Bench Press Basics
most weight lifters have seen the barbell bench press in their program at one time or another.
While there is controversy about whether the bench press is a “good” lift to target the chest, it is one that’s been engrained in the lifting community for decades.
And, in my opinion & the opinion of lots of my clients, it’s just fun to feel strong as you push a loaded bar off of your chest, ya know?
To nail the bench press & build strength, we need to first nail the set-up.
5 POINTS OF CONTACT
In the bench press you should have 5 points of contact with the bench at all times: your head, both shoulders, & both hips. In addition to these bench contact points, both of your feet should be in firm contact with the floor - driving hard to create tension in your lower body.
There are specific variations of the bench press that may require feet to not be in contact with the floor - but we’re not talking about those today.
BAR POSITION
When you lay back on the bench & the bar is racked, we want to line up our eyeline or eyebrows with the bar. That means when you reach up and grip the bar your arms won’t extended straight up but slightly back to grab it.
BAR HEIGHT
When you grip the bar in the racked position, you should have a slight elbow bend. We don’t want to have to do a full or half press to lift the bar off the rack but we also don’t want to have to overextend & reach up to clear the bench out of the rack.
A simple trick to figure out the racked height is to lay back on the bench and put your arms straight in the air - start with the bar racked at your wrist height & adjust from there.
SHOULDER POSTURE
You probably have heard me say not to pin the shoulders back & done in lots of movement breakdowns in the past (primarily in lifts that target the shoulder or back muscles). In the bench press we actually want to create a stable shoulder “shelf” on the bench by retracting & depressing the shoulder blades. You can do this by scooping your shoulder blades back & down or thinking about pinching a pencil between them.
ARCHED BACK
Arching your back can be controversial in itself. You may have seen individuals with a significant arch in their lower back or individuals who don't arch at all. The reason a lot of people arch their lower back in the bench is to create a higher “end point” for their range of motion in each rep. That limited range of motion means the bar doesn’t travel as far.
Whatever is most comfortable for you is what you should do.
The 5 points of contact, bar position & height, shoulder posture & back arch are the basic set-up points of the bench press. Once you feel confident in your starting position on the bench, you’re ready to go!
Next steps would look like:
Lift off bar & steady it over chin/face
Pull bar down to nipple line/mid-lower sternum
Pause at bottom position
Drive bar back up over your chin/face, creating an arched bar path
Rep it out!
Feel strong AF
Have questions about the bench press? Drop them in the comments!
Hey, I’m Kirsi!
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