4. Thou Shalt Never Stop Perfecting Form

You should never stop improving your technique, whether you’re a powerlifter, other form of strength athlete, or fitness enthusiast. I wouldn't advise being over-analytical every workout, but it's important to keep a close eye on your form and how it's progressing. The bench press is a technical lift that can be easily changed by something as small as not getting a hand off.

If you're having trouble perfecting your bench press form, our guide can help you out.

If you train alone, you should ask a coach or knowledgeable athlete to work with you occasionally to help you improve your form. While it can be great to film yourself, it can also be difficult to be analytical of your own shortcomings. If you want to be a successful powerlifter, you need to focus on your form. One small mistake can mean the difference between lifting the weight or not.

A powerlifter should also be familiar with the different criteria that various federations use to judge the bench press. Some federations only require the foot to touch the ground, while others require it to be flat on the floor.

5. Thou Shalt Create Full Body Tension

Having a lot of weight on your head and neck, with a loose upper or lower body, is always cringe-worthy. Most people who are just starting out with bench pressing don't realize how important it is to keep their whole body tense. The body is in full tension when the upper body is tight and packed, the hips are slightly extended and the glutes are flexed, and the feet are firmly planted under the body. There is no part of the body where a body part can move freely.

One tip that always helps me when achieving full body tightness is thinking about my body like a rubber band. This tip can be used for every lift. To evenly distribute the load, you want to maintain full tension before contracting forcefully. If your lower body is moving while you press, you're not using your full potential. The more points of contact you have on the bench/ground, the more force you can generate.

6. Thou Shalt Be Mindful of Bar Path

One of the biggest factors that the biggest benches have in common is bar path. A shorter movement arm is created when weight is distributed in a way that decreases the total amount of shoulder flexion. Will your bar path be identical to someone else's? Most likely not, and that’s okay. For example, your bar path may not be the same as someone else's.

There are a few universal points you should keep in mind when watching your bar path: -The bar should always move in a straight line -The bar should never move side to side -The bar should never move diagonally First, take note of where the weight is sitting when it is not racked. The weight should be directly over the shoulder joint, which will minimize stress and energy expended during the isometric hold. Second, keep an eye on your grip width. Most athletes will see an improvement in their performance by placing their forearm (radius & ulna) directly under the bar.

Finally, take into account the style of bench you will be using and how long your arms are. A coach can help you improve your performance by analyzing your bar path. At the end of the day, your goal should be to press more weight and to distribute weight evenly through each phase of the concentric portion of the bench press, which includes shoulder flexion, shoulder horizontal flexion, and elbow extension, along with limiting excessive flexion that could cause failure at weak or sticking points.

You miss because you get too weak in the sticking point.” Remember that you don't always miss a lift because you're too weak overall, it's usually just because you're weak in the one spot. You miss a lift because you don't have enough strength to lift the bar through the weakest part of the lift. In the video below, Alan Thrall discusses bar path and how it affects your lift.

7. Thou Shalt Program Frequency Smartly

The bench press can be trained more frequently than the squat and deadlift without compromising results. The part that I find ironic is that the hardest thing to improve is the frequency, but usually the frequency is what makes this movement successful. It requires less energy from the body, so the recovery time is shorter, which allows us to train more often. The key to becoming stronger isn't necessarily to bench press more frequently, but to find the frequency that works best for you.

When the frequency of a movement is increased, a lot of programming goes into it. Because you could get injured or make no progress, you need to pay attention to factors like how much you're lifting, how intensely you're working, and how often you're varying your routine. Ben Pollack's article discussing bench frequency and how to choose what's best for you is very helpful.

8. Thou Shalt Not Ignore Back and Rear Delt Work

It is commonly known that the bench not only strengthens the front part of our body, but the back part as well. A stronger back and rear deltoids will help reduce force on the eccentric and increase the pressing surface area. There are three benefits to strengthening the two areas mentioned in the text.

9. Thou Shalt Check Thy Ego At the Door

This rule is included in every list of commandments I have written so far, and it will remain there. It's the perfect way to summarize points two and four. Some days it's hard not to let your ego get in the way when you're in a competitive mood or when someone is critiquing you, but try to separate emotions from rational thoughts. Large jumps and not caring about form will lead to injuries, which no one wants.

10. Thou Shalt Use The Brethren When Maxing

I'm not trying to be negative, but you should have a spotter with you when working at your one-rep max or when the intensity is high. There have been two reported deaths from bench press related injuries in the last few months. In both cases, the person lifting the weight got trapped under the bar.

If you are an experienced strength athlete, you probably know what to do in this situation, but it is always better to be safe than sorry. Things go wrong sometimes and if we take into account Murphy's law then no one is safe in lifting related situations.

5 Commandments To Big Muscles!

1THOU SHALT NOT CHEAT

Careless or incorrect form when lifting weights is the most common training flaw, seen in any gym or weight room. Cheating, or using momentum to help move the weight, is also a common training flaw. Everyone knows that curls look like clean and jerks. The bench press resembles the McDonald golden arches, and the barbell row looks like a half-hearted deadlift.

