Pete Hegseth's Bench Press Is Embarrassing

Summary

---

Episode Overview

Title: Pete Hegseth’s Bench Press Is Embarrassing
Date: June 12, 2026
Host: Will Sommer
Guest: Joe Perdicone (Press Pass newsletter, fitness expert)

In this episode of The Bulwark, Will Sommer and Joe Perdicone delve into the viral video of Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, showcasing his bench press routine at Guantanamo Bay. The discussion critiques Hegseth’s form, questions the Department of Defense’s hype, and situates this event in the broader context of political displays of masculinity. Expect an entertaining blend of sharp fitness analysis and biting cultural commentary.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: Why the Hegseth Bench Press Matters

[00:00–01:32]

• Will opens with humor, showcasing his own "workout shirt" (described as a hamburger pumping iron), creatine, and protein powder, setting the playful, irreverent tone.
• The viral video: Pete Hegseth bench presses with troops at Guantanamo Bay, footage is being used by the Department of Defense to emphasize his “masculinity.”
• Will explains: “The reason we're talking about this is... the Department of War is making a lot out of this bench, and they're saying he's crazy, crushing it. You know, look at how masculine he is. And yet there seems to maybe be an issue here with the bench.” [01:32]

2. Fitness Analysis: Technique, Safety, and Spotting

[02:00–04:43]

• Joe, drawing on decades of gym experience, is unimpressed by Hegseth’s routine, highlighting:
  • Hegseth starts “on a tilt,” indicating possible shoulder issues.
  • His rapid, high-rep approach is more akin to “troops bonding” or risky CrossFit competitions than legitimate strength training.
  • “You never see people do that at an actual gym... CrossFitters are weird and like to do things that would make injury very likely.” — Joe Perdicone [02:31]
• Spotter critique: Joe believes the spotter is not taking Hegseth’s safety seriously, simply counting without preparing to intervene.
  • "The spotter is not doing a good job. He’s just, like, kind of watching him, like, ‘oh, yeah.’” [03:10]
  • “If something goes wrong and, like, his shoulder pops, that thing is coming crushing down on him. And then we don’t have a secretary of defense slash war to yap at everyone on the TV every day.” — Joe Perdicone [03:15]
• The spectacle is seen as more about morale and image than effective fitness.

3. Rep Quality and Weight: Is 135 Pounds Impressive?

[04:43–05:57]

• Will and Joe debunk the hype around the “44 reps” claim:
  • Will: “135 is kind of like table stakes. If you're… six months into your benching journey… not lifting a ton of weight.” [04:51]
  • Many of Hegseth's reps lack "full arm elbow lockout" and would not count in a regulated contest.
  • Joe compares to the NFL combine: “Most of those benches… would have disqualified because they need to be perfect, and those were not.” [05:17]
  • The only person being “cheated” by this form is Hegseth himself.

4. Performance vs. Genuine Fitness: Political Feats of Strength

[05:57–06:53]

• Will: The spotter likely softens standards for his boss, calling any movement a rep.
  • “You can't tell your boss that their reps aren't good enough.” — Joe Perdicone [06:18]
• Discussion broadens to a trend in the administration: frequent public displays involving physical fitness challenges (America 250, UFC events, etc.).
• Comparison to other political figures, notably RFK Jr.'s infamous “push-up challenge.”
• Joe’s reflection: “Clinging to, like, physical feats of strength as a display of masculinity is a thing.” [06:53]
• Satirical tone on how these spectacles serve image rather than substance.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Will Sommer, on Hegseth’s bench:
  “So there we can see Pete Hegseth. He's benching what looks like about 135 pounds really quickly... And yet there seems to maybe be an issue here with the bench.” [01:32]
• Joe Perdicone’s critique:
  “When you're going real fast like that, like, you never see people do that at an actual gym. That's, like, what troops do when they're bonding or, like, competing with each other...” [02:20]
• On spotting safety:
  “If something goes wrong and, like, his shoulder pops, that thing is coming crushing down on him.” — Joe Perdicone [03:15]
• About rep standards:
  “The point of doing a perfect bench is not... to show your mastery. It's literally to get a good workout... When you're just kind of flailing about like that, like, you're the only person you're cheating is yourself.” — Joe Perdicone [05:17]
• On office gym dynamics:
  “You can't tell your boss that their reps aren't good enough.” — Joe Perdicone [06:18]
• The masculinity pageant:
  “Clinging to, like, physical feats of strength as a display of masculinity is a thing.” — Joe Perdicone [06:53]

---

Segment Timestamps

• [00:00] – Introduction & Setup (Will’s gym humor; intro to the Hegseth clip)
• [01:32] – Context: The Department of Defense Narrative
• [02:00] – Joe’s Technical Critique: Form, Spotter, Military Gym Culture
• [04:43] – Rep Quality & Weight: What Counts as Impressive?
• [05:57] – The Politics of Strength: Why These Public Stunts?
• [06:53] – Masculinity and Physical Feats in Politics

---

Tone and Style

• Informal, lively, and irreverent; the hosts blend expertise with self-aware humor and sharp skepticism toward political image-making.
• Joe’s role as a fitness expert brings authenticity to the critique, while Will keeps the banter flowing and highlights the cultural context.

---

Summary

This episode is essential listening (or, thanks to this summary, reading) for anyone interested in how physical fitness is wielded as a tool of political performance. The hosts dissect Pete Hegseth’s much-hyped bench press, debunking both the technique and the intent, and place this moment in a larger pattern of performative masculinity in American politics. Whether you’re a gym rat, a political junkie, or just in it for smart humor, this conversation delivers insights—and laughs—on every rep.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome back to the Bulwark. I'm Will Sommer, here with Joe Perdicone, the author of the Press Pass newsletter and our resident fitness expert. Now, look, I've got. I got my workout shirt. He's a little hamburger pumping iron. I've got my creatine for you, Joe. I've got the muscle milk, right? We got the protein powder. And the reason for that is because we're going to talk about Pete Hegseth's workout routine. Now, the Department of War claims that he's crushing it, but I'm seeing some skeptics out there, so set the stage for us.

