Bench Press Tutorial

Learn how to properly Bench Press

watch the video and read the description below to learn helpful cues and avoid common mistakes of performing the bench press exercise.

Uploaded by Become Better SPPT on 2019-10-30.

Description:

To set up for the bench press, lay on the bench and position yourself so that your eyes are just underneath the front edge of the barbell. This will assure that you’ve got enough room to press without running the barbell into the rack or the j-cups.

Place your hands slightly outside shoulder width and make sure that they are placed evenly on either side.

Before taking the bar out of the rack, squeeze your abs, legs, and lower back tight so that there’s tension throughout your entire body. This will give you a stable platform through which to transfer force from the ground up into the bar.

Take the bar out of the rack and hold it steady over your shoulders. This is the start position, and you are now ready to begin your set.

Lower the bar down to the middle of your chest, and return the bar to the start position.

Once you’ve completed all of your repetitions, place the bar back into the rack by first hitting the uprights, then sliding the bar down into the j-cups.

Helpful Cues:

Maintain tension in your legs and back. This will assist you in lifting heavier weights more safely. Think of this as a total body exercise rather than just an upper body exercise.
Press up and back towards the rack slightly rather than just lowering and pressing straight up and down. A properly executed bench press will have a slightly diagonal bar path when viewed from the side.
Keep your elbows stacked underneath your wrists. Whether your grip is wide or narrow, you should keep your elbows in line with your wrists. This will be the most efficient position to press from.
Always use a controlled descent. Fast descents can be fine, but they have to be controlled first or you risk failing the lift.
Transition quickly when in the bottom. As stated before, this needs to be controlled first or you will lose the weight, but a fast transition will allow for better energy transfer. Sitting in the bottom for any amount of time will drastically increase the difficulty.

Common Mistakes:

Lifting your feet. This completely removes the lower body and trunk from the exercise and places all of the tension onto the shoulders which makes the movement much harder. Think about driving your feet into the ground during the entire set.
Starting your first rep right out of the rack. Don’t just pick the bar up and start pressing. First it is important to make sure the bar is in the correct position, motionless over the shoulders. Your start position and finish position should look the exact same each and every rep. Consistency in technique is key to getting stronger!
Setting up unevenly. Make sure you place your hands evenly on the bar.
Not tapping your chest gently. Should be a nice smooth transition, don’t miss tapping your chest and don’t crash down.
Other names for the bench Press:
Flat Bench,
Barbell Bench
Lying Press
BB Bench
BP
Common Bench Press Variations: