How to do the bench press correctly - a guide to performing the exercise

If you want to grow and strengthen your upper body muscles, as well as develop strength and improve your performance in other exercises and sports, you should do the barbell press. This can be done in different ways, based on the purpose of the training, and today we will analyze in detail what a bench press is, how to do it correctly, what options and mistakes there may be.

• Bench press on a horizontal bench - what muscles work
• Benefits and Benefits of Exercise
• Exercise options
• Classic bench press - how to perform the program correctly
• Press with touch
• Power Rack Press for Beginners
• Bench angle
• Positive slope
• Negative slope
• Video: Head down press
• Option “guillotine” - a technique to increase breast size
• Video: Guillotine press
• Machine press - Smith machine
• Reverse Grip Press
• Video: Reverse Grip Press
• Narrow and wide hand placement
• Wide stance
• Narrow staging
• Floor press
• How many repetitions and sets should you do?
• Press for girls
• Mistakes when pressing - how to grip the bar correctly, breathe, where to lower it
• Video: Common mistakes when performing bench presses
• Alternative exercises that can replace workouts
• Interesting Facts
• Video: World Record, Ryan Kennealy

Bench press on a horizontal bench - what muscles work

Contrary to popular belief that the barbell press is a chest exercise, this is not entirely true. If you don’t try to isolate this exercise, say, with the help of a Smith machine, then it somehow involves many other muscles.

Which muscles bear the main load:

• of course, these are the pecs - large and small, they really participate very well in the press;
• front delts and to a lesser extent middle delts;
• biceps - especially if the pecs are weak, he tries to “stretch” the exercise, since this is usually a strong muscle in everyone;
• triceps - but to use it more fully, you need to use a certain technique.

The abdominal, back and leg muscles also work very well in this case. They are stabilizers. If you really put yourself into the exercise, then after a heavy bench press you will feel the usual fatigue in your legs, as if you were pumping them separately.

The elbow and shoulder joints help in movement.

Basic exercises always involve almost all muscle groups of the body

For the exercise, a bar is used, which can also vary. Girls usually choose a lightweight straight bar (called a training bar), which weighs from 7 to 9 kg.

Men train with an Olympic bar, its weight ranges from 18 to 20 kg.

Some, if they work out at home, use a version of the training barbell, which is about 1.2 m long and weighs only 5 kg. You can understand by comparison that this is not very convenient: the Olympic bar is 2.2 m, and the barbell that girls use is about 1.8 m. But at home it is not always convenient to use a massive barbell, but you cannot press it with a wide grip you can.

The Importance of Tilt

When we talk about the bench press, we usually think of a flat bench without an incline. However, it is very effective to perform this exercise on a surface at a thirty-degree inclination. It is clear that in such situations you will not be able to take the weight that you take on a regular bench.

The horizontal press allows you to lift heavier kilograms, but this is not only about strength training. In terms of muscle load, the incline press is considered incredibly useful. Alternate it with horizontal and you will soon see the first results.

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Benefits and Benefits of Exercise

So, let's look at a number of advantages that the barbell press brings:

1. This is one of the best exercises for gaining mass and increasing the muscles of the upper body.
2. It strengthens the joints of the shoulder and elbow.
3. There are a variety of options - from simple for beginners to complex for advanced levels.
4. You will be able to regulate not only the level of load, but also concentrate it on certain muscle groups, changing the technique.
5. Compared to the dumbbell press, which also has its advantages over the barbell, in this case you will be able to lift heavier weights more easily.
6. In addition, the load will be distributed in such a way that there is less chance of losing control of movement than with dumbbells.

Recommendations for implementation

Let's consolidate the main points

• Before starting shoulder training, be sure to do a general warm-up.
• Watch the position of your elbows, they should not go back.
• We work at full amplitude. But we do not fully extend our arms at the top point.
• We prefer a medium grip.
• Do not press with very heavy weights. One repetition is especially dangerous to test your strength. The minimum number of times must be at least 6 repetitions per set.
• Throughout the entire exercise, keep your back straight. Don't bend your lower back!
• Your movements should be controlled. Feel how your delts work as you press.
• If you have reached a high weight. And during the bench press it is difficult for you to keep your abs tense. Use an athletic belt.
• The grip on the bar must be closed. That is, the thumb envelops the fingerboard. This way you can avoid the barbell falling.

Exercise options

Now let's move directly to the bench press variations. There are quite a lot of them, and they all have their own characteristics.

Classic bench press - how to perform the program correctly

Of course, you should start with the most standard method of execution. It is performed on a horizontal bench with a free barbell with a medium grip.

