Are you 18 years old or older?
Sorry, the content of this store can't be seen by a younger audience. Come back when you're older.
The science-driven command center for The Launch Pad®.
The Launch Pad® is supported by a three-study evidence stack that progresses from acute biomechanical change, to improved strength adaptation, to athlete-relevant upper-body performance transfer. This page is designed to help coaches, researchers, and athletes understand not only what the studies found, but how those findings can be applied in real training environments.
Immediate changes in pec activation, bar speed, and usable range of motion.
Greater 1-RM strength adaptation during an eccentric-overload training block.
Greater improvements in maximal strength, repeated-force output, and upper-body projection.
Mechanism, adaptation, and performance transfer all point in the same direction.
Most products never move beyond theory or anecdote. The Launch Pad® research profile tells a more complete story. The first study asks whether the pressing pattern changes immediately. The second study asks whether those changes matter over repeated training. The third asks whether the effect carries into athlete-relevant upper-body performance outcomes.
Demonstrates immediate increases in pectoralis major activation, bar velocity, and range of motion compared with a traditional flat bench condition.
Demonstrates that The Launch Pad can amplify strength development over time when layered into a serious bench press training block.
Demonstrates stronger gains in maximal strength, strength endurance, and explosive upper-body output in collegiate football players than a traditional flat bench setup.
Each study below is organized to make the science easier to scan, understand, and apply. Open any section for full details on the purpose, design, findings, significance, and practical coaching use.
This study tested whether thoracic-spinal elevation created by The Launch Pad® would immediately improve the way the bench press behaves mechanically and neuromuscularly compared with a standard flat bench.
The goal was to determine whether The Launch Pad® could immediately change key bench press outputs that coaches care about: pectoralis major activation, bar speed, concentric power, and range of motion. This is the mechanism study. Before asking whether a tool improves strength over weeks, you first want to know whether it changes the lift itself right now in a beneficial way.
Participants completed a familiarization session and 1-RM testing. During the experimental sessions, they performed five reps at 70% of 1-RM under two conditions: standard flat bench and Launch Pad condition. Researchers used bilateral surface EMG on the pectoralis major and a linear position transducer to track mean bar velocity, peak bar velocity, concentric power, and range of motion. Hand width and setup were standardized, and the apex of the pad was aligned around T5-T8 to encourage thoracic extension, scapular retraction, and sternum elevation.
This study provides the biomechanical logic for everything that follows. If muscle activation, bar speed, and ROM all improve at the same relative load, that suggests the athlete is accessing a more advantageous pressing strategy.
70.2 → 87.3 %MVC
68.3 → 86.8 %MVC
0.40 → 0.47 M/S
0.57 → 0.66 M/S
38 → 44 CM
249 → 271 W
The Launch Pad did not simply change how the bench press felt. It changed measurable outputs: more prime mover activation, faster bar speeds, more displacement, and better movement efficiency. The study’s interpretation supports the idea that improved thoracic alignment, scapular positioning, and force transfer may create a more favorable pressing environment.
This study examined whether the acute biomechanical advantages seen with The Launch Pad® could translate into greater strength gain over a structured one-month training block.
The question here was whether using The Launch Pad during a one-month bench press block would produce more strength gain than a flat bench when both groups followed the same program. This is where the conversation moves from immediate mechanics into repeated training adaptation.
Participants trained three times per week for four weeks using a CARE/Vitruvian system that applied supramaximal eccentric overload. The eccentric load was set at 150% of the concentric load. The training model was aggressive and performance-oriented, which makes the findings more meaningful: the Launch Pad did not replace hard training, it improved the quality of the training environment inside it.
This study matters because it suggests the mechanical advantages of the Launch Pad are not trivial. They appear to accumulate into greater strength adaptation over time.
98.1 → 109.2 KG
+11.1 KG
97.4 → 115.8 KG
+18.4 KG
+7.3 KG VS CONTROL
~66% GREATER GAIN
This is where The Launch Pad starts to separate from novelty accessories. It was associated with greater 1-RM improvement even when both groups were exposed to the same overall training model. That positions The Launch Pad as a training multiplier, not merely a corrective or comfort aid.
This study tested whether The Launch Pad® would improve not only bench strength, but also repeated-force capacity and explosive upper-body projection in a real athlete population.
This is the most applied of the three studies because it asks the question coaches ultimately care about: does improving the bench environment carry over into athlete-relevant upper-body performance outcomes? Instead of stopping at lab variables, the study tracked outcomes that matter in sport preparation.
