The Art of the Bench Press

Posted by Chris on May 18, 2009 in Workout Info | 2 comments

For those about to bench…

Like most things in life, you have choices. You can choose to do things any old way, or you can choose to do things the right way. When it comes to weight lifting ensuring proper technique is used will help to keep ones body away from injury. Injury is a nasty thing, especially once you start seeing good results. The bench press is your staple chest workout, it is a ‘ruler’ used by many people to measure ones strength. Think back to when you first started lifting, what did people ask you? Most likely they asked how much you could bench. There is good reasoning behind this question, quite simply the bench press requires more upper body strength than any other upper body workout, note leg work outs do require even more strength.

The Art of the Bench Press is not a hard art to master,  it requires focus, especially on detail, and determination. The more you concentrate on your form, the more you won’t be focused on how heavy the weight is, a great strategy for lifting more weight. In most cases a transition from sloppy, to perfected form will increase your max bench press by 10-15lbs. of course this is a general rule, however most people should fall into this range.

Proper Form

There are a few steps to remember when getting into proper form:

1. Feet flat, absolutely flat on the floor
2. Knees bent at a 90 degree angle
3. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and press them firmly against the bench
4. Arch your lower back directly above your butt
5. Here is where things vary, people with short arms typically want a closer grip on the bar, while people with longer arms usually want a wider grip. Most gyms have barbells that are some what gripped and have markings. Usually you can find a smooth spot on the bar that serves as a mid area. Short armed folks should go towards the inside of the smooth spot, while long armed folks want to keep hand placement to the outside of bar.

This should serve as a good, solid base to begin your lift. The actual lift will be detailed further down. The best way to get used to using proper form as second nature is to repeatedly set yourself in this position and lift with just the bar. Getting used to light weight with proper form will help you better prepare for a more taxing weight. Although I did say that benching with proper form adds weight to your lift, depending on how long you have been using improper form will affect exactly how fast you get to your new max weight.

Smith Machine vs. Free Weight Benching

Now don’t get me wrong, Smith Machines have their place and purpose. However, when it comes to benching I tend to stay away, unless I don’t have a spotter, in which case I use the Smith Machine in order to be safe. A Smith Machine is generally a lighter bar then a barbell, but this isn’t the main problem. When you bench with free weights, you are working more muscles then your chest and triceps. Why? It is simple you have muscles that help control your balance, as well as keep your arms up and prevent them from swaying. The more free weight benching you do the stronger these auxiliary muscles will become, an important step if you ever want to be benching some serious weight. Now Smith Machines are on a track and slide up and down, meaning you aren’t using muscles to keep the bar in place. In many cases you are actually fighting the machines track because you want to lift the bar in a different direction. So put more simply, Free Weight benching builds more strength and muscle then the smith machine, as well as help improve your other lifts that use the auxiliary muscles.

The Lift Off

Now that we have proper form down pact, as well as hand placement, we can work on the actual lift. To start we want to focus on our breathing, as we lift the bar we breath out, on the decline we breath in, and finally on the lift we breath out again. A very important thing to remember is to keep your core (abs) tight and compressed to create a more solid frame. Once you begin to lower the bar from the high point of the lift you want to keep a steady pace and stop with your arms forming a 90 angle with the ground. Many people tend to go to far down on the decline and can hyper extend their chest. Let your arms become perpendicular to the ground. Another important thing to note is the chest bounce, you make see many people who let the bar come down way to fast and bounce off of their chest. This is a very dangerous way to bench and can result in serious sternum injury. Most people use this technique because it helps build momentum for the drive back up. Remember on the lift off from (above) your chest you want to exhale and extend your arms while squeezing your chest. Congratulations you have just completed a proper push-up!

Breathing Technique

A very important thing to remember when doing any exercise is how to breath properly, yes there is a proper way. Mastering your breathing can help increase focus and your strength! To start with the bench press it is best to inhale on your descent. When you are about to begin lifting the bar back up, you should tighten your abs and your core in order to maximize posture, and also exhale as you raise the bar. By mastering your breathing technique you will be fueling your muscles with more oxygen at the right time!

Feel free to leave a comment with any questions or suggestions.

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