1. We load the bar with the required number of weights and lie down on the bench.
2. The bar should be at eye level. Naturally, you need to lie straight so that the bar does not become distorted.
3. The shoulder blades, shoulders and buttocks should lie tightly on the bench, maintaining a natural deflection in the lower back.
4. We place our legs tightly on the entire foot on the sides of the bench.
5. Place your hands on the bar with a medium grip, that is, your palms should be slightly wider than your shoulders (photo). An average grip looks something like this:

   There are marks on the fingerboard that you can use to guide you. Ask them to show you clearly how to take wide, narrow or medium

6. In this case, we place our hands so that our palms face in the direction of our legs.
7. As you exhale, you need to lift the barbell from the racks and bring it above your chest with straight arms, this will be the starting position.
8. From this point, inhale and slowly lower the bar, bending your elbows to the middle or bottom of your chest.
9. In this case, we almost touch the barbell to the chest, but do not lower it down.
10. As you exhale, press the projectile up.

We’ll master the classic version first, but if you want progress, you need to try different variations of the exercise.

All other options are technically performed similarly, but have their own nuances, which we will analyze.

Press with touch

Unlike the previous version, where we noted that we bring the barbell almost to contact with the chest, in this case we touch the chest.

Do not place the barbell in such a way as to remove the load from the muscles, do not pause

It is important here that the moment of contact is as short as possible: just touch and immediately forcefully press the barbell up, that is, the exercise is performed without pauses. This allows you to develop explosive power, which will improve your benching performance and can also be useful for martial arts athletes.

The exercise can be performed in any variation, with any grip and with any inclination.

Power Rack Press for Beginners

If it is not possible to resort to the help of a belayer, you can perform the exercise in a frame. At the same time, unlike Smith, you continue to work with free weight, that is, controlling the trajectory using the muscles, nothing limits you. But if you suddenly lose control or are unable to press the barbell, you can throw it and it will fall onto the racks without crushing you.

This is a very good option when recovering from an injury or lacking a partner for insurance. In other variants, such a press only harms

In addition, the frame controls the range of motion. This can be both a minus and a plus. If you have had an injury that does not allow you to put too much strain on your muscles, ligaments, or joints, this is a great option for you. But otherwise, you are simply depriving yourself of work in a wide amplitude, which will affect the speed of progress.

Bench angle

Once you've mastered the flat bench press, it makes sense to try it on an incline. Why is it important? Most likely, like most athletes, you have a lagging chest area. For some it’s the bottom, for others it’s the top, and for others, it’s unlucky with the inside. If you change the angle, you will be able to more thoroughly work the desired area of ​​the pectoral muscles.

Positive slope

If you need to more thoroughly work the upper bundles of the pectoralis major muscle, namely they give the visual effect of a large inflated chest and are difficult to engage in a horizontal bench press, you need to resort to a press with a positive incline.

To work the top bun more effectively, you should use a bench with a positive incline

The higher the slope, the more the upper muscles are activated. But you need to start with a slight slope, about 15 degrees. Subsequently, it needs to be increased to 25–30, rarely to 45.

This inclination option is optimal, the load does not go to the deltoids or triceps

If the degree of inclination is increased too much, then you will work the deltoids much more than the pecs.

If the bench is not adjustable and is fixed at this incline, it is better to find an adjustable bench and lower it lower

Negative slope

If you want to target your lower chest muscles more, you can use a downward incline bench. It is easier to perform bench presses in a negative incline. However, this exercise cannot be done with heavy weight.

In addition, it is forbidden to do the incline press if you have problems with ICP, blood pressure, dizziness and migraines.

You can try making a very small slope - up to 15 degrees. This is not so dangerous, and if you feel well and have no contraindications, you can periodically try this exercise option.

But doing bench presses with an incline of 30 degrees or more is highly undesirable.

Video: Head down press

Option “guillotine” - a technique to increase breast size

As you may have noticed, changing the angle of inclination is quite inconvenient or technically difficult, moreover, you can only influence one area of ​​the chest. The “guillotine” exercise makes it possible to actively connect all three beams, while it is performed on a horizontal bench.

In the classic version, we lower the barbell to the middle or bottom of the chest, but in this case we need to bring the bar to the neck. This, of course, is quite dangerous, so the exercise cannot be performed without a spotter, but if you do the bench press correctly, you will pump up all three bundles of the pectoral muscles well.

In addition, you should take the barbell with a slightly wider grip than the classic one, which will allow you to stretch your chest muscles well when lowering.

A great exercise for working your chest muscles, but make sure you do it as safely as possible!

