Complete Guide to Increasing the Bench Press

If you want to know how to do it right and how to increase the bench press lying down, this article will tell you everything you need to know about it.

“How much are you squeezing?”

If you are already training for a certain period time, you probably often asked this question. And you know without specifying what they ask about the results in the bench press.

Whether you like it or not, nothing catches your eyes people like lifting an impressive weight in a bench press. And it seems nothing so not frustrating newcomers how low the results in this exercise.

There is a reason why every well-designed program training includes bench press as one of the main exercises. The importance of this exercise is hard to overestimate.

The fact that the bench press is one of the best exercises on the upper body, which develops the pectoral and latissimus muscles, shoulders, triceps, and even to some extent leg muscles.

If you are reading this article, then maybe all this is not news to you. You are here because you want to improve your bench press results, and I can help you with this.

The first thing you need to know, although it may sound enough simple bench press – an exercise that requires a certain technicians. If you don’t know what and how you are doing, then sooner or stop late in progress, unless of course you have before you can avoid injuries.

In this article we will talk about everything you need to know about the bench press. lying down to increase the bench press and maximize benefit from this exercise.

Video about how to shake the most.

Let’s start by discussing the technique.

• The correct bench press technique
  • What equipment is suitable for a bench press?
    • First, if possible, do not use Smith’s simulator.
    • Power Frame – The Best Choice
    • Bench for bench press and bar also matter
  • Correct posture with bench press
  • How to lower weight properly
  • How to put the bar on the power frame
• Types of bench press
  • Dumbbell Bench Press
  • Bench Press
  • Bench Press
  • Bench press on an incline bench upside down
  • Reverse Grip Bench Press
• 1 0 scientifically proven ways to improve bench press performance
  • The correct psychological attitude
  • Use heavy weights
  • Lift weight with explosive force
  • How to lower the bar
  • Do bench press more often
  • Change the grip width
  • Consume enough calories
  • Practice the rest-pause method
  • What is a microload?
  • Strengthen triceps and shoulder muscles
• Simple and effective workout program for the bench press
  • Rest 3-4 minutes between sets.

The correct bench press technique

The bench press looks quite a simple exercise, but do bench press right?

You lie on the bench with your feet on the floor, take off the racks neck, lower it to the center of the chest, and then press up.

This exercise can be performed in different ways, but, to Unfortunately, in most cases it does not execute correctly.

Therefore, in order to analyze this exercise in detail, let’s start with the equipment.

What equipment is suitable for a bench press?

Properly selected equipment has a significant effect on the effective performance of the bench press.

First, if possible, do not use the simulator Smith.

The main drawback of Smith’s simulator is that it provides less increase in muscle mass and strength compared to free weight.

One of the main reasons for this drawback is the movement of the neck exclusively along a vertical fixed path. With another hand, free weight must be stabilized to prevent it from deviating from the correct path.

When I used to do a bench press in Smith’s simulator, I never lifted more than 110 kg in several repetitions. But when I first switched to free weight, 8 0 kg were hardly given to me.

That was a few years ago, and since then I have been pushing up to 130 kg in 2-3 repetitions. The result is not outstanding, but quite decent.

Power Frame – The Best Choice

A conventional power frame would be an excellent choice, provided that you train with an insurance partner, because if you train without it, you probably can’t lift the maximum weight for yourself for fear of dropping the bar on yourself.

Even if you are an experienced athlete and know your strength well, with training before muscle failure, a situation may arise when you will feel you can do another repetition, but fail.

Train in a power frame. Here is a classic example of power frames for bench press.

Safe to use with this simulator rods. Set the limit bars to the desired height and they will not let the projectile fall on your chest when you do not overpower reiteration.

Here’s how to do it:

Bench for bench press and bar also matter

Since it’s about equipment, let’s talk about the bench and fretboard.

You must make sure that the bench is large enough to hold your upper back and stay steady while performing exercises. A 30 cm wide bench is a good fit.

