How to Improve Your Bench Press

How to Improve Your Bench Press

How to Improve Your Bench Press

For better or worse, the bench press has become a mark of our manhood. The amount of weight that we are able to press off the bench seems to be directly correlated to how tough, attractive, impressive and healthy we are, regardless of the fact that it is only measuring the power of our pectoral and arm muscles, while virtually everything else is only tangentially tapped. Whereas the squat or deadlift uses our whole body, the bench uses only a small part, but since this is the reality here are some tips to improve your bench regardless.

The first and most pivotal aspect of the bench that is the most often overlooked is that you have to use as much of your body to power the bar up as you can. Too many trainees only use their arms, leaving their core and lower body flaccid and limp. Doing so deprives you of a great source of anchoring and strength. By planting your feet firmly on the ground and pushing down hard, knees at right angles, you can help arch your back and bring a whole new level of tension to your body. This spring can help you lift greater weights, as long as you are aware of arching your back high enough that an arm could be slipped under it but no more.

A second tip to keep in mind is to keep your hand's gripped at shoulder width. Holding them out wider than that will cause you to push the bar up less of a distance than you otherwise would, which while that makes it easier to press, also places disproportionate amount of strain on your muscles, while placing your hands too close to the center can concentrate all the work on the center of your chest. Instead, a wide, shoulder width grip will result in the optimum distribution of work, allowing you to lift the most.

Finally, be sure to hold your breath while lowering and lifting the weight. Some people hold the same breath for all their reps, but at the very least hold it for each rep. This forces your lungs to stay expanded, locking your ribcage and upper body and providing a great source of stability and balance for your muscles to do their work. Doing so means that you won't waver or lose strength at a pivotal moment by breathing out and deflating your core.

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