subject: 5 Things to consider Next Time you Bench Press [print this page] 5 Things to consider Next Time you Bench Press
5 Things to Consider Next Time you Bench....
I recently received a message from a friend asking me a few questions on my technique whilst bench pressing . She had seen my video of my 1 Rep Max and spotted a few things and asked me a few questions . This gave me an idea just to write a few things about bench pressing ...... Here goes
1- Feet Position Keep your legs on the floor! For some reason people and even Personal trainers have started to keep their feet on the bench, it makes no sense to raise your feet when you consider the mechanics of the lift. Keep your legs firmly planted on the floor for a stable base of power from which to press.You feet should be pinned into the ground and shouldnt lift whilst you perform the press. If your feet cant reach the floor then get a small step or use a lower bench do not get tempted to keep them on the bench .
2- Shoulder blades Before the lift begins Pull back your shoulder blades as if you were squeezing a coin in between them. This will allow a stable base to drive from during the lift. This will further open your chest cavity and stretch your chest muscles more which will also cause more muscle fibers to become engaged .
3 Elbows Do not go too wide on the bench press. The wider you go, the more you put your shoulder under stress. A lot of Shoulder injuries come from people benching to wide. Unless you have go go gadget arms (Very Long) then your little finger should be no further along the barbell than the outer ring. any wider than that and you are more than likely to cause a shoulder injury.
4 Squeeze the bar - A Tip I always tell my clients is when they start to struggle to squeeze the bar as hard as you can as if you're trying to crush it . This will recruit more muscle fibers and will trick your body into thinking its lifting a heavier weight than it actually is .
5 Warm Up Always Warm up on the bench . Don't be a hero and go straight into benching without going up the weights 1st. You should also warm up the shoulders as well . While bench pressing is primarily targeting the Chest muscles, your shoulders and more specifically rotator cuffs are the parts of your arm that need to be taken care of most when performing your warm up. This is due to the fact the muscles in your chest are quite large compared to those in your shoulders. Therefore it makes sense that the smaller muscles that will be supporting a large amount of weight need more warming up.
