« Rack Pull Dead Lifts - Leg Exercise | Home | Close Grip Bench Press - Chest Exercise »

Flat Bench Press - Chest Exercise

By Elliott | May 12, 2008

Primary Muscle: Chest

Secondary Muscle: Shoulders, Triceps, Back

Equipment Needed: Flat Bench, Barbell

Mechanics Type: Compound

Proper Exercise Technique:

Lie down on the bench with your feet, butt and shoulders firmly planted on the ground. Space your hands evenly across the bar slightly wider than shoulder width. Un-rack the weight and lower the bar until it makes contact with the lower portion of your chest. Drive the weight back up into the starting position and complete this motion until you have reached muscular failure.

Tips: The bar should always come to a complete stop after it touches your chest. It is very important that you do not bounce or jerk the weight up using momentum. You should also make sure to keep your butt planted on the bench at all times throughout the lift, and also try not to arch your back too much. In order to avoid injury and stress, do not lock your elbows out at the top of the movement. Obviously if you are competing in the bench press you will want to arch your back to shorten the distance the bar travels and you’ll have to lockout your triceps for a good lift or rack command.

There has been some talk lately about how bench presses are not sport specific and that football players should not do them. I say that’s bullshit! Everyone knows that a huge, massive upper body is essential for football strength and the best way to do this is with heavy weights the best exercise for moving heavy weights in a pushing manner is the bench press. The bench press not only builds a massive and strong chest but it is an incredible exercise for the triceps and shoulders also. If you are not bench-pressing heavy weights you are truly missing out.

I’m sure I don’t have to spend too much time convincing you to bench press as everyone loves to do it, but the majority of athletes and coaches put too much emphasis on this movement and are usually performing it improperly.

1. I like to have my athletes take a slightly wider that shoulder width grip; also I prefer that they wrap the thumbs around the bar. Another little trick is to grip the bar as tight as possible; you’ll notice that when you do this all of the muscles in your arms tense up.

Also, I teach my athletes to draw their feet under them and squeeze their glutes. This is a technique that I learned from power lifters, it really adds to the force production when pressing.

Another little benching trick is the draw your shoulder blades together and ‘sit’ on your traps. This will raise your chest up a bit higher and allow for less room for the bar to travel. Also, make sure that your elbows are at a 45-degree angle from your body, not straight out the sides.

Sure, I can hear you now… Elliott, I want my athletes to get stronger why are you teaching them how to cheat in the bench press? Well, if you consider that the way we are going to build super strong athletes is with heavy weights then wouldn’t it make sense that we do everything in our power to have our athletes lift the heaviest weights possible? These are tricks, yes, but I assure you that they will allow your athletes to lift heavier weights and get stronger than using the typical bodybuilding bench press form.

2. Once the bar has been lowered under control, simply push it straight back up. Forget the whole push back in an arching pattern. Just press straight up! And repeat.

For variety you can also perform bench presses with rubber bands and chains. This will add some ‘accommodating resistance” as well as offer a different stimulus to the muscles to allow for continued progress. Remember that we want to change exercises every 3 weeks or so, this just adds to your arsenal of exercises. You don’t need them but they are a great addition, especially with athletes who have been lifting for a while.

Share and Enjoy: