Walk into any gym in the world and you can guarantee one thing: There will be a few guys labouring away on the bench press. Long known as “the king of the upper body exercises,” every man wants a "bigger bench," and Justin and myself have lost count of the times we have been asked, “Hey man, what’s your bench?”
Justin is a bodybuilder, not a powerlifter, so weight is immaterial, but we have both benched close to 500 lbs at our peaks, and big Justin (all 285 lbs-at-10%-body-fat of him) is still only 24 years of age and growing stronger by the week.
The following 10 points are by no means exhaustive, but they are simple ways to help the weak to become strong with just a few simple adjustments of posture and technique.
Nick Mitchell is a personal trainer and strength, conditioning and nutritional coach who specialises in body composition and reprogramming for fat loss and muscle gain. He was named “London’s Best Personal Trainer” by Time Out (2010) and is the head coach and MD of Ultimate Performance, one of the UK’s leading personal training companies. Nick Mitchell of Ultimate Performance: Personal trainer and strength, conditioning and nutritional coach
He can be contacted via Caroline@UPFitness.co.uk / or at: UPFitness.co.uk.
Justin Maguire is a senior personal trainer with Ultimate Performance. When not training clients, Justin can be found knocking out 10 strict 450 lb+ bench presses and working his calves.
Positionng is KEY
Place your hands equally apart on the bar and use bars marked with ring placings -- I know this sounds basic but you’d be amazed how many people overlook this. Ensure that the bench is fairly low down and neither too wide nor too narrow, as this will improve hip stability and assist in keeping your shoulders protracted throughout the entire movement.
Watch the initial lift
Initially, when taking the bar off the rack, try to use a bench rack that has adjustable height balances, as this will ensure that the bar is lifted whilst the arms are in a fully extended position. Shoulder injury is common in bench pressing due to the initial lift being too low and stress being displaced onto the smaller supraspinatus muscles in the rotator cuff.
Another preventative measure to avoid overloading the shoulder stabilisers is to always use an experienced spotter for the initial “lift off” phase.
Keep it straight
Once the bar has been lifted off the rack, use the assistance of a spotter to place the bar in the curve directly below the nipple line and above the sternum. Placing the bar in this position allows for straight curve of motion and a smaller distance in which to push the bar back up.
Always try to keep your elbows tucked into a 45 degree angle to the body, as this takes tension off the weaker stabiliser muscles and brings the more powerful pectorals and triceps into play.
Keep your arse on the bench
Before the eccentric phase of the lift, ensure that your legs are bent to a little over 90 degrees and that your lower back is slightly arched; however, do not allow your buttocks to lift off the bench as this will cause excessive pressure on your lower back.
We have all seen misguided trainees floundering away under a heavy bench with movements reminiscent of a teenager making love to the Invisible Woman. Don’t be that fool.
Control your breathing
As the bar descends, ensure that your shoulder blades remain protracted as you will want your pectorals to be fully stretched to encourage better nerve recruitment and explosive elasticity. Inhale during the eccentric phase, and if you do not suffer from high blood pressure or any other cardiovascular impairment, then you may want to practice the valsava manoeuvre during your low rep high weight lifts.
The valsava manoeuvre is when a person increases internal pressure along the rib cage by holding their breath during the concentric phase of a movement. Do this with caution, though, as it isn’t necessarily the healthiest method in the world -- but no one said lifting big weights was for wusses.
Keep chest height constant
Whilst positioning the arms is crucial, pay attention to your chest too. Keep the height of your chest constant by flexing your spinal erectors and protracting your scapulae (shoulder blades). Another way to further increase chest height is to flex your gluteus muscles during the lift and press your heels hard into the ground.
Don't watch the bar
When pressing, do not look at the bar, as this encourages your body to lift through a curve directed toward your shoulders and not directly above your chest. We have observed at our London personal training gym that this one small technical improvement can improve a lift by between 5% and 10%.
Practise without weights
Don't go ruining yourself with poor technique -- remember to first practice technique before loading the bar with weight. The rule is volume before weight. Spend time learning how to lift properly before unleashing the beast within and going for maximum poundages.
Slow it down
If you want to get stronger, slow down your pace and work on strength. If you want a cardio workout, go on the treadmill. Specificity of training is highly important so don’t diminish results by trying to rush muscular and strength gains, as this will only slow you down.
The best way to train to get stronger is to rest four minutes between sets. This can get boring, so an idea might be to superset with a pulling movement such as chins or rows, meaning that you can do a set of bench presses, rest 90 seconds, do a set of chins, rest 90 seconds, back to the bench press, and so on.
Have a good spotter
Finally, and most important, learn to use a spotting partner properly (or find a great personal trainer). So often in the gym -- especially among young lifters -- you will find one guy doing a bench press whilst his friend is simultaneously lifting half the weight and pumping up his traps. At Ultimate Performance we call this “over spotting” or just being plain stupid.
A good spotter understands how to dismount an initial lift, is always conscious of upcoming failure and assists only when needed. If you find one, hold on to them as this is a great tool for intensity and growth.