When you lower the barbell to the neck area, you arch your lower back more than usual, which is not good. This moment needs to be controlled. Some people place their feet on a bench or hold them in the air, as in a crunch. This option is quite risky because you must be sure that you have good control over your movements.

Overall, this exercise is for advanced athletes, otherwise you may lose balance or control at some point during the exercise.

Video: Guillotine press

Machine press - Smith machine

The Smith machine is an excellent option for beginners and for those who are practicing their technique, since the bar is securely fixed in the frame and only moves along a certain trajectory.

The Smith machine is an ideal option for practicing exercise technique

It turns out that the bar only moves up and down, and you do not need to try to keep it from “walking” back and forth. Accordingly, this partially facilitates and slightly isolates the exercise.

In addition, you can perform the bench press without a spotter, because if you feel that you won’t be able to press it, you can hook the barbell to the nearest loops.

The bar in Smith is equipped with hooks and, if necessary, you can fix it at any height

You can use different angles, grips and exercise techniques. And unlike a frame, you are not limited in the vertical range of motion.

Reverse Grip Press

The classic bench press is performed with a direct grip, but you can also try a reverse one.

Keep in mind that if you drop the barbell with this option, it will land on your face and can seriously injure you.

What does this option provide?

1. You can work your upper pectoral muscles without using an incline bench.
2. The triceps quite strongly “steal” the load from the pectoral muscles in the horizontal press, but in this case this does not happen: both muscles are equally intensively involved in the work.
3. With a narrow arm position, you do not have to make sure that your elbows do not diverge to the sides.

Video: Reverse Grip Press

Narrow and wide hand placement

We've already talked a little about different grips. In this vein, it is important to pay attention to the width of the hands on the bar. A lot depends on this too.

Wide stance

The wider we spread our arms, the better we work and stretch the pectoral muscles.

At a young age, this exercise helps expand the diaphragm.

You can perform the exercise with different inclinations, forward and reverse grip. However, you need to be careful, because with a lot of weight and poor preparation at the bottom point you can stretch the chest muscles.

Narrow staging

If we need to work on the triceps muscle, then we should place our hands close to each other. At the same time, it is important to pay attention that the elbows are close to the body and do not “go” to the sides. To achieve this, you can try the reverse grip we talked about above.

Do not place your hands too close, as the load on the elbow joints increases. Some people press their palms together; this is quite reckless, as it can cause negative consequences for the joints. Shoulder width or slightly narrower is enough.

There is no point in bringing your hands together, take care of your elbow joints

Floor press

Now this version of the bench press is not very popular, but it is a good way to increase your performance, since the support under your body is more correct: when you press from the bench, your shoulders most often do not lie completely on the surface, because the width of the bench is not enough, and this a very important point.

This option helps to better pump the pectoral muscles and increases the strength of the athlete

If you press from the floor, then your shoulder blades, shoulders, and buttocks lie tightly and with their entire surface on the base.

You can keep your legs extended or bend your knees and place them on your feet. The second option is preferable, since this way you have another point of support. But it is important to make sure that you do not press your feet into the floor while helping yourself to press the weight.

Another important point is that you need to better control the movement, since your amplitude is strictly limited, and if you are used to “dropping” your arms down, you can damage the elbow joint upon impact.

How many repetitions and sets should you do?

You should never start training with a working weight. Perform at least 1 warm-up and 1 warm-up set to prepare your body for the workout.

The warm-up approach should be performed with a light weight that you can press 15-20 times.

Leading - about 70–75% of the working weight. You should be able to squeeze it out 10-12 times.

You can work with working weight in different ways. Perform 6–8 repetitions to increase muscle growth, and usually 5–7 to increase strength. In the first case, do about 4-5 approaches. And if you're looking to increase strength, you'll need to be more careful with your training plan, which will include days when you try to set your own record.

A Simple and Effective Bench Press Training Program

Before I end this article, I want to share with you a simple and effective bench press workout program that will help make your chest bigger and stronger.

Here she is:

Day 1:

• Incline bench press: warm up, then 3 sets of 4-6 reps (80-85% of 1RM);
• Incline dumbbell press: 3 sets of 4-6 reps;
• Barbell bench press: 3 sets of 4-6 reps.

Day 3:

• Close Grip Press: 3 sets of 4-6 reps

Day 4

• Barbell bench press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps (70-75% of 1RM);
• Military press standing or seated: 3 sets of 4-6 reps;

Yes, just 15 heavy chest sets per week. This load may seem easy to you, but try it - it's harder than you think.

