Make Your Bench Press Epic

Talk to ten people at the gym, and you will get ten different descriptions on how to do a particular exercise. Which one is right? I guess the right answer is: it depends. Everyone's body functions and moves differently than others, but there are definitely certain guidelines that should be followed while performing a lift and adapted to fit one's comfort level.

As a mechanical engineer by trade, I tend to analyze weightlifting technique from a mechanical systems standpoint. I highly stress form, and today I want to describe to you what I consider perfect technique for easily the most popular weight lift at the gym: the bench press.

First off, I want to touch on two major technique flaws that you should abandon starting right now. The first is the tendency to bounce the barbell off of the chest in order to generate momentum upwards to begin the lift. In general, any sort of momentum generation is cheating. Remember in physics class when they taught you that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. In this case, you are using the elasticity of the rib cage to spring the barbell upwards. Not only are you taking a significant amount of work out of the lift, but you are also placing an intense amount of stress on your rib cage, which can't be safe.

The second technique flaw is the tendency to only perform half a lift. It's pretty common to see people load up a barbell with more weight than their muscles can handle, and in order to compensate they will only allow the barbell to travel downwards a few inches. In this case, the weight must be dropped in order to perform a full lift and get the full effect out of the lift.

Now that we have covered the wrong way, let's take a look at how the bench press is truly supposed to be done.

First, find a mirror. Stick your arms straight out to your sides, with your palms facing downwards and your arms parallel to the ground and level with your shoulders. Your body should make a lower-case "t" shape.

Next, bend your arms at 90 degrees so that your hands are pointing straight in front of you. Your arms should still be parallel to the floor and level with your shoulders. This is how far apart your hands should be placed during the lift. This may be a wider grip than you're used to, but it will emphasize your chest muscles to a higher degree.

Now, from this position, imagine you have a bar in your hands and are lowering it to your chest. You may notice that you would be lowering the bar higher up on your chest than you typically would, almost to the point where it is above the base of your neck. This is the range of motion that your bench press should have.

Lifting the bar in this manner targets the upper part of the pectorals to a higher degree, which allows for two main benefits. The first is that it develops far more functional strength than your average bench press. Imagine a football lineman driving forwards and engaging his opponent after the snap of the football. Because his torso is typically slanted forwards, he will be using more of his upper chest muscles to drive his opponent backwards.

Second, performing the bench press like this allows for a better looking chest muscle. Emphasizing the upper part of the pectorals will help to develop a fuller-looking chest, while too much emphasis on the lower half of the pecs can make them appear to sag.

While performing the lift, remember to take the barbell down slowly until it is about an inch away from your chest. Pause for a brief moment to prevent the elasticity of your muscles to generate any unwanted momentum, and focus on your chest muscles as you drive the barbell back upwards.

Remember to warm up properly and use a spotter, as this can be a dangerous lift!

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