbs). Theres also increases in technology and availability of the supplements and drugs to help with the building of muscle and strength. I'm not sure on the food intake (although I'm sure the availability if pre workout drinks and protein shakes helps a lot) but at the very least the technology will make a large difference
