10 Things You Can Do RIGHT NOW To Increase Your Bench Press FAST
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By Nick Nilsson
Improving the bench press is ALWAYS at the top of almost every lifter's list of goals.
Put these 10 tips into practice and power up your bench press fast!
The flat barbell bench press...the lift that everyone wants to know how much you can do when they find out you train. So you want to get your numbers moving in the right direction again? These 10 quick tips will make a difference in your strength and boost your bench FAST.
Keep in mind, these tips are coming from someone who has almost NO genetic gifts as far as bench press is concerned (bad shoulders, long arms). It's among my weakest lifts and I have to struggle for every single pound I add onto it. Yet with those limitations, using the tips I'll share with you below, I've managed to work up to a maximum single at 350 lbs. So it CAN be done!
At the end of the article, I'll include a link where you can see pictures and video of some of these tips in action.
1. Work your Rotator Cuff muscles
Yes, this is completely unglamorous but it has the potential to add 20 to 30 pounds to your bench press in a matter of weeks. The reason? The Rotator Cuff muscles are the four small muscles that stabilize the humerus (your upper arm bone) in the shoulder socket.
Most people rarely, if EVER, work the Rotator Cuff but a couple of sets at the end of each workout can really make a HUGE difference in your bench press by helping to stabilize the shoulder joint.
The exercise that I use is one I call the "3 In 1 Rotator Cuff Raise." It's an exercise I invented to work all 3 major planes of movement that the Rotator Cuff muscles operate in in one basic movement. It's very effective and very time-efficient. Two sets of 8 reps of this at the end of each workout is all you need. I have a video and pics of this exercise at the link at the bottom of the article.
2. Get your grip-width right
Where you grip the bar can make or break your bench press before you even do a single rep. If you grip the bar in too close, you're putting more stress on the triceps, which limits your pushing power and increases the distance you have to press the bar. If you grip the bar too wide, you do decrease the distance the bar travels but you put excessive stress on the shoulder joints.
So what is the best place to grip the bar? This is best determined with no weight on the bar at all and with somebody watching your form. Lie down and take the bar off the rack and lower the bar to your chest. Have your spotter eyeball your forearms. At the bottom of the press, your forearms should be perfectly vertical. THAT will give you the greatest pressing power as you won't lose any power inside or outside.
It's the same concept as throwing a punch - if the bones of the arm aren't lined up properly when it connects, you lose a lot of power at impact.
3. Learn how to breathe
When you're doing a heavy press, trunk stabilization is much more important than when you're doing lighter, higher-rep training. You need a strong, solid base to push off of to really move the most weight.
When doing a heavy lift for only a few reps, breathe in deeply on the way down, inflating your chest as much as possible (this has the dual effect of increasing the stability of your trunk AND decreasing the distance the bar must travel, which is a bonus!). But as you press the bar off your chest don't immediately blow out all your air in one big blow. That will destabilize the chest and weaken the base you're pushing from.
Think of it this way...it would be like trying to do a dumbell press on the Swiss Ball as somebody is letting the air out of it FAST!
So as you start to press the weight, blow your air out through pursed lips. Basically, pretend you're blowing up a really thick balloon. You want to keep your breathing muscles in your rib cage absolutely solid as they very slowly force the air out. This keeps your trunk solid and stabilized as you press, which is critical. The moment you lose that stability, you lose the lift.
4. Don't neglect back training
Back training is important to your bench press in 3 major ways.
Remember what I said about stability in the previous point? Your back makes up a BIG portion of that base that stabilizes your body. The wider the base, the bigger the structure it can support (i.e. more weight). A comparatively weak back will reduce the amount of weight you can bench.
The second point is thickness. The thicker your back, the shorter the distance the bar has to travel and the more weight you'll be able to lift. Look at how thick the torsos of the best bench pressers in the world are - they have huge barrel chests, thick backs and relatively short arms - their range of motion is probably about HALF of what a "normal" person's range of motion is with the bench press. The thicker your back, the shorter the range of motion and the more weight you'll be able to press.
The third point is muscular balance. If you're constantly doing pushing movements, your body will overdevelop those pushing muscles, which will lead to unnatural shortening and potential weakness. You MUST work the back muscles to pull everything into proper alignment. Walking around with your shoulders hunched forward and your arms bouncing around in front of you doesn't look cool - I can promise you that.
5. Don't forget to press with your legs, too
Leg drive is VERY important to maximizing your bench press strength on maximum lifts. When you set your feet for benching, don't just place them anywhere and let nature take its course. Set your feet solidly on the ground and bend your knees a little past 90 degrees.
Here's why...when you're at the bottom of the bench press, driving with the legs can help you get that weight moving. You can demonstrate this to yourself by lying on the flat bench and setting your feet on the ground. Now think of how you'd need to set your feet if you wanted to use your feet/legs to slide yourself up the bench. THAT is what you do when you drive with your legs - you basically try and use your legs to slide yourself up the bench. But because the weight is holding you down, that force goes to helping push the weight up.
This leg drive is used at the bottom of the press to get the weight moving and makes a HUGE difference with getting big weights moving.
Part 2 to follow
All the best in your weight training, powerlifting, and bodybuilding, programs.
Jason, CSCS
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