And again, I recommend the classic bench:

If you exercise at home, I advise you to purchase high-quality neck with sleeves that can rotate regardless of the neck bar. In this way, cargo discs can rotate without rotation of the neck, which could give a large load on wrists.

Correct posture with bench press

When the equipment is ready, it’s time to talk about the right body position when doing bench press. First two steps are the following actions:

1. Lie on a bench with your eyes under vulture.

2. Lift your chest, squeeze the shoulder blades together and press them to the bench.

You should feel tension in your upper back, and you it is necessary to maintain this position throughout exercises.

3. Grasp the bar with a grip slightly larger than the width shoulders.

Take the bar in the palm of your hand closer to your wrists than to your fingers and squeeze it as tight as you can.

Your wrists should be straight and not bent to the side. heads. This will help prevent wrist pain.

A good way to check your grip width is to ask someone stand behind you and look down on the position of your forearms at the bottom of the exercise.

The forearms should be perpendicular to the floor. I.e like this:

As you can see, in the far left photo – the position is too wide, on on the average – too narrow, and on the far right – the right one.

4. Bend your lower back slightly and place your feet wide shoulders at right angles to the knees.

The back should not lie flat on the bench, and at the same time should not be bend it so that the pelvis is almost under it.

Just maintain the natural bend that occurs, when you bend your chest.

5. On straight arms, remove the bar from the racks, and then move it horizontally until it will be right above your shoulders.

You are now ready to do the bench press.

Do these movements every time you do a bench press, whether you are warming up or getting ready for establishing a personal record.

It’s good practice to practice the right technique, which not only have a beneficial effect on the exercise, but also reduce the risk getting injured.

How to lower weight properly

The first thing you should know about hand movements when doing the bench press lying down is the correct position of the elbows.

Many people make the mistake of spreading their elbows apart, which can lead to shoulder injury. This error is the main the reason why the bench press is considered a dangerous exercise for shoulders.

A less common mistake is the location of the elbows. too close to the body, which deprives you of stability and opportunity make maximum effort.

It is necessary that the elbows are located at an angle of 50-60 ° to torso. This will prevent the risk of injury and is also sustainable. and a reliable position to complete the exercise. To better imagine this look at the diagram:

If in the lowest phase of the exercise, the elbows are located under angle of about 20º, then this is too close a position, and at an angle of 90 ° – too wide. Middle angle about 60 ° is optimal.

So, now that you know the right position of the elbows, let’s get back to the exercise.

Keeping the correct position of the elbows, lower the bar to the bottom parts of the breast in the nipple.

Yes, the bar should touch your chest! Forget about incomplete repetitions!

You must control the movement of the bar at the time of lowering, but you should not lower it too slowly because it is not best effect on the set of muscle mass. Lower vulture for about 2 seconds.

How to correctly lift the barbell and lay it on rack

Now that the bar has touched the chest (touched, not bounced off her), you are ready to push the bar up.

Although the name of the exercise says that you should “reap” barbell, it’s better to imagine that you are pushing it.

That is, imagine that you are pushing your body away from rods, not the other way around. This will help you maintain the right technique. and make maximum effort.

The vulture should describe a small arc, moving from chest to starting position in which it is easiest to balance.

Bend your arms at your elbows, and do not keep them slightly bent. it prevent the risk that you lose weight.

When lifting weight, the body retains the above position: scapula remain pressed to the bench and brought together, the elbows are at the right angle to the body, there is a slight deflection in the lower back, buttocks are on the bench, and the feet are on the floor.

How to put the bar on the power frame

Do not try to put the bar on the stands by squeezing the weight to the side. its limiters, so you risk dropping the shell on your face.

Always, first finish the repetition, and when the barbell is located above the shoulders, and the arms will be extended, move it along horizontal lines on racks.

We summarize the above

To better imagine the whole process, watch the video. Here’s how it all looks in action:

Types of bench press

The standard bench press with a barbell is the main exercise in many strength training programs, but it is usually accompanied by several varieties.

Let’s look at the most common options.

