The bench press is a barbell exercise that is commonly used by people who are looking to improve their upper body strength. Non-lifters are even familiar with muscular athletes demonstrating their strength by performing a bench press. It is a well-known fact that the best way to build your chest, shoulders, and triceps is by using the universal method.
The bench press is a great way to build upper body strength and muscle mass. The bigger your bench, the bigger your upper body.
The bench press is a great exercise for building a larger, stronger, more muscular chest. Here's everything you need to know about how to perform the bench press effectively.
How to Do the Bench Press
The bench press is a great exercise for almost everyone who works out at the gym. Some lifters concentrate too much on the exercise, which might result in an injury. The exercise is important for developing muscle and strength for both novice and experienced lifters.
To maximize benefits and minimize injury risk, you should learn proper techniques. The steps below will help you do this.
Step 1 — Initial Setup
Place your head beneath the bar on the bench and lie flat. What you need to do is put your feet up on the bench, grab the bar with an overhand, shoulder-width grip, and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Sit on your heels with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent. Moving your heels towards the bench will create more tension in your lower body and allow you to produce more force.
To connect strongly with the bench, feel the sensation through your whole body. Maintain your shoulder blades in a retracted position. Squeeze the bar with both hands to ensure tightness.
Form Tip: Your grip width can play a role in targeting or emphasizing certain muscles during the bench press. A wider grip on the barbell will target the inner portion of the pecs and front shoulder more, while a closer grip will focus more on the triceps and upper chest. (2) Training with a shoulder-width grip will help build muscle coordination and reduce joint strain. As you become more experienced, you can implement some slight changes in your grip.
Step 2 — Lift Off
Heel to toe, press your feet into the floor until your heels are flat on the ground. This creates tension throughout your lower body. Breathe in deeply and hold your breath while lifting the barbell off the rack by extending your arms. You should hold the bar above your shoulders, with both arms locked out.
A tip for avoiding injury when weightlifting is to not push the bar out of the hooks too hard, as this can strain the shoulder blades and make the shoulder joints weaker. The weight should be lifted off the racks at a height that creates a slight bend in the lifter's arms. The higher rack position is for people with longer arms. If your arms are shorter, use a lower rack position.
Step 3 — Descend With Control
Start with the barbell over your shoulders, then bend your elbows and lower the bar to your chest. Tuck your elbows slightly towards your feet. Keep your arms perpendicular to your body, and don't let them bend at the elbows as you hold your breath at the bottom of the move. You should touch the bar to the same spot on your chest on every repetition.
Make sure that when you are doing the barbell shrug, the barbell moves down and away from your shoulder level. Do not try to lower the bar in a direct line to your upper chest. Doing so increases joint strain and decreases power output. Think of performing a very slight arc.
Step 4 — Press to Lockout
Once the barbell touches your chest, pause for a moment and then lift it back up to the starting position. Release your breath as you press up. The barbell should be moved in an up and back direction towards your head. At the end of the repetition, your shoulders, elbows, and wrists should be aligned vertically.
Doing so will help you maintain a stable hip position, which makes it easier to control the bar When pressing up during your workout, keep your rear end in contact with the bench. This will help you stay in a stable hip position, making it easier to control the bar. Drive into the floor with your feet. The engagement of your lower body muscles will help you to drive the weight up, which is necessary to move heavier loads.
Bench Press Mistakes to Avoid
Most gyms have a bench press, but there are a few technique errors that are common to see. In order to achieve better results in a more efficient manner, it is important to avoid the following common issues.
No Upper Back Tightness
The upper back must be tight in order to both safely and effectively bench press. Maintaining your shoulder blades in a retracted position is important for the entire set. It is important to keep your upper back tight to improve shoulder health and stability when lifting.
By pulling your shoulder blades back, you activate the many muscles of the upper back like the traps, rear delts, and rhomboids. The muscles mentioned work together to lower the bar and transition smoothly and powerfully into the press.
You should “puff your chest up” to active your scapula before gripping the bar. This cue helps you to position your chest, shoulders, and upper back correctly.
No Leg Drive
Some people believe that doing the bench press with their ankles crossed and feet in the air will help, but this is not true. It doesn’t. If you pick up your feet while lifting weights, you will be less stable and won't be able to lift as much.
The weight not being distributed throughout the body increases the risk of injury because it is only supported by the shoulder joints and upper back muscles.
To be more stable, you should put your feet closer to your hips instead of spreading them further apart. Maintain steady pressure on your feet into the floor. This added pressure will help increase the force being transferred from the floor up into the bar when you drive through your legs.
Pushing your feet down into the floor also makes you more stable, similar to how a table with four legs on the ground is more stable than one with just three legs on the ground.
Weak Wrists
Strong wrists and a firm grip are important for the bench press. Many lifters tend to neglect “stacking” their wrists.
Instead of keeping their hands straight, they allow them to bend backwards so their palms face the ceiling. The way your knuckles point when you hold a dumbbell can affect both your grip strength and the stability of your wrist. Holding the weight with your knuckles pointing backward puts your wrist in a less stable position and limits your grip strength.
