Put personal pressure on the bench (3)
I believe the answer is:
sat
'put' is the definition.
(both can mean positioned or placed)
I don't understand the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sat that I've seen before include "Rested" , "Took a chair" , "nearly half a day" , "Was couch potato" , "Used a chair" .)