The bench press. It’s one of many unique ceremony of passage workout routines that many lifters spend numerous—oftentimes too many—hours towards perfecting. When you’re a newbie, you probably carried out two foremost workout routines—biceps curl and bench press. Then, the love affair begins.
The bench press is an upper-body powerhouse transfer—it builds energy, muscle, and power within the chest, shoulders, and triceps due to a few components.
- The fastened vary of movement and the comparatively straight urgent path means that you can carry heavier weight.
- Plus, mendacity on a weight bench provides you the steadiness to make this all occur.
During this quest to create increasingly more 1RMs, plateaus and soreness will ultimately occur. You get caught and may see no approach out of your bench press purgatory—eight coaches who love the bench press as a lot as you provide you with skilled ideas to enhance it.
Now, the following pointers are designed so that you can attempt just some directly to search out what works for you. If they do nice, you’ve discovered an answer. If not, attempt the subsequent one to see in case your bench press efficiency will lastly bust by its plateau.
Happy benching.
FAT GRIPZ: Kevin Mullins Jr,
CSCS, B.S. Kinesiology, University of Maryland, Director of Product Development – The St. James
For years, powerlifters, power athletes, and bodybuilders have been utilizing grip-fattening instruments to extend the demand on the forearms and, in some workout routines, the biceps and triceps throughout main lifts. And it really works.
Yet, many miss out on the good thing about utilizing Fat Gripz on their bench press—a typical mistake because you aren’t precisely “gripping” your dumbbells or barbell throughout urgent actions a lot as you’re underneath the load fulcrum.
However, utilizing a fatter grip level can dramatically improve pectoral muscular recruitment throughout your bench press – an epic trick of the commerce to stimulate hypertrophy or enhance muscle recruitment earlier than a extra maximal effort.
How to do it:
- The physique possesses one thing often known as the “irradiation concept,” a scientific precept that states that muscle contraction in a single place impacts contraction in different areas. In its easiest clarification, your entire physique is linked to enhance complete drive manufacturing and distribute stress equally and appropriately throughout numerous muscle methods. Excellent for max effort deadlifts, squats, or stealing a brand new pullup PR…
- Not so helpful to focus on (isolate) muscle tissue and create a higher sensation.
- Being in a position to wrap your whole grip round a barbell or dumbbell will increase the recruitment of the triceps and forearm tissue – thus eliminating a number of the load positioned upon the shoulder complicated and, in the end, the pectorals.
- The fattened grip handles lower your capability to make the most of the decrease and higher arm muscle mass and switch extra drive into the pectorals, lats, and posterior deltoids (through the reducing part). This will boost your coaching impact without having so as to add extra weight.
For muscle progress: Try three units of 8 to 10 repetitions with a 4-2-1 tempo (eccentric, isometric, concentric) in your subsequent flat or incline bench press. Go lighter and emphasize the sensation of breakdown as a substitute of merely shifting the resistance.
For power: Try 5 units of three repetitions at 80% of your 1RM to extend sensation and kinesthetic consciousness. Press in the identical method you’ll execute your bigger lifts and relaxation roughly 45 seconds between the Fat Grip model units.
USE YOUR FEET
Allan Bacon, Ph.D.,on-line private coach specializing in coaching powerlifters and physique composition purchasers
If you need a greater bench, take note of your ft! Perfecting leg drive on the bench press means that you can be stronger, preserve the higher again place, and defend your shoulders concurrently.
How Use Your Feet For a Better Bench Press
- Find comfy foot placement. This will both be with ft flat or urgent by the ball of your foot.
- “Screw” or lock your ft into the ground.
- While holding your ft locked and beginning along with your torso farther up the bench, slide down the bench so far as your foot lock will permit and is comfy to determine tightness. This sometimes finally ends up along with your shins vertical.
- Tilt your hips up and again in direction of your shoulders (retaining your glutes involved with the pad) whereas concurrently retracting and miserable your shoulders.
- To preserve tightness by “leg drive,” use your ft to push each down by the ground and ahead in direction of your toes (or away from you) to lock your entire physique into place. In a flat foot stance (which I like to recommend), give attention to urgent down and away with the surface of your heel.
- Maintain tightness all through the carry out of your legs to hips to shoulders.
A particular observe concerning the setup: if you happen to discover it excessively troublesome to push each down and away from you, then your ft are seemingly in an incorrect place. If you’re feeling you’ll be able to push down however not away, then your ft are too far in direction of your shoulders. If you’re feeling you’ll be able to push away however not down, your ft are positioned too far in entrance of you.
KEEP YOUR BUTT ON THE BENCH
Andrew Heming, MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, a former college head power coach, professor, and coach
If you need to compete in powerlifting, you could preserve your butt on the bench. If you will brag about how a lot you’ll be able to bench, you could preserve your butt on the bench. If you need to know if the burden you’re including to the bar is making your higher physique develop greater and stronger, it’s essential preserve your butt on the bench.
How to Keep Your Butt On The Bench:
- You can begin by taking part in with the place of your ft in your set-up.
- If your ft are too slim or too excessive up, you’ll improve the prospect of your butt popping up. However, it’s also possible to use the trick I realized years in the past to provide you useful suggestions and repair this drawback.
You can use this method along with your common bench press coaching – no particular workout routines, no added time.
BOARD PRESS
Chris Cooper, power and diet coach at Nerd Fitness
This bench press variation is whenever you put a picket board or board in your chest to shorten the vary of movement. The hardest a part of enhancing your bench press is getting previous sticking factors within the carry. A typical sticking level is when the bar is closest to the chest. Think concerning the final time you struggled on the bench.
