How To Get A Stronger Bench Press

About this exercise

Muscles Worked: Chest
Difficulty: Easy
Equipment needed: Barbell

How to

Lie back on a flat bench holding a barbell in the rack above you with a shoulder-width, overhand grip.

Set yourself by lifting your hips to create pressure on your upper back. Lower your hips, but maintain that pressure.

Drive your feet into the floor to contract your quads and glutes, and clamp back your shoulder blades to shorten the weight's path of travel. This increases neural drive to your chest, delts and triceps.

Lift the bar off the rack and position it above your chest with arms fully extended.

Now grip the bar as hard as possible and try to break it in half. This creates tension that rotates your upper arm externally, which sets your shoulder in its strongest position. It also helps to focus the work on your lat and chest muscles to take the pressure of your joints.

From the starting position, breathe in and lower the bar slowly until it skims the middle of your chest.

Focus your mind on activating your chest muscles and push the bar back to the starting position explosively as you breathe out. That's one rep.

Variations

Shoulder, Muscle, Bodybuilder, Barechested, Arm, Chest, Chin, Abdomen, Neck, Standing,

Incline bench press

How:
Lie back on a bench set to an incline angle and lift a barbell to shoulder height, palms facing away from you. Breathe out as you press up with both arms. Lock out your arms and squeeze your chest before returning slowly to the start position.

Why:
Your pecs actually consist of two separate muscles: the sternal (lower) head, which is activated during flat and decline bench, and the clavicular (upper) head, which works during the incline bench. If you neglect the incline this part of your pec will go unworked and leave you flat chested.

Related: five tweaks for a bigger chest

Decline bench press

How:
Holding a barbell with your hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing your feet, lie back on a bench fixed to a decline setting. Start with your arms fully extended and hands over your chest, then lower the bar slowly until it skims the middle of your chest. Push the barbell back to the starting position explosively as you breathe out.

Why:
Aswell as putting extra emphasis on your lower pec for faster gains, the position of the bar also removes any desire to arch your back as you push. You might think your form is perfect, but in the final reps you can be tempted to trade form for force. Constant arching puts immense stress on the lower back, causing constant pain. Switch it up to ease the pressure.

Wide-grip bench press

How:
Lie back on a flat bench holding a barbell with an overhand grip, hands set wider than your shoulders. From the starting position, breathe in and lower the bar slowly. Push the bar back to the starting position explosively as you breathe out. Focus on pushing the bar using your chest muscles.

Why:
A wider grip incorporates more muscles in the exercise, leading to a greater engagement of your pecs, shoulders and even your core. However, more movement in the shoulder also means greater risk of injury. Ensure your form is perfect throughout and set your shoulder at the top of each rep to stay safe.

Close-grip bench press

How:
Lie back on a flat bench holding a barbell with a narrow, overhand grip. From the starting position, breathe in and lower the bar slowly until it skims the middle of your chest. Push the bar back to the starting position explosively as you breathe out. Focus on pushing the bar using your chest muscles.

Why:
Although primarily a pec builder, by switching to this grip you can shift emphasis almost entirely to your triceps. It's the ultimate arm builder. But be careful, your larger pecs are much stronger than your tris so jettison a few kilos before adopting this technique.

Expert tips

Find the right training partner before you hit the bench. Research conducted by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found having a spotter boosts your lifting power by 15% – and saves you from wrestling the bar from your windpipe if it all goes wrong.

Negative reps – where you focus on just lowering the weight, not lifting it – are an excellent way to focus on fast muscle growth because they allow you to overload your pecs. Load up the barbell with a little more than you usually lift and take 3-6 seconds to lower the weight. Your new spotter will help lift the barbell back to the top each time.

Research by Tilaar Nord-Trøndelag University found that between 6 and 13cm from the sternum there is a 'sticking point', where your muscles are naturally weaker. To overcome this try board presses. Lower the bar to a stack of boards around 6cm high on your chest and then press back up. You may look a little strange but no one will be laughing when you smash through your one rep max.

If you're looking to improve your 1RM and lifting heavy then it is essential to rest for at least 3 minutes between each set. During low-rep strength training your body uses a reserve of phosphagen to produce energy without oxygen. Reserves only lasts 15 seconds and research conducted by the Orthopaedic Clinics of North America discovered that it takes at least 180 seconds to replenish.

Forcefully exhaling as you press will help you generate more force. The muscles in your upper body become more compact and tense, which provides power you can then translate into the muscles you're targeting. Master this by inhaling into your belly as you lower the bar. Pause briefly at the bottom of the movement and then sharply exhale as you push the bar away from you.

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