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Bench press
Main muscles worked
pectorals, deltoids, triceps
Capsule description
lie on your back, bar at arm’s length, lower it to your chest, then push it up
Introduction
This exercise, the standard bench press, is done su-
pine, i.e., lying on your back on a horizontal bench.
A barbell is held at arm’s length above your chest,
lowered to your chest, and then pressed back to
arm’s length. Alternatively, a barbell rests on bars set
at chest height, and is then pressed from and low-
ered to those bars.
Touch-and-go bench pressing means that the bar
touches your chest and is immediately driven back
to lockout. In competition-style bench pressing you
must briefly pause at your chest until you receive the
command to press.
Rack bench pressing is done inside a power rack,
with the bar resting on the rack’s pins prior to being
pressed. Each rep is done from a dead stop. The pins
are usually set at chest height.
Setup and positioning
Bench press inside a four-post power rack with pins
and saddles correctly and securely in place. The pins
are the bars that are placed horizontally between
the rack’s uprights. The pins are locked in place in
the rack’s uprights using small locking pins. Al-
ternatively, bench press between sturdy and stable
squat stands together with spotter bars or racks, or
use a half rack, or use a combination bench-and-
weight-stands unit together with spotter racks.
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Some bench-and-stands units have built-in adjust-
able safety bars. If you use one of those units, set the
safety bars at the appropriate height, and position
yourself on the bench so that you will not miss the
bars if you need to set the barbell on them.
The barbell tends to roll or slide when placed
on a power rack’s pins. To reduce this tendency, slip
over each pin a piece of garden hose sliced down
its length. This also reduces the clanging of metal
against metal, and the vibrations that result. But if
you are controlling the bar properly you should not
be making much noise.
If there is no setup available to stop the bar get-
ting stuck on your chest if you fail on a rep, you must
have an alert and strong spotter in attendance.
Center a sturdy and stable bench between the
weight supports. In a power rack, if possible, mark
where the bench should be to be centered. Use a
tape measure to ensure perfect centering.
Do not bench press with naked skin against the
bench. Wear a top that covers all of your torso.
If you are doing regular touch-and-go bench
presses starting from the top, set the rack’s pins, or
whatever safety bars you use, at an inch below the
height of your inflated chest. If you fail on a rep,
lower the bar, exhale, and set the bar on the sup-
ports.