Everybody wants a better bench press, but most bodybuilders and powerlifters aren’t willing to make the changes to their lifting styles necessary for growing their numbers. Let’s examine a few of the most commonly overlooked essentials for big bench pressing – Safely!

Keep your feet on the floor
Everybody has seen that floundering fool on the flat bench, arching his rear end up in the air in an effort to push the weight off of his body using leverage, and not the muscles of the chest. Avoid becoming that spectacle, or anything less than a perfect lifter, by keeping your feet planted flat on the floor while bench pressing. This will force your body to cling to the bench, which in turn removes leverage and many of the support muscles. At this point, your pectorals have to complete more of the work – and will grow more as a result!

Check your grip
A very high profile college football player was nearly killed recently when his use of a thumbless or “suicide grip” on the bench press resulting in his larynx being crushed. Secure your hand on the barbell with a standard overhand grip, keeping your thumbs on the side of the bar opposing your fingers. Measure the distance from your hands to the locater rings to ensure you have a balanced bar. Squeeze the bar just a bit, and keep your hands locked the entire time. If sweating and slipping of the bar is a problem, wear groves. Your spotter should always check your hand position as well to ensure you never overlook this very important factor in benching. Keep the wrists completely locked for the duration of the bench press as well.

Don’t breathe
On most movements, you are supposed to exhale during the positive element of the repetition. Bench press, however, is one exception to this rule. The lungs, packed with air, provide a base of support for the pectoral muscles as you propel the bar upward. Don’t limit your foundation of muscle – or worse, vary how much of an impact it has on the body – by creating a variable amount of air underneath the pectoral muscles when you bench press. Keeping your lungs full of air, then exhaling and taking a deep breath at the extended stopping point, is the best route to take.

Bottom out – then stop!
Whether you are a bodybuilder or a powerlifter, you will want to stop at the bottom of each repetition and pause for one full second. For powerlifters, this allows you to complete a legal lift, and become accustomed to doing so. When you lift in a meet, there are no half-repetitions. Every meet repetition must possess a one-second pause at the bottom for the rep to be legal. If you’re a bodybuilder, the use of a pause will take all of the momentum out of the movement, and transfer the workload to the muscles actually being trained. If you want to grow your muscles the most, or lift legally for competition, a one-second pause on every repetition is essential!

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