Beginner Bench Press Technique
Proper bench press technique Everyone loves the bench press, it is a great exercise for building your chest, it is one of the big 3 in weight training along with the Squat and Deadlift.
Below are some techniques to help you maximize your bench and reduce injury.
You will notice that an olympic bar has smooth rings at different spacings, these help you in adjusting your grip.
The first thing you want to do is start with an empty bar to determine the proper spacing for your hands.
Lie down on the bench and take the bar and lower it to your chest.
You want your forearms to be as close to straight up and down as possible, if your forearms flare out a bit, just adjust your grip, remember those smooth rings, see where your hand placement is in relation to the ring, now you know where your hands should be.
Next you can put some weight on the bar and lie back and put your feet firmly on the floor, back flat and perform your reps.
There are some people who put their feet on the bench or arch their backs.
I don't think either of these is a good habit to get into, however if you want to put your feet up on the bench and you are more comfortable doing it, then do it.
Just be careful because you aren't as stable when doing this.
Power lifter's will arch their backs, but if you are reading this, you probably aren't a powerlifter.
This is just a basic into to bench pressing with good technique.
Pinch your shoulder blades together.
You can this to help you, imagine that there is a pen between your shoulder blades, squeeze your shoulder blades together to hold the pen, you also will lift your chest up, hold this position from start to finish in the bench press.
Take the bar off the rack and slowly lower it to your chest.
Don't bounce it off your chest Lower the bar until your arms are at a 90 degree bend or lightly touches your chest.
Stopping at 90 degree is said to lessen strain on joints.
I lower the weight until it barely or just before it touches my chest.
Inhale as you lower the weight.
You can get a 2 second rhythm going, 2 seconds to lower the weight and 2 seconds to raise the weight.
When you are raising the bar, you want to exhale forcefully.
I usually an counting under my breath when pushing the bar up.
Make sure to keep your feet firmly planted on the ground, buttocks tight, and exhale as you push the bar up.
Don't lock your elbows at the top of this movement.
There is the basics of the bench press.
There are more techniques about different grips, arching of the back, feet placement, etc.
This article is just to give an overview of the basic bench press.
To summarize Proper hand placement Back flat on the bench Feet flat on the ground Shoulder blades pinched together Inhale and lower the weight to 90 degrees or just above your chest, should take 2 seconds Exhale and push the weight up, should take 2 seconds.
Don't lock out your elbows.
Repeat.
Below are some techniques to help you maximize your bench and reduce injury.
You will notice that an olympic bar has smooth rings at different spacings, these help you in adjusting your grip.
The first thing you want to do is start with an empty bar to determine the proper spacing for your hands.
Lie down on the bench and take the bar and lower it to your chest.
You want your forearms to be as close to straight up and down as possible, if your forearms flare out a bit, just adjust your grip, remember those smooth rings, see where your hand placement is in relation to the ring, now you know where your hands should be.
Next you can put some weight on the bar and lie back and put your feet firmly on the floor, back flat and perform your reps.
There are some people who put their feet on the bench or arch their backs.
I don't think either of these is a good habit to get into, however if you want to put your feet up on the bench and you are more comfortable doing it, then do it.
Just be careful because you aren't as stable when doing this.
Power lifter's will arch their backs, but if you are reading this, you probably aren't a powerlifter.
This is just a basic into to bench pressing with good technique.
Pinch your shoulder blades together.
You can this to help you, imagine that there is a pen between your shoulder blades, squeeze your shoulder blades together to hold the pen, you also will lift your chest up, hold this position from start to finish in the bench press.
Take the bar off the rack and slowly lower it to your chest.
Don't bounce it off your chest Lower the bar until your arms are at a 90 degree bend or lightly touches your chest.
Stopping at 90 degree is said to lessen strain on joints.
I lower the weight until it barely or just before it touches my chest.
Inhale as you lower the weight.
You can get a 2 second rhythm going, 2 seconds to lower the weight and 2 seconds to raise the weight.
When you are raising the bar, you want to exhale forcefully.
I usually an counting under my breath when pushing the bar up.
Make sure to keep your feet firmly planted on the ground, buttocks tight, and exhale as you push the bar up.
Don't lock your elbows at the top of this movement.
There is the basics of the bench press.
There are more techniques about different grips, arching of the back, feet placement, etc.
This article is just to give an overview of the basic bench press.
To summarize Proper hand placement Back flat on the bench Feet flat on the ground Shoulder blades pinched together Inhale and lower the weight to 90 degrees or just above your chest, should take 2 seconds Exhale and push the weight up, should take 2 seconds.
Don't lock out your elbows.
Repeat.
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