Dumbbell Bench Press

Although this exercise is not a direct substitute for the bench press, nonetheless a dumbbell bench press is an exercise that deserves attention.

One of the main problems athletes face when doing this exercise is supporting heavy dumbbells in the correct position.

Here’s what it looks like:

If we talk about the training program, usually I alternate dumbbell bench press with barbell bench press on the shoulder training.

For example, I do 3-4 sets of dumbbell bench presses on an incline bench, 3-4 sets on a horizontal bench, 3-4 sets of push ups on weights with bars for 8 weeks. Then for 8 weeks I will perform 3-4 approaches in a bench press on a horizontal bench, 3-4 sets of incline bench and 3-4 sets of bench press dumbbell on a horizontal bench.

Bench Press

The narrower the grip, the more load falls on the triceps.

This grip is undesirable if you focus on training. chest, but this is one of my favorite ways to train triceps. AND, By the way, strong triceps guarantee good results in standard bench press.

A narrow grip means you should grab the bar a little narrower shoulder width.

You can see some athletes holding the bar with their arms apart. just a few centimeters apart. It is a bad idea, because such a grip puts the wrists and shoulders very weak and risky position.

All other recommendations regarding the implementation technique the exercises remain the same: the shoulder blades are firmly pressed to the bench, a small deflection in the lower back, feet on the floor, the neck describes a small arc when lowering, touches the lower chest, and then rises back.

If you feel discomfort in your wrists or shoulders at the bottom exercise phase, then just make the grip wider by about a width finger and continue the exercise.

If you still feel uncomfortable, increase the width again grip the width of a finger and repeat this until Determine a position convenient for yourself.

Here is a good tutorial video:

Bench Press

The discussion of the upper chest is one of the “controversial” aspects bodybuilding.

Do I need to do chest exercises to work out its upper part? Or do all the chest exercises to to pump all possible muscle fibers? And even more so – Is there such a thing as “upper chest”?

I will try to explain briefly.

There is a part of the pectoral muscle, which is what we call the “upper chest”. It is located in the clavicle and as follows:

Although these muscles are part of the pectoralis major muscle, their fibers quite different. Thus, some exercises can focus on the main muscles of the chest, and others on her clavicular part.

Notice that I said to emphasize, not isolate because the exercises that work out the first or the second part of the muscles, to some extent affect both parts.

However, the proper development of the muscles of the chest requires study the muscles of its upper part for two simple reasons:

1. working out these little stiff muscles requires more time;

1. the best exercises for these muscles are also great for the development of pectoralis major muscles.

The best way to ensure that the upper chest is not lagging behind development from the remaining pectoral muscles – often perform a bench press incline bench.

The back grip press will also help you with this, and we will soon be talking about it. let’s talk.

That’s why bench press on an incline bench takes such a big place. in my programs “Larger, Slimmer, Stronger” and “Larger, Slimmer, Stronger, “so I’ll recommend the same to you here.

When doing bench press on an inclined bench, angle the tilt of the bench should be 30-45 °.

I prefer an angle of 30 °, others like an angle of about 45 °. I AM I recommend that you try different tilt angles in this range and choose the most suitable for yourself.

All other recommendations regarding equipment and technology the exercises remain the same as when doing ordinary bench press, with a few exceptions:

• The bar should go past the chin and touch the body just below collarbones. This will provide a vertical trajectory of the neck.

Here is a video showing the correct execution of the bench press lying on an inclined bench:

And also with dumbbells:

Bench press on an incline bench upside down

The upright bench press is a popular exercise among some athletes, but I am not among them. Due to decrease motion amplitudes this exercise is less effective than with a conventional bench press or bench press on an incline bench.

The main argument for this exercise is lies in the fact that it develops the lower part of the pectoralis major muscle, however, for this I prefer to do push-ups on uneven bars.

The bottom line is that you never pump up a cool chest if You will only perform the bench tilt upside down.

Reverse Grip Bench Press

The back-grip bench has its merits, which are often do not pay attention.

You should clasp the bar with your palms to yourself, which will not only reduce shoulder load, but also more efficiently work the upper part of the chest.