Players trained three times per week for eight weeks inside a supervised off-season program that included flat barbell bench press, incline barbell bench press, and dumbbell fly variations. The full block included 24 training sessions and tracked changes in bench press 1-RM, NFL-225 reps-to-fatigue, and seated medicine ball throw distance.
When one intervention improves maximal strength, repeated-force capacity, and explosive projection in the same cycle, it suggests a broader upgrade to the athlete’s pressing system rather than a narrow isolated effect.
98.1 → 107.2 KG
97.4 → 116.8 KG
14 → 18 REPS
14 → 21 REPS
3.5 → 5.5 M
3.4 → 6.1 M
This study connects The Launch Pad to outcomes coaches can immediately understand: better maximal strength, better pressing endurance, and better explosive upper-body force expression. That makes the product more than a bench accessory. It positions it as a performance-enhancing training interface with real athlete relevance.
The real strength of this evidence is that the studies answer three different questions in sequence. Together they show that The Launch Pad® appears to improve the lift itself, improve the way athletes adapt to training over time, and improve athlete-relevant upper-body performance outcomes.
| Question | Study Answer | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Does it change the lift itself? | Yes. The acute study showed higher pec activation, greater bar speed, and greater ROM. | The Launch Pad changes the pressing environment immediately and appears to improve mechanical efficiency. |
| Do those changes matter over training? | Yes. The 4-week study showed greater 1-RM improvement than control during an eccentric-overload block. | The acute advantages seem to accumulate into stronger adaptation, not just a different feel. |
| Does it transfer to athlete outcomes? | Yes. The 8-week football study showed greater gains in 1-RM, NFL-225, and seated med ball throw. | The Launch Pad appears relevant not only in the weight room, but also in performance testing and upper-body output development. |
The Launch Pad® is best understood as a positioning and mechanics-enhancing training interface. That makes it useful across multiple goals, provided the programming context matches the outcome you are trying to improve.
The 4-week and 8-week studies both support its use during strength-focused training phases. This makes it useful for off-season blocks, athlete general preparation, and bench press development cycles where coaches want more adaptation without abandoning traditional strength work.
The acute increases in pec activation and range of motion support a strong hypertrophy rationale. More prime mover contribution and more usable excursion can improve stimulus quality, although these studies did not directly measure muscle growth.
The improvement in bar speed in the acute study and the stronger seated medicine ball throw gains in the football study suggest value for athletes who need rapid upper-body force expression.
The larger gain in the NFL-225 test supports use in settings where repeated pressing output matters, such as football, tactical preparation, and conditioning blocks with an upper-body work-capacity emphasis.
Because the product appears to guide thoracic extension, scapular positioning, and a more efficient pressing environment, it can serve as a practical teaching tool for the setup coaches are always trying to cue: chest up, better retraction, more stable upper back, and cleaner mechanics.
Direct evidence exists for resistance-trained males and collegiate football players. Conceptually, the measured qualities also make it relevant for baseball, rugby, combat sports, tactical populations, and general training environments, though those groups still require direct study for strict scientific certainty.
Many tools in the bench press category either shorten ROM, overload lockout, create instability, or offer a very narrow training effect. The Launch Pad’s value proposition is different: improve the pressing environment itself, then let that better position produce more strength and performance.
The research profile suggests The Launch Pad is more than a comfort add-on. It appears to improve how the lift is organized mechanically and how force is expressed through the pressing pattern.
While its positioning and setup characteristics may be useful in movement-quality or return-to-press contexts, the evidence points beyond rehabilitation and into serious strength and performance application.
The three-study stack supports a more complete validation story than most training tools in this category can offer: mechanism, adaptation, and performance transfer all pointing in the same direction.
Use these answers to help athletes, facility buyers, and researchers quickly understand where The Launch Pad® fits and what makes it different.
No. The research stack suggests The Launch Pad changes pressing mechanics acutely, improves strength adaptation over training, and improves athlete-relevant upper-body performance outcomes more than a standard flat bench setup.
No. The available evidence supports value across maximal strength, hypertrophy rationale, speed-strength, strength endurance, and technical coaching. It may have movement-quality value, but it is not limited to rehabilitation use.
Direct athlete transfer evidence currently exists in collegiate football players, but the qualities measured also make it conceptually relevant for other sports and tactical environments where upper-body strength and repeated pressing capacity matter.
Its value proposition is not simply to make the lift harder or more novel. It appears to improve the quality of the pressing environment itself through better positioning, better mechanics, and better force expression.
The Launch Pad® sits at the intersection of biomechanics, pressing performance, and practical coaching application. For programs that care about movement quality and output, this evidence stack makes a strong case for a smarter pressing surface.
Stay informed with our latest insights