Press for girls

Girls quite often avoid barbell bench presses, preferring to work with light weights. Many people assume that when using a projectile weighing more than 5-7 kg, they will either begin to hypertrophy their pectoral muscles in a male pattern, or reduce their breasts by several sizes, causing local weight loss (which is impossible, since fat is lost only from the entire body).

To really acquire muscles similar to men’s, it is necessary to engage in strength sports with heavy weights and at the same time use appropriate hormonal drugs, since normal female hormonal levels are simply not suitable for building up such an amount of muscle mass.

Breasts shrink due to loss of fatty tissue

Professional athletes resort to drugs because they have the task of increasing muscles for competitions and performances.

In other cases, your figure will remain feminine, but will acquire beautiful relief and developed muscles.

Don’t be mistaken and think that there are exercises that can change your breast size for the better. To understand this, it is enough to once again turn to the anatomy of the breast.

In the case of male breasts, the loss of adipose tissue, on the contrary, helps to better show relief and make the pectoral muscles drier

The male chest has a significantly smaller layer of fat, which is immediately followed by muscle, so it lends itself well to hypertrophy. A woman's breasts have a layer of fat around them, inside they consist of the mammary gland, and then come the muscles, so you can only strengthen and tighten them, which will visually make the breasts more attractive.

For girls, the lower bundle of muscles plays a more important role, so the horizontal bench press is quite suitable for them.

You should also periodically use a narrow forward and narrow reverse grip to work the shoulder area. This is often a problem area for women.

It will be more convenient to use a lightweight bar weighing up to 10 kg. And the weight of the projectile itself can reach 30–40 kg. It makes no sense to take more if you do not play sports professionally. 3-4 approaches will be enough.

Standards

The bench press (the standards for this exercise depend on the athlete’s constitution) is performed with large or minimal weights.

The table below presents the basic standards for lifting this sports equipment for women, taking into account their total body weight:

The above standards provide for the performance of the classic bench press by women who are not veterans of the sport. These indicators apply to athletes who do not use steroid hormones and other drugs that add physical strength, endurance, and energy.

Mistakes when pressing - how to grip the bar correctly, breathe, where to lower it

There are many disputes regarding the technique and variations of the bench press to this day, but there are generally accepted mistakes that are made quite often.

1. The grip should be closed. With an open grip, the bar is likely to slip out and fall on you.

   Left - closed grip, right - open

2. The hand should not be tilted back, keep your arm straight.
3. The belay should be carried out by someone who knows how to do it, and not by someone who is simply in the right weight category to support the barbell if something happens.
4. Don't "kick" the barbell at the bottom. Many athletes, for various reasons, take a weight that is too heavy for them and, having lowered the bar to their chest, hit the chest to make it easier to press the bar up. It is clear that this can lead to injury.
5. When you have removed the barbell and brought it up, make sure that you have taken the correct position of your body and arms, there is no need to rush. This will only lead to the technique being incorrect.
6. Do not arch into a strong bridge. This position can lead to injury and make the exercise easier, which will hinder progress in strength development.

   For powerlifters, this option is a way to win at any cost; when training for yourself, strong bending should be avoided

7. Do not lift or turn your head during any phase of the exercise. This can lead to pinched vertebrae.
8. A short range of motion can also be considered a mistake. This happens when the muscles are weak, and many beginners are guilty of this. In this case, the muscles will remain weak. To get stronger, they need to receive more load and work in a larger range.
9. Don't forget about breathing.

Video: Common mistakes when performing bench presses

How to perform the bench press correctly and safely?

When you come to the gym, don't rush straight to the barbell.

. Stretch your muscles and joints, otherwise there is a risk of injury.

When you have already started the exercise, try not to lift your pelvis from the bench

. Otherwise, the load will be distributed unevenly and there is a chance of injuring the lower back.

It is important to follow simple breathing techniques

. You need to lift the barbell while exhaling and lower it while inhaling. Don't make sudden movements. The whole process must go smoothly, otherwise you can tear the ligaments in your shoulders.

Photo: istockphoto.com

Try to watch your feet

, they should stand tightly on the surface and not stand on their toes. The same applies to the head, which should be pressed tightly against the bench. This will avoid pain in the neck.

Choose the right weight

. Don’t immediately rush to big “pancakes”; it’s better to gradually increase them with each workout. Remember that when bench pressing, quality is more important than the number of pounds lifted.

And don't do heavy strength training every day.

. Muscles must have time to rest. If your gym has a pool and sauna, then swimming and steaming is the ideal end to the training day after the bench press.

