What is barbell bench press

Start in the press-up position with your hands underneath your shoulders, your core tight, and your toes together so your body forms a straight line from head to heels. Read on for our comprehensive guide to the bench press to add muscle size and strength across your upper body. What could go wrong, right?

In reality it can be very easy to tear the stabilising rotator cuff muscles around your shoulders that can be difficult to patch up. Prevention is far better than cure, so set your ego to one side and first learn how to perform it safely.

Watching others in the weights room it might be tempting to start pressing with bench at different angles. So make the flat bench the cornerstone of your chest-building strategy and include incline variations to hit your upper chest and front shoulders. The best way to correct this is to simply lighten the load.

When you unrack the bar, keep them set by imagining pushing yourself into the bench instead of lifting the bar upwards.

If not, then you had better start becoming more consistent. Changing your grip width can have a huge effect on what muscles are working and how much weight you can lift.

Having a slightly wider or narrower grip can make you drastically weaker or stronger, making it difficult to accurately gauge progress. Tap your chest then press it up — you should be in control the entire time. Overusing a muscle group can lead to injuries. If you like variety, you can pick two variations per workout. Try to give yourself a rest day allowing muscles to recover before switching between the other variations. Use the steps above for a traditional bench press, but grip barbell with hands shoulder-width throughout the movement.

Equipment needed: 2 dumbbells or barbell, incline bench angled between 45 and 60 degrees. If you want to add bench presses into your weightlifting routine, try to perform bench presses only two to three times per week. Give yourself at least a day between doing bench presses to allow your muscles to recover. The number of reps you perform per each session depends on your fitness goals.

If you are using very heavy weight, doing just 3 to 5 reps at a time may be enough to be effective. You can perform up to 3 sets, resting a few minutes between sets. Other exercises you might want to perform on chest and back day include bent-over rows , chinups, and diamond pushups. For a full-body workout, spend another day focusing on legs and shoulders by doing squats , lunges , and overhead presses.

You should also include cardiovascular exercises like running, swimming, or cycling in your weekly routine. Following this type of varied routine is important for making sure you are working your entire body. This grip width seems to work best for most. Before you press up the bar to the starting position, take a deep breath into your belly degrees of air around your spine , brace your core I like to pretend that I am about to block a soccer ball with my stomach , lightly tuck your rib cage towards your hips close the space in your midsection , tighten the muscles in your upper back and draw shoulder blades together and down towards the opposite back pocket in your pants , and squeeze your glutes.

Once you've unracked the bar, it should be directly over your shoulders and your elbows, forearms and wrists should be in a vertical position. Your shoulders should remain packed keep your arms in their sockets. Before you lower the bar down in a controlled manner you can think of it as a rowing motion rather than letting the bar drop , take another deep deep breath into your belly, brace your core, lightly tuck your rib cage towards your hips, tighten your upper back, squeeze your glutes, and lower the bar.

The bar should touch between your sternum and mid-chest, your elbows should remain at about a 75 degree angle with your body, and your forearms should remain vertical. Once the bar touches your sternum to mid chest, press the bar away from your body so it returns to the starting position just over your shoulders , and lock your elbows at the top but do not hyperextend them.

Drive your feet into the floor for the duration of the exercise as this helps engage the muscles in the lower body, and also provides additional stability to your entire body. The bench press is a full body exercise. A slight arch is ok. Do not allow your hips to leave the bench. Reset and repeat for the desired number of reps.

Video Transcription: When it comes to determining what proper technique for a barbell bench press looks like, first and foremost you must figure out what your specific goal is. Show Me the Free Courses. Avoid arching the lower back. Instead, keep your hips on the bench throughout the entire movement. Routines with this exercise. Workout Routines 4-Week Chest Chisel With minor tweaks and subtle changes to your exercise form, you can be sure to finish your chest training on a high note Thank you for signing up.

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