You should avoid vertically stacking your joints under the bar because it will create a stronger overall position to lift from. Pushing your thumb back into the bar will give you a stronger grip than only using four fingers. The extra focus required will make you hold the club very tightly and keep your wrist in a stacked, neutral position rather than bent backwards.
Benefits of the Bench Press
The bench press is the best exercise for loading the upper body with heavy weights. This exercise strengthens many different muscle groups while also having the highest level of activation of the chest muscles.
Maximizing Chest Strength and Growth
According to EMG research, the bench press is very good at activating all the muscles in the chest. This means that the bench press should be a key part of any program that is focused on getting stronger and building muscle.
Time Efficient
The bench press requires engagement of multiple muscles and is a wise choice for any lifter who is short on training time. If your workouts are lacking in variety, you might want to try an exercise that works multiple muscles at the same time. The bench press is an upper body exercise that is very efficient.
Muscles Worked by the Bench Press
The bench press is an exercise that works multiple muscle groups on the upper body. One of the reasons this exercise is so important is because it helps beginners develop strength and muscle. Experienced lifters can also use this exercise to increase their strength.
Pectoralis Major
The primary function of the pectoralis major is to bring the elbows in closer to each other. There are two heads to the pec major muscle, one at the sternal end and one at the clavicular end. Both pec heads are active in the bench press.
Anterior Delts
The bench press requires the use of the entire shoulder muscle, with the anterior (front) head of the deltoid being most prominently used. The main function of the anterior deltoid is to lift your arm up to your head, as you would during a bench press.
Triceps Brachii
The job of the triceps brachii is to extend the elbow and take the arm from a bent to straightened position. When you are bench pressing, it is essential to lock out your elbows at the top of the movement. This is when the triceps are most involved.
Latissimus Dorsi
Some of the largest back muscles are the lats. They bring the shoulder joint into a neutral position. When your shoulder is in a stretched position at the bottom of the bench press, your lats help to bring your humerus back in line with your torso so that you can continue the press.
Upper Back
These upper back muscles work together to support shoulder stability during the bench press and to allow a full range of motion of the shoulder joint in both the bottom and top positions.
Who Should Do the Bench Press
The bench press is an exercise everyone can use. If you want to get into better shape, maximize your strength potential, or become faster and more powerful, you should train the bench press. If you're a competitive powerlifter who needs to move maximum weight, the bench press is also an important exercise for you.
Training for Strength
Strength is movement-specific. The best way to get better at bench pressing is to keep doing it over and over. An athlete who wants to get stronger at the bench press needs to practice the bench press. Focusing on other exercises will not give you the best results or help you build strength in this exercise.
Training for Muscle
To bulk up, do the bench press regularly. The stress that this exercise provides to muscles is significant and unique compared to other upper body exercises. This is because the muscle activation, number of muscles recruited, relatively long range of motion, and overall muscle-building stimulus are all prominent features of this exercise.
Training for Sport
Building power, strength, and speed throughout the entire upper body can help any athlete in nearly any sport. The bench press is often seen in training specifically for sports with a high level of physicality such as football or rugby. The bench press is a weightlifting exercise in which the person lies on their back on a bench and then presses a weight upwards with their arms. Increasing the strength of your chest, shoulders, and arms will help you in the field.
How to Program the Bench Press
If you want to get the most out of the barbell bench press, you should do it early in your workout, when your body is fresh and you're able to focus.
Heavy Weight, Low Repetition
If you want to maximize your strength, you should do four to six sets of three to six reps. Choose a weight that allows you to complete the desired number of reps without reaching muscle failure. You should take a break for three to five minutes between each set to get the most out of your lifting.
Moderate Weight, Moderate Repetition
To build a bigger chest, you should work for three to four sets in the six to 12 rep range. This will give you a nice bumps in training volume, which is beneficial for building muscle. You can work on your bench press technique with different weights and repetitions to prevent getting too tired from using heavier weights.
If you want to do the bench press with dumbbells or a machine, it is better to do it later in the workout and do more repetitions (12 to 20, or even more). This means you can use the standard barbell bench press to its full potential when you are well rested at the beginning of your training regimen.
Moderate Weight, Low Repetition
A submaximal weight is a weight that can be moved at fast speeds while maintaining that speed during each rep of each set. This will help build explosive power and speed. A good approach is to work for six to eight sets of two to five reps, using a weight that is challenging but not too difficult. This training method should be a staple if you want to move like an athlete or train for sport.
Bench Press Variations
da If you are new to lifting weights or have joint problems that make barbell training difficult, you can still focus on effective bench press progressions and variations. The weights will help you to train the muscles related to the movement safely and slowly increasing the amount.
Bodyweight Push-up
The most basic and essential bodyweight exercise is the push-up. This move can be performed anywhere and is a great starting point for adding strength and muscle to your upper body. Do push-ups by placing your hands and toes on the ground and keeping your body in a straight line.
If you find it difficult to do the movement while on your toes, you can make it easier by starting on your knees instead. Push-ups can also be done with your hands placed on a higher surface, such as a bench or plyo box.
Resistance Band Push-up
benefits of using a resistance band A resistance band will increase the challenge of your chest, shoulders, and triceps, as well as create a high level of upper pec activation.
