For the first time going to the gym, beginners immediately pay attention to the popularity of the bench press. This exercise is done by almost every athlete, including girls, but in order not to get injured while doing this, you should strictly follow all the rules of the bench press technique. Many people think that there are no peculiarities in the exercise, you can just lie down on a bench and start harvesting, but in reality, not every beginner can use the correct muscles and not overload the joints when lifting weights. A trainer or a thorough independent study of all the subtleties and possible errors that are described in the article can help to master all the nuances.
Execution Options
The correct bench press is the best training for gaining strength and volume of the upper body. When performing this classic multi-joint exercise, the pectoral muscle is mainly involved, but the triceps and the anterior bundle of deltas get enough load. There are several embodiments of the bench, which differ in the muscles involved and some nuances of technology.
- Classic bench press. It is carried out on a horizontal bench. The barbell in the FE is held on outstretched arms, after which it lowers to the chest until it touches and rises after a short break.
- Bench press. It differs from the classics only in that there is no pause at the bottom point, the bar is immediately squeezed up after touching the chest.
- Press in the frame. Suitable for athletes with injuries or without a partner, as it reduces the amplitude of movement.
- Bench press simulator Smith. Ideal for beginners and just mastering a new weight, because it allows the projectile to move only in a vertical line thanks to the guides.
- Bench on an incline bench. In turn, it is divided into a positive and negative slope, which, accordingly, allows to work out the upper or lower part of the pectoral muscle to a greater extent.
- Bench press with different grip. The load on the muscles can be changed by changing the width of the grip. The bench press with a narrow grip to a greater extent involves the triceps and the inside of the pectoral muscle. The wide setting of the palms loads the middle of the chest.
Using different techniques allows you to avoid stagnation in building mass, but experimentation should only be after thorough mastering of the classical technique.
The most common mistakes
Oddly enough, neglecting the warm-up is often no longer newcomers. For the first time undertaking the exercise, athletes approach it with special care and follow all instructions not to get injured, and when confidence in their actions begins to appear, basic principles are neglected. These are the warm-ups before strength training, because during the bench press the shoulder joint and lower back are involved, which are “very cold” very easy to injure, even with extensive experience.
A common mistake when performing an exercise is the incorrect grip of the neck. Of course, if the weight is small, then you can safely use the open one, but with a large bench weight, this is unacceptable. Only a closed grip, when the thumb is opposed to the others and clamps the bar in the ring, can guarantee that the shell does not slip out of hands.
Many beginners, not understanding how to do the bench press correctly, lie down on the bench, pressing their lower back tightly to its surface, or vice versa, bend too much so that the pelvis comes off the bench. The latter option simplifies the work by reducing the amplitude of the movement, but at the same time, like the first, it is very traumatic.
The mistake of athletes is work without a partner. When taking a large weight, this is unacceptable already because the independent removal of the projectile from the rack is carried out by an unnatural movement of the body, which can lead to injury. In addition, the partner must insure the athlete during the bench press and help him return the projectile to the rack in a timely manner.
Muscle involved
Every athlete knows that there simply are no exercises that would involve only one muscle. During work, the antagonist muscles responsible for flexing the limbs are always involved, synergists working in only one direction, and those that ensure the correct position of the body during exercise, that is, are stressed statically. Naturally, the load between them is distributed unevenly, so in each exercise there are the main units involved and technical.
In the bench press, the main drivers are the pectoralis major muscle, the frontal part of the deltoid and triceps. Additional drivers will be biceps, subscapular and beak-shoulder muscles. The technical units that ensure the correct position of the body are the muscles of the shoulder girdle and the broadest dorsal. If the press technique differs from the classical one, then the latissimus dorsi and the greater round muscle can act as additional movers.
The right technique. Body position
The classic bench press with a bar provides for mandatory deflection in the lower back and a rigid position of the feet on the floor. Further success in weight lifting depends on the correct position of the whole body, so the feet should be firmly fixed without tearing off the heel. All the time they press, they should rest against the floor with force, thereby straining the muscles of the hips and buttocks. At the same time, it is impossible to tear off the pelvis from the bench, the whole body should be tense, but the deflection is only in the lower back, the buttocks touch the bench.
Right grip
As already mentioned, with minimal weight, when the athlete is just mastering this exercise, you can take the bar with both open and closed grip. At a time when the working weight will already increase, you should concentrate only on the closed one, since only it can ensure safety during the bench press.
To determine the correct positioning of the hands on the vultures, special notches are made, but the problem is that they are designed for a "standard" athlete, so they are not suitable for everyone. Take the shell you need nonsense wider than the shoulders.
The finger should be centered in the palm of your hand. Rolling it to the fingers puts a heavy strain on the hand, which often leads to injury.