Here’s how to do it:

Calculator to calculate one repetition with maximum weight (1PM) in the bench press

The only one hundred percent accurate way to find out how much weight you you can lift in a bench press in a certain number of repetitions – just do the exercise. But there are several formulas, which can predict results with a fair share tonnes.

The most commonly used formulas are Brzycki, Bechley and dos Remedios.

Use the calculator to predict your 1MP.

Lifting Weight: _____ ○ pounds. ○kilograms.

Number of repetitions: ____

1PM
95% 1PM	90% 1PM	85 % 1PM	80% 1PM	75 % 1PM	70% 1PM	65% 1PM	60% 1PM

Estimated repetition and weight, based on 1PM
Repetitions	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	fifteen	20
Brzycki
Bechley
Dos Remedios

If you are wondering how to measure your performance, here convenient reference.

The following figures are indicators that are justified can be expected from people with different backgrounds.

1PM bench press for adults men
Body weight	Without preparation	Newbie	Middle level	Advanced	Professional
67	49	64	78	106	132
75	54	69	85	102	145
82	58	74	91	125	156
90	61	78	97	131	164
100	64	83	102	139	173
110	68	86	105	143	179

1PM bench press for adults women
Body weight	Without preparation	Newbie	Middle level	Advanced	Professional
52	26	35	39	49	51
56	27	35	41	53	64
60	29th	37	43	55	68
67	32	41	48	61	75
75	34	44	51	66	83
82	37	47	55	72	87

The “no preparation” column shows expectations from those who don’t performed bench press earlier.

Medium column shows standard strength level for those who have several years of bench press experience.

The professional column contains metrics for competitors athletes (1% of athletes).

10 scientifically proven ways to improve bench press performance lying down

Knowing the right technique does not guarantee that you you will increase the lifted weight over time.

On this path your progress will stop, and these 10 strategies will help to avoid such situations.

The correct psychological attitude

The correct psychological attitude will positively affect all your results.

Do not be lethargic when doing the approach. Catch the pump and drive (the right music can help a lot).

One study found that all this is capable increase efficiency. It also found that absent-mindedness, on the contrary, reduces performance.

Before you begin to approach, put on your headphones, tune yourself, and at the same time the whole hall as it should, and go!

Another simple but effective trick to increase strength is a visualization of a successful approach before you do it. I know, I know that sounds unconvincing, but studies show that visualization is actually works.

Use heavy weights

Ronnie Coleman said the best thing about it:

Debate on the “ideal” build-up reps muscle mass are endless, but there is a small argument in the benefit of having heavy weights is best for increase in strength.

But what then means “heavy”?

The “strength” range of repetitions usually starts around 80-85% of your 1PM or in the region of 4-6 reps and increases in accordance with 1PM.

If you are currently doing bench press mainly with light weight (for example, do 10-12 repetitions), then much You can get great benefits by focusing on heavy weights. You should not completely stop doing your 10-12 reps, but do them better after hard approaches.

Here’s how I would do it in my training:

Bench press: warm up, then 2 sets of 2-3 repetitions (≈ 90% of 1PM).

Bench press: 3 sets of 4-6 reps (≈ 80% from 1MP).

Dumbbell bench press on a horizontal bench: 3 sets of 4-6 repetitions.

Bench press on a horizontal bench: 2 sets of 8-10 or 10-12 reps (≈ 70% of 1 PM)

This method is known as the “periodization” of training, about which You can read more here.

Lift weight with explosive force

Many trainers advise you to do reps very slowly for better muscle building, however studies show the opposite.

• Research by scientists from the University Sydney proved that those who performed the bench press in the traditional “fast” pace, building up strength faster than those who performed exercise slowly;
• Research by scientists from the University Connecticut proved that those who trained in a very slow pace, had lower levels of peak strength and energy over compared to those who trained at a normal pace.
• Research by scientists from the University Wisconsin, proved that even untrained people who performed workouts at a regular pace, had higher strength indicators in squats and showed greater peak effort when jumping high.
• A study by scientists at the University of Oklahoma proved that 4 weeks of training at a traditional pace were more effective for increasing strength compared to training at a very slow pace.