Alternative exercises that can replace workouts

If for some reason you cannot practice the bench press with a barbell, namely:

• you have had an injury;
• you are recovering from an injury or illness;
• you do not train in the gym and do not have the opportunity to purchase a barbell;
• the barbell in the gym is busy (this happens quite often), etc.;

you can try other exercises that are similar in execution and distributed load.

First of all, you can perform bench presses in a hummer. In this case, the exercise becomes conditionally basic: you still perform a bench press, but in this case there is no need to hold the barbell and coordinate it, you definitely won’t be pinned down - you don’t need a spotter, but changing the slope of the load won’t be particularly possible.

An excellent analogue for practicing barbell bench press technique.

The second option is the dumbbell press. It is slightly different, for example, you will not be able to lift the same weight as with a barbell, but in this case, each arm works separately, which will allow you to refine lagging muscles and, for example, rehabilitate an injured arm. In addition, it is often easier to find a free bench and dumbbells in the gym than to wait for a barbell to become free.

The dumbbell press has many benefits and should be included in your training program just like the barbell press.

The next option cannot be called completely similar, but it can be used much more conveniently anywhere and without additional equipment. We're talking about push-ups. This works the back a little more, but you can also vary your grip, technique, and effectively target your pecs, deltoids, biceps, and triceps.

In some cases, you can practically replace the barbell press with push-ups and achieve good results by working only with your own weight

Cons of the barbell press

There are two main disadvantages of the military press, including the risk of injury and the likelihood of damaging the barbell or falling during training. Due to the increased load, athletes are recommended to exercise in a special athletic belt, and for those who have back problems, in an orthopedic one.

Why might the barbell fall? The most common reasons: too much weight and inexperience of the trainee. What to do in such cases? It is recommended to first practice the exercise technique and not exceed the permissible working weight, as this can have an extremely negative impact on an unprepared body. And one more important note - in no case should you start doing the military press without first warming up.

Taking into account all the subtleties of the standing and sitting barbell press, you can achieve good results, avoid the risk of injury and pay attention to some subtleties during training.

Interesting Facts

Here are a number of outstanding records in the history of the bench press.

• The world record for bench press in multi-equipment belongs to the American Ryan Kennealy and is 485.4 kg in the 155+ weight category.
• The Russian record holder for bench press in multi-equipment is Tsukanov Maxim, he was able to bench press 267.5 kg in the heavy weight category 140+.
• Without equipment, the maximum pressed weight is 319.8 kg, and this record belongs to James Henderson. Weight category is also 155+.
• If we talk about girls, the current world record for bench press in multi-equipment is 188.2 kg. It was established in 2016 by Lexi Harris in the heavy weight category of 100+ kg.
• Without equipment, Abigail Wade was able to squeeze the most; her record is 150 kg in the 100+ weight category.

The video presents the standards and execution schemes, and will also tell you how much athletes work out to achieve a rank.

Basic mistakes

Excessive weight

This is the biggest problem that 80% of people in the gym face. Everyone wants to express themselves and show everyone that they are not timid. Therefore, when performing an overhead barbell press, athletes strive to increase the weight of the weight as quickly as possible. At the same time, completely forgetting about the execution technique and one’s own safety. As a result, instead of large and strong muscles, they will receive injuries to the shoulder, back or neck. Therefore, do not try to quickly increase the weight of the barbell. Work on your technique, and slowly increase the weight by 2.5-5 kg ​​every two weeks (this is important for beginners).

Throwing your head up

I have already said that during execution, the gaze should be directed forward and slightly upward. If you start looking at the bar while lifting. You will automatically arch your lower back. As a result, your position will become unstable and you may fall. And the consequences of such a fall can be very terrible. Even if you manage to stand on your feet, your spine will experience terrible pain. If you want to see yourself doing this exercise, use a mirror. They are placed in gyms specifically for this purpose.

Converting Barbell Overhead Presses to Shvungs

Shvungs are an exercise somewhat reminiscent of a standing press. It is especially popular in CrossFit. To perform pushups, the athlete connects his legs while pressing upward. That is, he squats a little. And at the moment of straightening the legs, he presses the barbell upward. I don't argue that this is a great exercise. But before you start, you need to know a certain technique. And if you follow everything according to the instructions, then the result will be good. When do we begin to turn the overhead barbell press into shungs? Instead of using their legs to help themselves, beginners lean back too far. This is fraught with loss of balance or spinal injury. Therefore, if you cannot completely exclude your legs from the exercise. Then reduce the weight of the barbell, or perform seated bench presses with a barbell or in a Smith machine.

Following all the advice given above and avoiding these mistakes. You can make your training as comfortable as possible. And also avoid many different injuries.

Good luck to everyone in your training!