This post continues the series instructing about the proper way to perform the most common exercises by moving to a new body-part, namely the chest. The main exercise for working this body-part is the popular bench press, which also presents several variations.
The bench press is a compound, push-type exercise, which mainly targets the sternal head of the pectoralis major muscle, though it also involves largely the clavicular head, the anterior deltoid, and the triceps. There are different versions (it may be performed with a bar or with dumbbells; the bench may be flat, inclined, or declined), being the Barbell Bench Press the most common.
The exercise starts by positioning properly on a flat bench. This means lying on the bench with your eyes in line with the bar and firmly positioning your feet flat on the floor for better balance. You should also squeeze your shoulder blades together and keep them in this retracted position during the whole movement. This will increase your stability, thus increasing your power, and will add a measure of safety to the lift. In addition, you must maintain a flat back (or slightly arched) and the chest raised and expanded during the whole exercise. Do not arch excessively or thrust your hips in the air at any moment. Despite this enhances leverage, it also places the lower back into hyperextension, in a position prone to injury.
At this point, grab the bar tightly, with the low part of the palm and wrapping your thumbs around the bar. This will keep your wrists straight. Thumbless grip should be avoided, since it does not allow your wrists to be in a straight position and it reduces the control over the bar, which can lead you to a serious injury if the bar slips out of your hands. Hands positioning should be wider than shoulder width apart. In particular, you should place your hands in such a way that, when the upper arms are parallel to the body, the forearms are perpendicular to the floor.
Once positioned, unrack the bar from the supports, pause until it is steady at arm length above your chest, and then lower it under control, keeping your elbows directly under the bar at all times, to a point even with the nipples or slightly below them. If you lower the bar too high on the chest, your arms tend to rotate externally, putting a dangerous strain on your shoulder joints. You should stop the descent just before the bar touches the chest (approx. 1 cm). During the whole movement, the forearms should be vertical when viewed from the side. Never bounce the bar off your chest. This not only can cause an injury, but the involved momentum alleviates the pressure on the muscle, which makes the work less productive.
At this point, you must drive the barbell up again until your arms are straight (but elbows are not locked). The first part of this ascent should be vertical (or slightly back towards your face), but never moving away towards your feet. Two options are being commonly used for the rest of the ascent. In the first one, the bar continues in a straight line directly following the first phase just described. In the second option (known as the "J-curve"), the bar moves in a diagonal line to finish the movement just above your upper chest. Both variations have defenders and detractors. In the first one, the travelled distance is shorter and the triceps are more involved, while the second one involves more the anterior deltoid.
Two final remarks regarding tempo and breath control. The eccentric phase should always be tight and controlled, especially when training for hypertrophy. As a rule of thumb, this means around two seconds to lower the bar. When training for strength, you can use a faster eccentric speed, but always controlling the weight. Proper breath control is also important in your technique. Inhale deeply as you begin to lower the bar, hold the breath at the last part of the descent, and continue holding until you have pushed upward through the sticking point. Then exhale during the rest of the ascent.
The bench press presents several variations. The Incline Barbell Bench Press is used to target the clavicular head of the pectoralis major. This variant shares the same biomechanics than the regular bench press, but it is performed in an incline bench at about 30-45 degree angle. As a main difference, you should lower the bar to the upper chest, instead of the nipple level used in the regular version. Due to the inclination of the bench, the latter would lead to excessive and unsafe extension of your shoulders. You should also avoid lowering the bar to your neck, since that positioning is also very dangerous for the shoulders.
The Decline Barbell Bench Press is performed in a decline bench no more than 30 degrees. In this variation, lower the bar to your lower chest well below your nipples (on the side of your abs). Use this exercise with special caution. It can be very severe on the shoulders if you lower the bar to the mid chest or, even worse, to the clavicles.
All the bench press variations described up to now can be also performed with dumbbells. Dumbbell versions include the Dumbbell Bench Press, Dumbbell Incline Bench Press, and Dumbbell Decline Bench Press, which share basically the same biomechanics than their barbell counterparts (obviously adapted to the fact that your forearms are not locked and you are moving two dumbbells instead of a barbell). Using dumbbells presents some advantages that encourage to alternate these exercises with their counterparts using a barbell. They involve supportive muscles that are not activated too much in the barbell versions. Both sides of the pectoral are trained equally and independently. You can go further down, though you should be careful not to overstretch. They have also some drawbacks that should be considered. For instance, it could be difficult to get into position when working with heavy dumbbells. It is also easier to lose the proper form, which can bring to injuries.
More details about bench press technique and useful tips for increasing your bench press performance can be found in the articles “How Much Ya Bench?” by Charles Staley and “Bench Press Blastoff!” by Tom Venuto, and the book “The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique” by Stuart McRobert.
