The bench press is one of the most popular lifts in the gym. It’s great for exercising and building muscle in your upper body. The key muscles involved are your pectorals, triceps, and shoulders.
It looks like a simple exercise but there are a few essential things you need to keep in mind:
- make sure your feet are firmly planted on the floor
- ensure there is even spacing on the bar
- clamp the weights so they don’t slide or fall off
- keep the bar under control at all times
- breathing: inhale when bar comes down, exhale when pushing up
Watch the video below for a demonstration of proper Bench Press technique:
By modifying your grip you can emphasise different muscle groups. A close grip will put more pressure on your triceps while a wider group will shorten the range of motion and put more pressure on your pectorals.
You can also choose to target your upper chest muscles by using an incline bench, or your mid and lower pectorals by using a decline bench.
The Bench Press is just one of many compound exercises that allow you to work multiple muscle groups at once.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Great article Jake. One of the most basic, and popular, resistance movements. Readers note, a successful push up progression should be completed before performing a loaded push on a bench. Also, while a great exercise, its often overused versus complimentary pulling movements. If you want a larger chest, work on opening it up with some pulling exercises like rows to strength your posterior postural muscles,and counteract the anterior roll or slouch many litters develop from an imbalanced routine.
Thanks for your comment Dan. I know a lot has been said about using dumbbell rows to open up and expand your chest muscles, do you agree with that?
The bench press is one of the first exercises people do when they start out, and it’s important that they get it right.
Jake,
I do agree with doing dumbbell rows and other pulling variations to balance out your posterior muscles, pull the shoulders back, and open up the chest. 9/10 people are anteriorly rolled, whether its from an imbalanced training routine or modern desk jockey posture. Most of my routines are designed with a 2:1 pull to push ratio.