In addition, studies show that when performing press the quick lowering of the bar (within 1 sec), and then, without a pause, its explosive rise leads to a greater increase in force than with slow lowering following a pause and explosive rise.

Do not make a typical beginner mistake by forcing a barbell bounce off the chest in the lower phase of the exercise. This is wrong and may cause injury.

How to lower the bar

Here’s another old tip from the powerlifters who found their scientific evidence.

The idea is simple:

1. When lowering the neck, do not let it just fall down.

Instead, imagine that you are pulling the bar toward breasts in a controlled manner. This will help maintain the correct body position and generate maximum effort in vertical direction.

2. When you lower the bar, imagine that you are bending cut it in half or tear it to pieces.

For this it is necessary that the blades are in the correct position, that is, were brought together.

The latissimus dorsi muscles will help generate more vertical force while lifting the bar. It’s for this the reason you can lift more with the bar press than with the press dumbbell. You cannot make such an effort with dumbbells, because that they require stabilization during the exercise.

Do bench press more often

The ideal workout frequency for building muscle mass is contentious issue. And here is what we can know for sure.

If you want to succeed in any exercise, you must often do it.

That’s why any training program is valuable if includes squats, deadlift and / or bench press 2-3 once a week. Many programs for bodybuilders as well as mine “More Slimmer, Stronger,” include them.

You see, while increasing muscle strength is an integral part of the overall growth of the body, muscles can become stronger no increase in size.

This is mainly due to neuromuscular adaptation. Muscle fibers can “learn” to work more efficiently and energetically, and, as with any type of physical activity, than the more you do something, the better you get it.

So if you are doing a bench press once a week, then doing this exercise 2-3 times a week will increase your force.

However, when you increase the frequency of the exercise, do not forget to do it carefully to avoid overtraining.

Read this article to learn more about it.

Change the grip width

This also came from the world of powerlifting, and there are studies confirming the effectiveness of this method in improving the results in the bench press.

Research proves grip is wider than shoulders on how many centimeters, allows you to shift the focus to large chest muscles, while a narrower grip shifts the focus on smaller muscles such as triceps and shoulder muscles.

Practicing both grips, you can work out and strengthen each of these muscle groups. This in turn will help you overcome possible stumbling blocks in this exercise.

An easy way to do this is to include your training program. chest 2-3 sets of bench press with a wide grip and 2-3 sets with a narrow grip on a hand training program.

Consume enough calories

Whenever someone complains that he cannot gain weight or increase strength, I immediately suspect that he is not takes enough food. And very often I find myself right

There is one simple fact about muscle growth, which many do not understand:

If you want to gain mass and build muscle as much as possible faster then you need to consume enough calories. If you don’t do this, then never Do not gain mass and do not build muscle.

For example, I know that I need to consume 3300-3600 calories per day to gain weight steadily. Maybe it can seem like too much, but it’s not.

I can’t complain because I saw the situation much worse. I AM worked with hundreds of skinny guys who couldn’t get a single kilograms until their diet began to exceed 4000-4500 calories per day. Everyday! Seven days a week!

It’s just that some people’s bodies burn calories very quickly, and they need them in large numbers to support recruitment weight and muscle mass.

Therefore, increasing calorie intake is an easy way. Improve your weight gain and strength.

At the same time, you should not eat everything indiscriminately. If the process gets out of control, you start to gain fat in a big quantity.

Here’s how to do it right.

Practice the rest-pause method

Actually, I’m not a fan of all kinds of drop sets, super sets, giant sets, etc., since I think it’s better instead perform heavy power sets.

However, one “unconventional” method should be included in the program. training sessions. It is called a “rest-pause”, and now I will tell you what he is.

You perform the exercise until muscle failure (the moment you can’t do another repetition) and then rest in for a short period of time before performing another set. Then again a short rest and a new set to failure and etc.