The bench press is a compound, push-type exercise, which mainly targets the sternal head of the pectoralis major muscle, though it also involves largely the clavicular head, the anterior deltoid, and the triceps. There are different versions (it may be performed with a bar or with dumbbells; the bench may be flat, inclined, or declined), being the Barbell Bench Press the most common.
The exercise starts by positioning properly on a flat bench. This means lying on the bench with your eyes in line with the bar and firmly positioning your feet flat on the floor for better balance. You should also squeeze your shoulder blades together and keep them in this retracted position during the whole movement. This will increase your stability, thus increasing your power, and will add a measure of safety to the lift. In addition, you must maintain a flat back (or slightly arched) and the chest raised and expanded during the whole exercise. Do not arch excessively or thrust your hips in the air at any moment. Despite this enhances leverage, it also places the lower back into hyperextension, in a position prone to injury.
At this point, grab the bar tightly, with the low part of the palm and wrapping your thumbs around the bar. This will keep your wrists straight. Thumbless grip should be avoided, since it does not allow your wrists to be in a straight position and it reduces the control over the bar, which can lead you to a serious injury if the bar slips out of your hands. Hands positioning should be wider than shoulder width apart. In particular, you should place your hands in such a way that, when the upper arms are parallel to the body, the forearms are perpendicular to the floor.
Once positioned, unrack the bar from the supports, pause until it is steady at arm length above your chest, and then lower it under control, keeping your elbows directly under the bar at all times, to a point even with the nipples or slightly below them. If you lower the bar too high on the chest, your arms tend to rotate externally, putting a dangerous strain on your shoulder joints. You should stop the descent just before the bar touches the chest (approx. 1 cm). During the whole movement, the forearms should be vertical when viewed from the side. Never bounce the bar off your chest. This not only can cause an injury, but the involved momentum alleviates the pressure on the muscle, which makes the work less productive.
At this point, you must drive the barbell up again until your arms are straight (but elbows are not locked). The first part of this ascent should be vertical (or slightly back towards your face), but never moving away towards your feet. Two options are being commonly used for the rest of the ascent. In the first one, the bar continues in a straight line directly following the first phase just described. In the second option (known as the "J-curve"), the bar moves in a diagonal line to finish the movement just above your upper chest. Both variations have defenders and detractors. In the first one, the travelled distance is shorter and the triceps are more involved, while the second one involves more the anterior deltoid.
Two final remarks regarding tempo and breath control. The eccentric phase should always be tight and controlled, especially when training for hypertrophy. As a rule of thumb, this means around two seconds to lower the bar. When training for strength, you can use a faster eccentric speed, but always controlling the weight. Proper breath control is also important in your technique. Inhale deeply as you begin to lower the bar, hold the breath at the last part of the descent, and continue holding until you have pushed upward through the sticking point. Then exhale during the rest of the ascent.
The bench press presents several variations. The Incline Barbell Bench Press is used to target the clavicular head of the pectoralis major. This variant shares the same biomechanics than the regular bench press, but it is performed in an incline bench at about 30-45 degree angle. As a main difference, you should lower the bar to the upper chest, instead of the nipple level used in the regular version. Due to the inclination of the bench, the latter would lead to excessive and unsafe extension of your shoulders. You should also avoid lowering the bar to your neck, since that positioning is also very dangerous for the shoulders.
The Decline Barbell Bench Press is performed in a decline bench no more than 30 degrees. In this variation, lower the bar to your lower chest well below your nipples (on the side of your abs). Use this exercise with special caution. It can be very severe on the shoulders if you lower the bar to the mid chest or, even worse, to the clavicles.
All the bench press variations described up to now can be also performed with dumbbells. Dumbbell versions include the Dumbbell Bench Press, Dumbbell Incline Bench Press, and Dumbbell Decline Bench Press, which share basically the same biomechanics than their barbell counterparts (obviously adapted to the fact that your forearms are not locked and you are moving two dumbbells instead of a barbell). Using dumbbells presents some advantages that encourage to alternate these exercises with their counterparts using a barbell. They involve supportive muscles that are not activated too much in the barbell versions. Both sides of the pectoral are trained equally and independently. You can go further down, though you should be careful not to overstretch. They have also some drawbacks that should be considered. For instance, it could be difficult to get into position when working with heavy dumbbells. It is also easier to lose the proper form, which can bring to injuries.
More details about bench press technique and useful tips for increasing your bench press performance can be found in the articles “How Much Ya Bench?” by Charles Staley and “Bench Press Blastoff!” by Tom Venuto, and the book “The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique” by Stuart McRobert.
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