Five Quick Tips for A Better Bench Press
Five Quick Tips for A Better Bench Press
Here is a list of five tips to use for a bigger bench press, which is one of the most popular exercises done in gyms and weight training facilities around the world. “How much do you bench?” is a question often asked in gyms, with certain milestones such as one, two, or three 45lb plates on each side (135lb bench, 225lb bench, 315lb bench) celebrated. Use these tips to reach your next milestone.
Move The Barbell Faster (or at least try to go faster)
Many people can get stronger by consciously trying to push the bar up faster when benching. Lifters often lower the bar slowly for safety - and that’s fine - however, to lift heavy weights you need to try to accelerate the barbell up as fast as possible. Even with heavy weights, the goal, or intent, to move the bar quickly will help you develop more force.
Incline Bench Press
Use the incline bench press with a close grip to get stronger in the regular barbell bench. Place your pointer fingers about two inches outside of the smooth, middle part of the bar. This version of the incline press emphasizes the triceps muscles while restricting involvement of the lat muscles. Typically, you feel a tremendous sticking point in the middle portion of the close-grip incline press, almost like hitting a wall. If you can learn to push through that sticking point, you’ll have stronger triceps for the standard bench press.
Prevent Rotator Cuff Tears and Other Injuries
People who can stay healthy and continue training for the bench press for many years - even decades - have the best chance of getting really strong. The bench press is the king of upper body exercises, but it is also know to cause shoulder aches, pains, and injuries, often times to the rotator cuff area. The rotator cuff itself is a group of four muscles - infraspinatus, teres minor, supraspinatus, and subscapularis - that stabilize the shoulder. Those four muscles are relatively small; thus, when subjected to chronic strain from too much weight and/or too many sets of heavy bench presses, incline presses, shoulder exercises, and more, are prone to strains and tears. To prevent rotator cuff tears, try to incorporate 1-2 exercises to strengthen those muscles, such as seated dumbbell external rotations, into at least one workout each week.
Record Your Heavy Sets for Analysis
A great way to improve your bench press is by filming your heavy sets, done almost to failure, and analyze your sticking point. The barbell and dumbbell bench press movements are compound exercises, meaning that they use multiple muscle groups and joints. As a result, there are several possible muscles groups that may be your weakest link while benching. For example, if you struggle the most in the upper portion of the lift - the lockout - then you probably need to strengthen your triceps muscles, as those are crucial for fully extending the arms at the upper end of the bench press rep.
Use a Variety of Back Exercises
The upper back must be strong to support a better bench press. While the chest, shoulders, and triceps are most commonly associated with the bench press, the muscles on the back side of the upper body must also get stronger for the bench press to climb. Use movements such as dumbbell rows, lat pulldowns, and seated cable rows to strengthen the rhomboids, lats, traps, and spinal erectors. Those exercises will help balance out some of the pressures placed upon the muscles and joints by heaving barbell and dumbbell bench pressing, helping your body to retain structural stability and proper posture.
-Shane