If you shorten the vary of movement utilizing a board, you’ll be able to push extra weight, strengthening the sticking factors the place you’re struggling. You can even use the 2-Board Press when the complete vary of movement presses bothers your shoulders. This approach, we are able to preserve getting a coaching impact with out compromising the joint.
How to Do It
- Set your self up such as you would for an everyday bench press set with the addition of getting a board in your chest.
- If you’re coaching with a associate, they’ll maintain it for you; in any other case, placing it underneath your shirt works effectively.
- Unrack the bar and decrease it to the board, and press.
The 2-board press can be utilized as a major power carry for the day instead of your scheduled bench urgent if power is your objective. If extra muscle is the tip objective, put the 2-board press in your program as an adjunct train aiming for 8+ reps.
BAND ASSISTED & RESISTED BENCH PRESS
Travis Pollen, Ph.D., train science professor and private coach
Many bench pressers’ weak level is their lockout. Two of the most effective options for attacking this weak point are band-assisted and band-resisted urgent, which let you overload the top quality of movement (ROM).
How to do the Band Assisted and Resisted Bench Press
- In the band-assisted variation, you place a loop resistance band round your higher arms (like a bench shirt in outfitted powerlifting).
- The band stretches as you decrease the bar, offering a lot of assist on the backside of the rep. The band means that you can use a heavier load on the bar than regular since you solely expertise the complete load on the high of the ROM when the band is minimally stretched.
- In the band-resisted variation, you maintain a loop resistance band in your arms and wrap it round your higher again.
- The band gives additional resistance on the high of the ROM in its stretched place. The band pressure decreases as you decrease the bar, lightening the general load (bar plus band) on the backside of the rep.
Choose one of many variations, and spend 4 to 6 weeks engaged on it as soon as per week, both as your foremost bench variation or as an adjunct. Three working units of 6-8 reps will do the trick.
PIN PRESS WITH FEET UP
Mike T. Nelson, Ph.D., a metabolism health skilled, power coach, and educator specializing in tailoring diet to every particular person’s wants
The pin press with ft up works wonderful in case your sticking level is on the backside or just a few inches of the underside since 1) You’re doing it with a protracted pause to scale back the contribution of the gentle tissue being in a stretched place, so the muscle has to work more durable. 2) You are doing it with a flat again, so there’s an elevated vary of movement for a higher coaching impact as an adjunct motion.
How to do the Pin Press With Feet Up
- Set up in an influence rack with security pins on the backside place.
- Lower the bar all the way down to the pins along with your ft up on the bench so your low again can be pushed into the bench flat (no arch or leg drive).
- After a backside pause of 5 seconds, drive the bar up.
Best as an adjunct motion after the extra particular bench work is completed; this may be on the identical day or a separate day. Repeat for reps across the 5 -12 vary for two to 4 units.
1.5 REP BENCH PRESS
Korey Van Wyk, CSCS Trade & Professional Acquisitions Editor for Human Kinetics
The 1.5 rep bench press can improve your bench press in a number of methods. If you’re weak within the backside half of your press (from off the chest to midway up) will strengthen that portion of the carry and make you a extra environment friendly presser by enhancing your approach. Repeating the underside a part of the carry means that you can follow hitting the right spot in your chest and ensure your bar path is on observe.
How To Do The 1.5 Bench Press
- Set up as you often would to your normal bench press; decrease the bar to your chest, however as a substitute of urgent all of it the best way up, you’ll press it midway up and cease. At the midway level, pause for a minimum of one second. This is a vital side of the carry as it is going to drive you into correct wrist/elbow alignment and bar path.
- As for the precise stopping level on the best way up, you’ve a bit wiggle room. It doesn’t should be precisely midway up, however the place you’re feeling you’re the weakest within the ROM of your press. After the pause, decrease again all the way down to your chest and pause once more. This second pause is one other approach checkpoint, as defined above. Finally, after the second pause, explosively drive the bar off your chest to lockout.
One of my favourite methods to include this motion right into a program is within the warm-up. Rather than mindlessly pumping out reps a lighter weights, use that point to refine your approach and heat up concurrently. Use it till you get to a weight that may trigger you to get bored with the variety of reps you’re doing. Then change to common reps for the rest of your warm-up and work units. That alone could possibly be the spark you want for brand spanking new positive factors!
SHOULDER TORQUE FOR A BETTER BENCH PRESS
Dr. Bo Babenko, a bodily therapist and power coach specializing in strengthening the thoughts, physique, and soul
So, you’re able to take your bench press to the subsequent stage? The idea of torque is one which any physicist will certainly go on for about hours, but it surely’s generally missing within the extra superior levels of power coaching. I’ve heard of high-level lifters, who’ve set world information, and use the idea of torque.
Understanding these ideas can result in improved shoulder mechanics and fewer damage. Getting higher at “separating the bar“ is low, hanging fruit you’ll be able to construct in as you progress your pushing capability.
How to do It:
- When you bench press, it’s merely rotating your thumbs out away from one another, which will also be regarded as supination ( like holding a bowl of soup in your palm).
- With the elbow straight, that is known as the exterior rotation of the shoulder.
Performing this, you enhance the steadiness and energy of your shoulder. Include these in your warm-up to prime the muscle mass with three units of 12 reps with any weight underneath 90%, and take into account together with this between units that construct up towards maxes or weights above 90%.