Bench Press 101: A Step By Step Guide On How To Increase Your Bench Press
This article is aimed at beginner/novice lifters, but many intermediate and advanced lifters can also benefit from it. I’ll walk you through, step by step, from setup to lockdown and everything in between. On the surface, the bench press seems like a simple exercise, but in reality, at a competitive level, there are a lot of different little techniques that can maximize your press. Always remember that you are not a bodybuilder trying to isolate your chest muscles. This is a full-body movement, and almost every muscle in your body is used to perform a powerlifter-style weightlifting.
Startup
When you’re ready to bench, you’ll want to position your body in the best way to maximize strength and minimize the chance of injury. You’ll need to focus on several things during your setup:
1. You should pull your shoulder blades down and back as hard as you can. Think of trying to touch your shoulder blades.
2. Your chest should be as high as possible. You’ll want to arch your upper and lower back while making sure your butt stays in contact with the bench. There should be space between your lower back and the bench, at least enough for someone to slide their hand under you.
3. Foot position. There are two (2) basic styles of footing: feet forward and feet back. Each style has advantages and disadvantages. I have seen great bankers use both standing positions. You have to try both styles and see which one works best for your body style and bench press technique.
FEET IN FRONT: This is the most common foot placement. This foot placement has two advantages. First, it puts you in position to generate the maximum amount of leg drive. The second advantage is that your wide base will help keep you balanced throughout the lift. Your knees will be bent so that your upper and lower leg are fairly close to an 80-110 degree angle. You’ll be bringing your foot forward so that your toes want to go through the front of the shoe without your foot moving on the ground. Try to imagine using the same force to perform a leg extension with the only difference being that your leg will remain stationary. The force you generate from the leg drive will allow you to maintain your upper and lower back arches and help transfer your full body force to the lift.
FEET BACK: This is a lesser used foot placement technique. If you are not flexible, it will be difficult to get to this standing position. This foot placement does not allow you to generate as much driving force in your legs. It’s also harder to keep your balance throughout the lift. However, it has a great advantage over the feet in the forward position. The position of the feet back will allow you to have a more aggressive arch. By having a larger arch, you will shorten your range of motion.
When you get into the feet-back stance, you’ll most likely be on the balls of your feet. I’ve seen a couple of lifters able to get their legs back with their feet flat on the ground, but that’s very rare. The upper and lower legs will form an angle of 60 to 40 degrees. You’ll want to lower your heels while doing the same leg extension press.
4. Find the best hand position on the bar. Every lifter has their own preferred grip width. Most lifters prefer to have their pinky, ring, or middle fingers on the smooth ring of the bar. A tighter grip gives you better strength in the lower part, but increases the range of motion. A wider grip is harder on your chest, but shortens your range of motion. Experiment with different hand positions to find out what works best for your banking style. Now that you’re ready, grab the bar with your thumb wrapped around the bar. Squeeze it as hard as possible. This will activate your muscles and let your body know that you’re about to lift. Once you get a grip on the bar, if you feel like the coil has loosened or your shoulder blades aren’t as tight as possible, you should try resetting and tightening more while keeping your grip on the bar.
5. It’s time for you to take your hands off. A good takeoff man is worth his weight in gold. You want him to lift and bring the bar towards you until you are in an optimal starting position. I prefer my starting position to be in line with the bottom of my chest. Make sure your take-off man doesn’t lift the bar too high, that will open up your shoulder blades and throw you out of position.
6. Now that you have the bar in your hands, you are ready for the drop/negative. The speed of the descent is different with each lifter. The speed with which you feel strongest will be your best speed. A bodybuilder can have a 90 degree angle between his upper arms and his body. You should try to have a maximum angle of 70 degrees, closer to 60-40 ounces, it gets used. Always make sure your elbow and wrist are in line. If he tries to touch your lower chest and your elbows aren’t tucked in far enough, then your wrists will be ahead of your elbows; that’s a dangerous position to be in. Try to play slowly more and more until you find your strongest point. It should be around the bottom of your chest, or a bit lower if you’re tucked in enough and have a decent arch.
If you’re benching correctly, you’ll feel it in your back and lats. Try to bend the bar as it goes down. You will bend from the little fingers by rotating your hand so that your right hand rotates clockwise and your left hand rotates counterclockwise. As the bar lowers, you should engage your lats and try to think of it as if the bar lowering your body is a rubber band. You’re building up kinetic energy, and when it hits your chest, you explode with all that built-up energy. If you’re benching correctly, you’ll feel it in your back and lats.
7. As you press down on the bar, it’s natural for most people’s elbows to flare out. Try to keep your elbows tucked in until at least halfway through the press. You will experiment and discover what works best for you; Whichever way allows you to bank the most will be your best option. Each rep of the work set should be pressed with maximum effort. You should always explode from below and use that momentum to your advantage. Speed and momentum are your friends; using speed and max chest strength will become second nature. When it comes time for max effort lifts, you’ll instinctively push through any natural sticking points.
8. Now, enough reading. Get under the bar and smash a PR.