It is surprising that in 2002 there are still many people who do not know how to do things correctly. There are many resources available to help you learn more about fitness, including books, magazines, websites, videos, and qualified trainers. With a little effort and initiative, you can take advantage of these resources to improve your fitness level.

The worst people who violate physical laws are those who know what proper form is, but they still cheat and bounce away, defiant like fallen angels. If you want to look like you're lifting more weight than you actually are, you can cheat on your form. This is an easy way to impress both rival males and the hard-bodied women at the gym, as well as to feed your ego. If you have poor form when working out, you will not make progress and may even get injured.

If you want to lift 300 pounds off your chest, go ahead, but don't cry to God if you injure yourself or don't see results.

2THOU SHALT NOT LIFT THE WEIGHTS IN VAIN

Don't be an egomaniac. Don't be overly confident or self-admiring in the gym (although looking healthy and having visible veins is okay). Weight training is not a group effort. On a typical Monday night at the gym, you would see people at the bench press station lifting heavy weights. A group of young kids, wearing Adidas pants and white tank tops, gathers around the elevator that symbolizes their transition to adulthood.

One at a time, each person lets the weighted bar drop to bounce off his/her sternum, then squirms and kicks, red-faced and grunting like an agitated wild boar, to push up a single repetition. A second person is hovering close by, pulling up on the bar that's pressing down on the first person's chest. If the bar isn't moved, the first person will slowly be asphyxiated.

Two-time Mr. Olympia, Franco Columbu, put it best – “forced reps are best done by you.” Those who are dependent on training partners and unwitting spotters to help them move more weight than they are actually capable of moving are fooling themselves if they believe they are training effectively. Independent reps are key to successful training. As they continue attending the gym, they will develop a reputation. People who could help will make sure to stay away or have a ready list of excuses when asked for help.

3HONOR THE BASICS TO KEEP THEM SACRED

Almost all muscle is gained from a few specific exercises – squats, deadlifts, bench presses, seated presses, dips, and barbell rows. You would have a hard time finding many trainers who routinely bench press as part of their workouts, except for those who are trying to impress with their macho strength.

Why is that? For one thing, they are hard. Heavy squats or deadlifts can be very tough and may make you feel nauseous or even make you faint. Squats done with a high number of repetitions can exhaust you to the point where you need to lie down for ten minutes before even thinking about standing up, let alone trying set 2.

Who would want to put themselves through the agony and discomfort of working out when it's so much easier to just sit on a comfy leg press machine and let it do all the work? The leg press is a great exercise because it doesn't require you to use an Olympic bar, which can dig into your traps and leave a red groove in your skin. No real technique and balance either. Be careful when squatting or deadlifting heavy weights so you don't herniate a disk. And how about those pec-dec flyes?

Why use dumbbells when you can use a machine and admire yourself in the mirror? Yeah, look out Ronnie and Jay, you're goin' down! Most machine and cable exercises are not effective for building muscle.

4THOU SHALT NOT OVERKILL

The gym is a place where you can go to get away from the outside world. All that is there is the effort you put in, the sweat, the sound of weights hitting each other, and the sight of muscles pumping. However, too much of something that is good can be negative.

Although Mike Mentzer was very forceful in his belief that high volume training was ineffective, he did help to bring attention to the widespread practice of using excessively long workouts that produce diminishing returns.

Having more money in your checking account is better than having less, but your body cannot gain muscle as quickly as a CD earns interest. Some amount of work is necessary to train the muscles, but anything beyond that is extra and unnecessary. Aren't there more productive things you could do with your time than hanging out at the gym for three hours?

This workout nonsense that you have to do for 3-4 hours originated in the 70's from the Weider magazines. They would write about how Arnold and his friends would work out hard for up to four hours a day. It wasn't just that the magazines and Joe's Super Pro 101 were sold there, but the fact that none of it was true.

The guys I talked to who were at the original Gold's Gym said that Arnold usually trained for two hours a day, but never more than one hour at a time. He was too busy chasing girls at Venice beach. Even today's 250-300-pound professional bodybuilders like Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler rarely spend more than 90 minutes a day lifting weights.

5DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS TO ANY SPECIFIC TRAINING

I used to go to the gym every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and there was this guy who always came in those days too. I was a trainer at the time, and as much of a fixture as the rubber flooring. He followed the same workout routine every week. I could amaze my clients with my Ms. I would tell my astonished client that Cleo's next move would be to the barbell incline press. He'll do 135 pounds for 10 reps, then 225 pounds for 8 reps, then his first work set with 275 pounds, after he begs someone to spot him.

I nearly watched this character for two years as he was stuck in an endless loop. He didn't change at all physically! Our bodies are adaptive organisms.

If someone is working in a hot, humid, sunny environment, their skin will turn brown as a way to protect themselves. If there were an amazing training routine that could be followed, it would produce great results, but eventually the person's muscles would adapt to the stress and the results would level off. You will not make maximum progress unless you keep changing variables such as the exercises you do, the number of repetitions, the tempo of repetitions, the amount of time you rest between sets, and how you distribute different muscle groups throughout the training week.