I’m laughing to myself for two reasons.
First, this exercise in particular is one which I see men do A LOT at the gym, many in fact I only ever see bench pressing and you might even say, probably over-do at the gym. Secondly, I recall a memory from a couple of years ago where I genuinely failed a bench press and embarrassed myself to the max. Before I go into how to get the most out of your barbell bench press and other exercises that are great to strengthen this compound, let’s rewind back to my most embarrassing moment in the gym to date.
TASH, YOU’RE A DOUGHNUT
So, I was at the stage in my lifting career where I was still training with a Coach but also training myself upper body a couple of days a week. On this particular day, I was bench pressing but from memory I was cutting for my first show, so I’d lost a great deal of strength. But me being me, I was telling myself I was invincible and I wasn’t going to let being lean get in the way of my strength. My first couple of sets of this particular session were great and I wasn’t at all hitting a PB, another reason why I was feeling pretty confident for my third set which was maybe 45 or 50kg. Set up was great and I got it up, piss easy. Light touch on the chest and the struggle hit me, the bar fell on my chest and it was stuck. I wanted the ground to swallow me up, I certainly did not feel worthy being in the gym at this point. After looking around for someone to help I had no choice but to yell out ‘heeelp!’ until a kind man was my saviour and lifted the bar off me. I could not believe it happened to me. To everyone else I must have looked like the type of woman that everyone else rolls their eyes at: ‘typical, doesn’t know what she’s doing, trying to bench press’. I even felt like I had to explain myself to the man that it wasn’t a PB, that I’d in fact done it before and I was a matter of about 2 months out from competing-so I had the experience of knowing what I was doing. I wanted to kick myself so I slowly walked back to my corner with my tail (or barbell!) between my legs-metaphorically speaking. If this happens to you, don’t worry, but just a word of advice with the bench press, it’s usually a good idea to have someone spot you if you’re hitting a top set or if you are still a beginner.
GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR BENCH PRESS
These are some key things to remember based on what I’ve seen in the gym and mistakes that clients sometimes make.
Ø Check that the height of the bar is suitable; not too close enough to hit your head going back and not too high so that you have to lift it up out of the rack.
Ø Check your hand positioning. I like to place my thumbs either side of the lines and then place thumbs and fingers all the way round. Any imbalance of the bar and the lift is not going to execute well.
Ø Push your shoulders and shoulder blades down into the bench before you lift and keep them there with every time you lift, as well as keeping tension there at all times. It’s ok to arch your back slightly, but I wouldn’t over-do it. Remember to keep bum and shoulder blades glued to the bench.
Ø Elbow position: keep them tucked in and approximately 45 degrees out. Always lock them out at the top
Ø Breathing; with a big inhale, lift the bar up first; breathe in as you go down and breathe out as you push away
Ø Depth: Too many times I see a bench press done badly because many people come halfway down and think they’ve hit a PB. Lightly touch the bar to your chest with every rep and lock out the elbows.
Ø Keep your head on the bench at all times. Again I have seen people straining so much that they lift their head off: don’t lift with your head!
Ø Tempo: on many occasions I have seen people speed up this exercise. Motion needs to be controlled (slower tempo on the way down, and more speed and power on the way up). If you are rushing through this exercise than you’re not engaging your muscles correctly.
Ø Don’t ego lift. Don’t add on more weight if you don’t have these foundations in place. Video yourself or ask a Coach for feedback.
Ø Use a spot if necessary to avoid an embarrassing situation like me!
WANT TO STRENGTHEN AND IMPROVE YOUR BENCH PRESS?
Ensure your training programme is good enough. I always recommend keeping with a plan as you are more likely to see progress than if you went in everyday just doing random things. Programming will also mean you are progressively overloading every week. Try incorporating these exercises in your training sessions to improve your bench press:
Ø Incline/ flat Dumbbell Press
Ø Flyes
Ø Pushups
Ø Overhead Barbell press
Ø Banded Pullaparts
Ø Close Grip Bench Press
Ø Dips
Ø Tricep Pushdowns
Ø Lat Pulldown
Ø Barbell Back Row/ Single arm Dumbbell Row
Ø Pullups
I’VE PRESSED ON ENOUGH (HAHA) 1 LAST NOTE
Like any exercise but especially a big compound like this one, always remind yourself of the muscles you are using in a bench press: chest, shoulders, triceps and back.
Want to get serious with your bench press? DM me on Instagram @natashakostalas today to get started!
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