Bench Press

To perform the bench press, start by lying on the bench holding the bar above your chest. Keep your grip a little wider than shoulder width as you slowly lower the bar until it is a few inches above your chest.


Keep your feet on the floor and your butt flat on the bench throughout the range of motion. When you have lowered the bar to your chest, extend your arms and push the weight back up to the top.

Tips

* This exercise works the pectoralis major and minor, as well as the anterior deltiod, serratus anterior and triceps.
* You can try performing the bench press power-lifter style, in which you arch your lower back off of the bench. This will allow you to lift heavier weights because the range of motion will be limited. This variation also places most of the effort onto the lower part of the chest, which is the strongest.
* Another thing you can do to increase the intensity of the movement is to perform only half-reps. To do this, begin by lowering the bar a few inches above your chest, as you normally would. Instead of lifting the bar back up to the top and fully extending your arms, however, only extend your arms about halfway, then lower the bar back down again. This will keep constant tension on your chest and fatigue your muscles faster.
* If you have lower back problems, you can perform this exercise with your legs raised and your feet flat on the bench. This will prevent your lower back from arching but will shift the effort of the movement to the middle and superior portions of your pectorals, reducing the amount of weight you can lift.
* The optimal grip for working your chest is to have your hands slightly wider than shoulder width. A closer grip will place more of the effort onto the triceps, however too wide of a grip will decrease triceps involvement too much and thus limit the weight that you are able to lift.
* You can also vary the angle at which you lower the bar towards your chest. You can lower the bar to the lower, middle, or upper part of your chest to work each respective area of your pectorals. Keep in mind though that the best way to isolate your lower or upper chest is with decline and incline presses.


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