During the exercise, it is important to ensure that the elbows are always below the bar, and the projectile itself is carried out along one path.
Where to lower the shell?
The bench press with a barbell actually does not have strict restrictions on this issue. The degree of load on a certain part of the chest depends on where the bar will go down. It is not recommended only to lower it too close to the neck and too close to the stomach, where the border of the chest is already ending. The best choice is the middle of the chest, the line of the nipples or the imaginary line that connects the elbows.
Lower the shell should be slow, be sure to take a deep breath. Squeeze quickly, as you exhale, making a sharp and powerful force of all the muscles involved. At the lowest point, you should pause for a second.
Head position
Before doing a bench press lying, you should study absolutely all the subtleties of its implementation, but many dwell on the information listed above and do not take into account the importance of the position of the head during training, but in vain. It is forbidden to tear your head off the bench during the bench, as this automatically rounds the spine and weakens the bench.
Turning your head while working is also impossible, for similar reasons. The look in the initial position should be directed to the center of the neck, and to remove the shell from the rack, you need to tighten the neck muscles, bring the shoulder blades and lower the shoulders. The head is slightly pulled back.
Exercise options
After mastering the technique of the classic bench press, you can proceed to the study of its varieties. The following types are distinguished:
- Narrow bench press lying. It differs from the standard grip width. The arms are located at a width of about 10 cm from each other, and the elbows should move along the body during movement, fitting tightly to it. The main muscle involved is triceps.
- Reverse Grip Press. In this case, the palms simply turn towards the athlete, the grip width and other features of the technique remain unchanged. Turning the palms provides an increase in the load on the upper chest muscle by 25%.
- Bench press on an inclined bench. To do this, you need to sit on a bench with a slope of 450. The higher the head is raised, the greater the load on the upper chest. The rest of the execution technique remains the same - there is a deflection in the back, legs are firmly pressed to the floor and buttocks are pressed to the bench. At the same time, the bar drops to the upper chest.
- Reverse tilt. Most gyms today already have a special bench with a negative slope for a bench press. The position of the athlete on it allows you to most effectively work out the lower part of the pectoral muscle, while lowering the bar while strictly on the bottom of the chest.
How to increase performance?
Even when the bench press technique is mastered, not every athlete can regularly increase their own performance. Many people at some point have a weight limit that they cannot cross over, although the potential of the body allows you to squeeze much more.
The main reason for this is incorrectly involved muscles. The fact is that correctly performing all the movements of the projectile, you also need to feel whether those muscles are involved in the work. It is the feeling of one’s own body that helps to correctly position the projectile, choose a grip and, in general, adjust the bench to fit the particular structure of your body. Providing the correct support and distributing the effort between the desired muscle groups, the athlete will surely gain weight.
Exercise Preparation
This is not a warm-up before the lesson, but a careful study of the body before proceeding to the bench press. No matter how strange it sounds, but in order to effectively push the weight from the chest, you need to have strong legs. The fact is that it is the legs that provide a clear statement of the body during the press, they are always in tension and act as a kind of spring that collects all the potential energy in itself. A powerful push will come out only with strong legs, and they need to be strengthened in advance by performing squats with weight and deadlift.
In addition, the back muscles are also involved in the bench, the strengthening of which helps to increase the force of the push of the bar, and strong shoulders will help to maintain a large weight. For a detailed study of the shoulders, you should include in the program an army bench press or traction of the bar to the chin.
The barbell press is the removal of the projectile to the highest point, and many can’t fully align their arms. This is due to the fact that at the last stages of the booster, triceps come into operation, and it is they who push the weight to the end point.
If the hands during the press stop when the elbows are slightly bent, then the athlete has poorly developed triceps. To increase their productivity will help the French bench press with a barbell, classic narrow grip and extension on blocks.
Conclusions and rules not listed above
In order to reliably hold a large weight, it is necessary to hold the bar very firmly.
After removing the shell from the rack, do not hang in anticipation, you need to immediately proceed to the bench press. Even if you just hold the bar on straight arms, the muscles get very tired and will not allow you to effectively perform the exercise in the future.
Lead the bar in the shortest possible way - in a straight line.
For effective training, it is not enough to know the technique of exercises, you also need to perform them in sufficient quantities to achieve the goal. To increase muscle mass, the bench press should do 6-10 repetitions in a minimum of three approaches. If the goal is simply to increase the strength, then you need to press the bar no more than five times, but in 6-8 approaches. The maximum result will be achieved with regular training. Bench press should be done twice a week. If equipment with a large weight is lame, then the projectile should be unloaded and hone it with less weight. In the correct execution, the visualization of their movements is important. Sometimes this technique helps those who still can not fully feel their body.