This method, like many others described above, came from powerlifting, and studies prove that it effective way to increase strength.

Some tips for including a rest-pause method in your program training sessions.

1. Perform such sets with a heavy weight of 80% or more from your 1PM;
2. If you use 80-90% of your 1PM, then rest 20-30 seconds between sets. If you use over 90%, then relax 45-60 seconds;
3. Do not do more than 3-4 such sets per workout, as they require a lot of effort.

What is a microload?

If you want to gain muscle mass and increase strength, the task No. 1 for you should be an increase in working weight over time time.

The bottom line is that if you want to become bigger, you have to get stronger.

A good way to do this is to work in a given range. repetitions (for example, 4-6) and, as soon as you can do it, increase working weight. That is, as soon as you were able to do 6 repetitions with a certain weight, add 2 kg (if you exercise with dumbbells) or 4 kg (if you are training with a barbell) and work with with this new weight until you can do 6 repetitions, etc.

Repeat this simple process many times – it will provide you progress in training.

Sometimes this process can stall and you will realize that in working with the same weight for several weeks and not you can increase it. This is where help can come microloading. This term was coined to mean adding to the neck weight less than 2 kg.

For example, suppose your bench press progress has stopped 80 kg in 5 repetitions and has not changed for several weeks. You tried to increase the weight to 85 kg, but you can not perform more than 2 repetitions.

Using lightweight truck wheels you can add on the neck 1 kg, bringing the weight of the projectile to 81 kg. Let’s say you can do 4 reps with this weight.

Then, a few weeks later, you squeeze 81 kg at 5 repetitions and at this point add another 1 kg per bar. Now you again you can do 4 reps with this weight and continue build up your strength.

This is a useful strategy.

Here are some high quality discs that I recommend:

Strengthen triceps and shoulder muscles

Many athletes believe that bench press is holding back progress. underdeveloped chest muscles. They do not understand the reason here in the muscles of the shoulders and triceps.

The front deltas play a huge role in breaking the bar from the chest, and triceps actively work in the upper phase of the exercise.

So if any of these muscles is lagging behind in development, then progress in the bench will not be. Strengthen them and bench press results will follow this.

• Army bench press is the best exercise to strengthen shoulder muscles. You should perform it at least 1 time per a week.

• My favorite triceps strength exercises are narrow grip bench press, french bench press, arm extension from behind the head while sitting and extension of arms in the crossover. You at least 2-3 such exercises should be performed 1 time per a week.

Simple and effective workout program for the bench press

Before finishing the article, I want to share with you a simple and an effective training program for the bench press, which will help make your breasts bigger and stronger.

Here she is:

1st day:

• Incline bench press: warm up, then 3 sets of 4-6 repetitions (80-85% of 1PM);
• Incline Bench Dumbbell Press: 3 sets of 4-6 repetitions;
• Bench press on a horizontal bench: 3 sets of 4-6 repetitions.

3rd day:

• Narrow Grip Bench :: 3 sets of 4-6 reps

4th day

• Bench press on a horizontal bench: 3 sets of 8-10 reps (70-75% of 1PM);
• Army bench standing or sitting: 3 sets of 4-6 reps;

Yes, only 15 heavy sets per chest per week. Such a load it may seem easy to you, but try to do it – it’s harder than you think.

Rest 3-4 minutes between sets.

This time will allow the muscles to recover so you can make every effort in the next approach.

As soon as you can perform the required number of repetitions in approach, increase working weight.

For example, if you are doing 6 while tilting reps in the first approach, add 2 kg on each side of the neck for the next approach and work with this weight until you can perform 6 repetitions, etc.

Conclusion

When performed correctly, the bench press is one of the best and the most useful exercises to increase the strength of the upper part body.

If performed incorrectly, this exercise is not only inefficient, but also dangerous.

Therefore, learn the correct technique for performing the bench press, apply the strategies given in this article, and also stock up patience. Building a strong body takes several years, even if you do everything right.

What is your opinion on the bench press? Want to share your opinion? Leave your comments below!