Monday 24 October 2011

How to Bench

EVERYBODY THINKS THEY KNOW HOW TO BENCH PRESS, they don't.

A bench press is simple but is frequently performed wrong, the following will be a detailed tutorial on performing the lift.

In simple terms, the bench press is this:

Lie on an upright support bench or a bench inside a Power Rack. Unrack the weight & bring it down to your chest. Press it back up until your arms are locked. You just did a bench press.
















However it is possible to go into a lot more detail on this.

Tips & Tricks

USE YOUR THUMBS. Use your thumbs when doing the Bench Press. Theres always a chance the bar might fall out of your hands.

Start Light. Add weight progressively . You'll get a feel for what you can & can't handle while learning how to Bench Properly.

Ask Someone to Spot. Spotters will help you if you get stuck with the bar on your chest. If you don't have a spotter, read a guide on how to Bench Press safely when you're alone.

Things people do wrong (Unbelievably Common); Unracking with Bent Arms. Don't risk the bar destroying your face. Arms are always stronger when your elbows are locked out.

Bending Your Wrists. This will get you wrist strains. Put the bar in the palm of your hand. Squeeze the bar so it dosent move.

Elbows. Too high is bad for your shoulders. Too low is inefficient. Put your elbows between perpendicular to & parallel with your torso.

Shoulders Forward. Don't let your shoulders roll forward. Keep your chest up, shoulder-blades back and down and upper-back tight.

Ass off the Bench. This makes the distance the bar travels shorter at the same time, making your lift easier.. However it puts strain on your back, especially when the weight gets heavy. You're more stable when your glutes are on the bench.

For my other Lifting Tutorials, Click here

Video Tutorials (I do not own these videos);



You can see the rest of the video series on EliteFitnessSystem's youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/EliteFitnessSystems

4 comments:

  1. Cheers for this insight bro,even as someone who doesn't frequent the gym too often this was very helpful.

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  2. Great post bro. Gonna make some adjustments on my lift now.

    Looking forward to your next post

    +followed

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  3. Thanks mate, i need to hit the gym again, i will use this and your other tutorial for sure, usually i just do curls, so this will help a lot!

    ReplyDelete