[B]

So Hegseth. Well, a lot of members of the Trump cabinet like to film themselves working out, and Hegseth was lifting at Guantanamo Bay with some of the troops there, and it didn't look like it went too well.

[C]

9, 10, all the way down, all the way up. 13, all the way down, all THE way up. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26. All the way down, all THE way UP. 2809, 31, 36, 37. Somebody get in here. 44.

[A]

So there we can see Pete Hegseth. He's benching what looks like about 135 pounds really quickly. Now, the Department of War, the reason we're talking about this is not just, you know, we're looking at, you know, can the Secretary of Defense hit the. The coveted 225 on the bench? But we're talking about this because the Department of War is making a lot out of this bench, and they're saying he's crazy, crushing it. You know, look at how masculine he is. And yet there seems to maybe be an issue here with the bench. I. I'd love to get your take.

[B]

So I can't even think of how many times I've hit the bench in my life. We've been working out since I was 16, so, like, 20 years. When he's going, he's, like, on a tilt from the start, which makes me think maybe he's got some shoulder problems that he hasn't addressed. And when you're going real fast like that, like, you never see people do that at an actual gym. That's, like, what troops do when they're bonding or, like, competing with each other or if you go to, like, a CrossFit thing. CrossFitters are weird and, like, to do things that would make injury very likely. So he's kind of going, and you can tell he's struggling. He's doing, like, the hip thrusts at the beginning, and he's just going for, like, hitting it as many times as he can, but clearly, you know, isn't caring about form, which I don't really know what that accomplishes unless you're just, like, doing it for morale purposes. Guys in the military love that. But he starts to struggle, and I'm gonna pick a book. I got a bone to pick with somebody. Not Pete Hegseth. In this video, the spotter is not doing a good job. He's just, like, kind of watching him, like, oh, yeah,

[A]

he doesn't care, man. He says he's got the secretary of defense's life in his hands.

[B]

You can see when he starts struggling, the spotter still is just like, yeah, 20, 21. Like, a good spotter is gonna, like, start hovering their hands because, like, okay, he's been at a tilt like that the whole time, which means his shoulder's not doing hot this morning. So if something goes wrong and, like, his shoulder pops, that thing is coming crushing down on him. And then we don't have a secretary of defense slash war to yap at everyone on the TV every day. So maybe he knew what he was doing. But you. You want to start. You want to start hovering your hands over the bar, because if that thing falls, it's going to hurt him, because, you know, he's got the. The bar itself is 45 pounds. He's got 45 on each side, which is, like, for a regular lifter, that's not a lot of weight. That's like a, you know, a normal bench amount. But that, you know, that's really not safe. So when he finally does grab it, he also grabs it, like, in an awkward way. And Hegseth is, like, absolutely gassed at the end of this thing. And he's like. He's doing the leg kicks. That's somebody who's like, I. I need to show everyone that I can do as many as I can and isn't trying to get a good workout in when you start flailing the legs and then he gets up like, oh, like, give me a diet Coke. Like, he's so exhausted. And it's just the. The whole thing is ridiculous. And they. They like to do this to, like, brag about their. Their macho status, but didn't look very macho to me.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I think the thing that's striking here is you have the Department of Defense saying he hit 44. What a tough guy.

[C]

44. 40.

[A]

Couldn't get that last, because, as you said, 1:35 is kind of like table stakes. If you're like, begin, you know, in your benching journey, you're, you know, maybe six months, you know, whatever into it, but. So he's not lifting a ton of weight. But. So they're trying to make a big deal about the reps, but I think a lot of those rep really what we would classify as sort of like classic full arm elbow lockout reps. So I, I think he's kind of padding the numbers here.

[B]

Yeah. Like, when you watch the NFL combine, if you're sports obsessed and you watch the guys do the bench, that's always fun because there's always like a D lineman and then like a random punter who crushes it at the bench. Most of those benches, like, they would have disqualified because they need to be, like, perfect, and those were not. And like, the, the point of doing a perfect bench is not, you know, to show your mastery. It's literally to get a good workout to, like, show that you're engaging every muscle going down and back up. And when you're just kind of flailing about like that, like, you're the only person you're cheating is yourself, you know,

[A]

Pete Hegseth, you got to get in there. I want to see that range of motion, man. You know, let's focus on a good three sets of 10. Maybe, you know, we don't have to be going for 44. You know, it also strikes me that I these. The guy counting, he doesn't really want to be calling these reps as rigorously as he might if he had a. A private in front of him. I think he's like, oh, yeah, sure, whatever, man. Sure.

[B]

That.

[A]

That counts as a rep. Yeah, you

[B]

can't tell your boss that their reps aren't good enough.

[A]

We both know that, as we know from the Bulwark Gym with Sam. Yes, absolutely. Now, you know, you touched on this earlier. I mean, I think people might say, okay, well, okay. Peter said maybe he's, you know, fudging the numbers a bit on the reps. The larger impact here, I think, is that we see this. This administration in general is very into. Every so often they get really into these kind of like, feats of strength. And obviously, America 250, the UFC fight, we're seeing a lot of, I think, new focus on this. But, you know, talk about, I mean, RFK Jr, I think, is a guy who is also, you know, I remember the RFK challenge where it was like, you know, how many push ups can you do?

[B]

Clinging to, like, physical feats of strength as a display of masculinity is a thing.