barbell bench Pressing is the foundation of strength training. Few lifts can match its muscle-building potential, so it’s a move that almost everyone includes in their program. Benching allows you to move more weight than any other upper body movement. It trains not only your chest (chest muscles), but also your triceps, shoulders, and support muscle groups from your core to your buttocks.
“The bench press is definitely the gold standard for upper body lifts,” he admits. M.H. CSCS Fitness Director Ebenezer Samuel “But if you’re trying fitness for the first time, your form will almost certainly be completely messed up.”
It’s a two-level problem. First, messy forms usually correspond to minimal profits. Second, the chance of injury increases, especially when you add weight into many equations. “The bench press is a seemingly complex training with many nuances, so it’s difficult to do it correctly,” says Samuel. “But we’ll walk you through it so you can get the most out of every rep and get super strong.”
How to do barbell bench press
set up
Bench press success begins long before you take the bar off. “You’re not lying on the bench to get comfortable. You’re not there to take a nap,” Samuel says, explaining that it’s a mistake to just casually sit on a bench without thinking ahead. “If done correctly, it can lift your whole body, so you want to stay active.”
Follow these cues to proactively position yourself and get into position for intense pressing.
put your feet on the floor
“There are two ways to do this. One is to push your toes into the floor,” Samuel said, adding that bench preparation requires a “ground-up” approach. “But what you really want to do is press your heels into the ground and create a solid foundation.”
squeeze your glutes
When lying on your back on a bench, “make sure your body is firmly resting on that surface, then engage your glutes,” says Samuel. “This puts your core in a very strong position and allows you to develop lower body strength.”
push your shoulders into the bench
“A lot of people, especially powerlifters, assume they have big arches when they’re lying on the bench,” Samuel says, adding that most people should focus more on why, rather than the arch. “What they’re trying to do is push their shoulders into the bench.” That help creates stability, and stability is the foundation of power and strength.
find hand position
People often grip the bar with a very wide grip. “However, this reduces your range of motion and provides less stimulation to your chest,” says Samuel, who explains that this grip also increases the risk of shoulder injury. Similarly, don’t grip the bar narrowly unless your goal is to target your triceps. Because the triceps are emphasized with a “close grip.”
To find the best, natural grip, position your body under the unloaded bar and lower it to your sternum. “Once you get there, play around with your grip a little until you find a hand position where your forearm is completely perpendicular to the ground,” says Samuel. “This will give you the perfect angle of force to push your back up and apply maximum force to your chest, triceps, and shoulders.”
use the correct grip
In the world of bench presses, two grips are vying for supremacy. The first is an overhand (or pronated) grip, where you wrap your thumbs around the bar and grip the bar over your fingers. This is the most common grip and the one you probably already use. Another more advanced option is known as a “death grip” and does not wrap your thumbs around the bar.
The death (or suicide) grip has several advantages. By taking your thumbs out of the equation, the bar will sit directly above your forearms, making it easier to keep your forearms perpendicular to the floor. However, if done incorrectly, the results can be disastrous. “The bar can fall on you,” says Samuel, who recommends sticking to a classic grip unless you’re an elite lifter or a very experienced spotter.
unrack the bar
Before removing from the rack, repeat the previous six points, pressing your heels into the ground, squeezing your glutes, driving your shoulders into the bench, and tightening your grip. Once you’ve gone through your checklist, lift the bar over your chest. “Once you have the bar in the starting position, rotate your elbows inward toward your hips and knees,” says Samuel, explaining that this engages your lats and increases your pressing power. “Finally, without shrugging your shoulders, lower your shoulders until they are level with your back and as far as possible toward your hips.”
lift
The first thing you need to consider when performing reps is the trajectory of the bar. “The biggest mistake people make is thinking the bar should come down to the middle of their chest, with their arms at a 90-degree angle to their body,” says Samuel. “Instead, make sure your arms form a 45-degree angle to your body and your elbows move slightly forward as you lower the bar with sternum or lower chest control.”
Push upward along the same trajectory, ending with the bar above your chest with arms straight (but not locked) to complete the repetition. “You should do this every time you bench press,” says Samuel. “Now, let’s do something you don’t want to do here.”
Common mistakes on the barbell bench
My butt is off the bench.
This usually happens when someone is tired and tries to throw their whole body out to complete a rep. “People do it because it changes the angle of the torso and reduces range of motion,” Samuel says. “But that doesn’t give you the maximum benefit and doesn’t allow you to use your lower body strength.”
Counter this tendency by squeezing your glutes harder as you push up the bar. Samuel says this allows him to keep players on the bench and give them the quality reps he wants.
Get “happy feet”
“This is when people keep changing their leg position and moving their legs all over the place as they do reps,” Samuel says, adding that every time they do that, their base changes and they end up wasting energy. “Instead, focus on keeping your feet in the same place throughout the set.”
feet not touching the ground
Lifting your feet off the floor or placing them on a bench is even worse than having happy feet. “This is the stupidest mistake people make,” says Samuel. There is a lift called the Larsen press where you perform a bench press with both feet off the ground, but that foot and leg position never occurs in classical exercises.
If you don’t keep your feet planted firmly on the ground, you won’t learn how to utilize your lower body to create power and stability, says Samuel. That knowledge becomes increasingly important as you gradually lift heavier loads.
please don’t hit your chest
All athletes want to put up big numbers on the bench, but don’t load the bar so much that you can’t perform reps through the full range of motion. “If the bar isn’t hitting your chest, you’re not actually doing a rep,” says Samuel, who emphasizes that being able to only complete a partial range of motion means you need to go lighter. “These bottom two to three inches are key to chest and shoulder development.”
spread your elbows
We’ve already talked about the importance of keeping your elbows at a 45-degree angle on the way down, but many people abandon that cue on the way up and splay their elbows wide as they struggle to complete the rep.
“Once you reach the tough reps, focus your technique even more,” Samuel says, adding that you should try a “bar break,” a form cue in which you apply pressure to the bar as if trying to bend it into a U-shape toward your knees. “This will keep your elbows in the correct position and allow you to use the muscles that propel the exercise: your chest, triceps, and shoulders to generate maximum momentum.”
Trevor Thieme is a Los Angeles-based writer, strength coach, and former fitness editor at Men’s Health. When she’s not helping others get in shape, she spends her time surfing, skiing, hiking, mountain biking, and caring for her 10-year-old daughter.
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