This is an article for all you ladies and gentlemen out there that are looking to take your bench game to the proverbial next level.
The Bench Press to an outsider looking in looks to be a pretty straightforward lift. You lay down with you face to the sky, grab the metallic object that lies just above your face, and pull it down to your chest. Once down at your chest, you pray really, really hard that you can get it off yourself.
So what could go wrong? How could anyone mess that up?
Well, as some smart person once said, “the proof is in the pudding”. And that is what you call a transitional phrase.
Anyone can pull a bar to their chest and call it a Bench Press, just like anyone can move their feet and arms around and call it dancing, but there is a huge difference between my quality of dance skills and a professional dancer.
So let’s salsa up to that fine little number we call the Bench Press and let’s learn to bump and grind like it’s 2000 again.
Fundamentals
As your teacher, your coach, and your karate instructor have been telling you for years, master the basics; do all the little things right. The Bench Press is no exception to this rule (nor is any lift, for that matter).
A solid Bench Press starts with a solid set up from your shoulders all the way down to your big toe.
Just a side note: I am not talking about a power lifting set up here, where you try and break your lower back to maximize and shorten the distance between you and the bar. If that’s your cup of tea, there are plenty of good articles out there on that, but I for one, face enough stuff in my life that is trying to screw my back over and I don’t need the Bench Press to be one of them.
Positioning Under the Bar
The first mistake I see people make when setting up for the Bench is they either set themselves up too far in front of the bar or to far behind. If you set up too far forward you make it hard and unsafe to unrack and rerack the weight. If you are too far back there is a good chance you will hit the rack at some point and screw up your mojo.
The optimal placement is to have your eyes aligned with the bar.
Hand Width
This is another mistake that is often made, people either grip the bar too wide or too close. Many say to put your ring finger on the strip on the bar. I find this works for some people, but not all.
If you find yourself holding the bar too wide, you may end up awakening the dormant beast that is your shoulders. No one likes pissed off shoulders.
If you are gripping too close, you may find yourself getting a great triceps workout. If that was what you were going for, then high five and a good game to you, but that’s not what I am writing about. I am looking to lift heavy.
What I find works best is to set up with your wrists right above your elbows so you are at 90 degrees at the elbows. This will put you in the best place to push the bar off you without jacking up your shoulders.
Gripping the Bar
Next up in are list of nailing down the basics is the oh so important ability to hold on to something. And this ain’t just any something, it’s a mass of weight that is literally, and not just figuratively, floating above your beloved face region and the only thing stopping that mass from touching down in an uncontrolled manner are those two meat hooks you call hands.
Gripping the bar is not a passive event or a grip and see moment. When gripping the bar, don’t think of gripping with the middle finger, ring, and pinky. Instead, think about getting the bar deep into your thumb crease and gripping with your thumb and index finger.
This will help keep your wrists neutral and help prevent you breaking at the wrist.
The Base
After you hit all the things above, you are ready to go, right? Wrong!
You forgot about one of the most important parts of Benching.
Setting the base.
To set a strong, stable base you need to think about screwing your shoulder blades into the bench. Hold your arms out in front of you and rotate your hands to the outside. You should feel your shoulder blades lock back.
After your shoulders are set, we need to set your feet. Push your feet into the ground to activate your glutes and abdominals.
With your shoulders and feet set, all you have to do is unrack the bar. To do this, focus on using your lats to pull the bar off of the rack. This will keep the base you just created tight and locked in.
That is how you set up for a strong Bench Press.
Best,
Josh W
