So, you call yourself a bodybuilder? Think people can tell that you hit the weights? Well, what's the most common question they ask about your physique endeavors? How thick your quads are? How much you can shoulder press? Nope - they wanna know how much you can bench - and unless you come back with a decent enough number they're gonna dismiss you as a limp wristed try hard, no matter how striated your hamstrings happen to be. It may not be fair but the bench press is the standard by which we measure gym manliness. It's the grand daddy of upper body exercises, the number one chest, triceps and deltoid mass builder. It's also the most egotistical movement in the gym and, not surprisingly, the most abused, badly performed, over indulged and potentially dangerous thing you can do there short of risking arrest. Fortunately, bad bench press form is not inevitable.
Follow some common sense suggestions with our back to basics guide and you'll be able to proudly and confidently quote a bench figure that'll have onlookers saying ,"Now that guys a real bodybuilder."
WHY IT'S SO GOOD
The bench press, along with the squat and dead-lift, is a key compound mass builder for the entire body. It places you in a position of power enabling you to lift very heavy weight and therefore exert maximum stress on the working muscles. While its major target area is the chest, it also works the triceps, the shoulders and the back - in other words it gives a damn good workout to the vast majority of your upper body. Here's how:
Chest: The chest is made up of two fan shaped muscles – the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. The pec major attaches to the upper arm and its function is to pull the upper arm across the chest.
The pec minor lies mostly underneath the pec major and its function is to draw the shoulder blade down and forward. Correct bench technique calls for both of these movements - the arms moving forward and the shoulders hunching, making it an ideal chest movement.
Triceps: The triceps brachaii is made up of three heads (long, lateral and medial). Its main function is to extend the elbow and shoulder joints which it does every time you press that bar back towards the rack.
Shoulders: The deltoid is another fan shaped muscle and has three segments or heads (anterior, lateral, posterior). The lateral and posterior heads are stabilizers in the bench press whereas the anterior head (that's the front segment of your shoulders) receives maximum bench press stimulation because it moves your arm upward and towards the chest.
Back: The upper back is made up of seven muscle groups, but when it comes to the bench, we're talking about the lats. The latissimus dorsi pulls the arm back and down towards the spine, meaning that they're involved in the bench press more than you might think. The lats also provide a strength reserve to push from at the bottom of the movement.
STANDARD TECHNIQUE
Before we delve into the specifics of bench press performance lets make it clear what our goal is. We're interested in building muscle, right? The bench is a tool towards that end. That is why we refer to ourselves as bodybuilders rather than power lifters. For power lifters the weight itself is the goal and that means that the exercise, although bearing the same name, is performed in a quite different way to a person who is using it as a tool to build their body. That being said how do we perform the bench press to build muscle? Here is the basic technique:
(1) Lie on a bench with your head, torso and hips resting against it and your feet planted on the floor. Take a hold of the bar with a full overhand grip and with your arms slightly wider than shoulder width. Lift the bar off the rack so that it is being supported above your collar bone.
(2) Pulling your shoulder blades together, slowly lower the bar to just above your nipples. Press back up in a slightly arcing movement until the bar returns to its start position. Stop just short of lockout and remember to keep your shoulder blades pulled back.
OPTIMIZED TECHNIQUE
(1) Either place a four inch block under your feet or position your feet up on the bench. This will lessen the likelihood of back arch during the movement as well as preventing your quads from taking some of the load that should be going to your chest.
(2) After taking a grip on the bar which is wide enough so that your forearms are not quite parallel, lift it off the rack and, with it positioned above your mid chest, pinch your shoulder blades together.
(3) Lower the bar to the sternum (that is, just below the nipples). Your elbows should end up at 70 degree angles to your sides and your forearms should be vertical.
(4) Touch your chest (never bounce), forcefully stretch your pecs and immediately drive upwards, squeezing your lats and arcing the bar up to its start position at mid chest. Lock out briefly between reps. Keep your shoulders down throughout the pressing movement.
(5) Breathing: inhale while the bar is overhead, hold your breath during the descent and breathe out as you press back up.
5 THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER DO ON THE BENCH
(1) Bring the bar down to your upper chest. It will place way too much harmful stress on your shoulders and could, if done repeatedly, land you in line for surgery – which is definitely not recommended.
(2) Perform hip thrusts. The hips MUST stay down on the bench. If they don't not only are you wasting the exercise, you are also courting major lower spinal disc problems.
(3) Use a thimbles grip. It keeps the wrist hyper-extended, making it more injury prone. The thimbles grip also makes it easier to lose control of the bar as well as giving you less grip strength. All of which gives it the big thumbs down.
(4) Let momentum do the work. It should go without saying that every exercise in the gym needs to be done with a controlled movement. Momentum negates your effort, robbing you of results and fooling yourself into thinking that you're strong. In addition, it's dangerous – especially when you're handling heavy poundages. Bottom line - NEVER bounce the bar off your chest when benching.
(5) Twist your neck around – no matter how hot that babe who just came into your peripheral vision looks. If you do you're just asking for upper spinal trouble – a guaranteed recipe for remaining dateless and desperate.
SETS, REPS & FREQUENCY FOR CRITICAL MASS
As we've already noted the bench press is the most egocentric exercise ever invented. So it's no surprise that many trainers overindulge in it. But if you want to build serious muscle nothing will hold you back like spending too much time under the bench. The key is to get in, work the bench hard and heavy as part of an overall mass building program and then get out and let your body grow. Try the following for critical upper body mass in minimal time:
Bench press frequency: once per week
Warm up set: 12 reps
1st working set: 8 reps
2nd working set: 6 reps
3rd working set: 4-6 reps
Keep strict form throughout and make that last rep on sets 2 and 3 the absolute limit of what you're able to do – that means you'll definitely need a spotter to help you force them out. Focus on doing more - in some small way - every workout. That could mean one more rep without a spot or it could mean an extra 2.5 pounds on the bar but keep yourself moving forward.
The above bench press workout should fit into your chest program as follows:
(1) Bench press
(2) Incline dumbbell press 1 x 6-8 (max weight)
(3) Cable flyes 2 x 8-10
(4) Dips 2 x failure
(5) Push ups 1 x failure
VARIATIONS
No single exercise has more variations to it than the bench press. Think about it for a second - there's the incline bench, the decline bench, the machine press, the dumbbell press and even the cable press. So, is there any merit in using any of these adaptations of the old faithful flat bench press? Yes and no. Testing with Electromyography (EMG) equipment has provided some interesting results. EMG testing allows a researcher to see which portions of a muscle are receiving maximal stimulation from a particular exercise. A 1995 study showed that, contrary to popular belief, the flat bench was a better lower pec developer than the decline bench. The study also showed that a slightly wider than normal grip better targets the lower pecs. However, the incline bench, with the angle at about 30 degrees, is a better upper pec stimulator than the flat bench and, this time, a slightly narrower than normal grip works best.
What about dumbbells? Well, the major advantage of dumbbells is that they allow for a fuller range of motion in the fully stretched position. This makes it easier to isolate the pecs. In addition they call into play synergistic muscles in and around the shoulder that are used to stabilize the load. You won't be able to use as much weight with dumbbells and they are a little trickier to get into position but they do have one other major advantage; when the gym is full and people are queuing to use the bench, those heavy dumbbells are usually free.
The bottom line on variation is to build your program around the flat bench, adding inclines and dumbbells as you tailor your workout to the specific needs of your unique chest.
GotBench?
Get Bench!
Is your bench press stuck in a rut? Has your one rep max run out of gas? Need some traction to get those poundages moving again? Here are 3 techniques that are guaranteed to blast you past your bench plateau:
(1) Partial Reps:
You are biomechanically at your weakest a few inches into the upward push of a bench press. That is the point where the upward surge inevitably stalls. Partial reps allow you to concentrate on this portion of the movement. They'll go a long way towards getting you over the hump. Use a bench that allows you to adjust the stops so that they are positioned just above your chest (a Smith machine will do the job nicely). Load the bar with 20 % more than you'd normally use for 8 reps. Now get in position and take the bar from the rack and lower to the bottom stops. Push the bar up about 6 inches, or just beyond the traditional sticking point. Keep your reps within this 6 inch range, concentrating on a slow (2-3 second) descent. Go for about 6 reps, followed by a couple of forced reps with a spotter.
(2) Static Contraction:
Add another 10 % to the weight you were using for your partials and lower the bar to the bottom stops. Get your partner to assist as you push the weight up to that sticking point about 3 inches from the bottom position. Have your partner let go as you try to hold the weight in that position. Hold the bar in that position for as long as you can. This is very taxing and you'll only be able to hack it for a matter of seconds, but the effect on your bench will be dramatic.
(3) Negatives:
20 years ago dropping the weight was an after thought. Today it's called negatives and it has been proven to have a positive effect on your strength and your size. Using negatives on the bench will also get you past any mental road barriers you may have to a certain weight. Load the bar with about 20% more weight than your one rep max. Round up three spotters (one behind and one on either side of the bar). Have your spotters help you get the bar off the rack and then let go as you slowly lower the bar. The lower you get, the less you'll be able to control the weight, but aim for a six to eight slow count to get it down. Once it touches your chest have your spotters lift it back to the start position. After a few reps, you'll be feeling pretty positive about negatives (your upper body will also be a quivering mess, but that's a good thing).
