How To Bench Press With Proper Form

The bench press is arguably one of the most popular exercises EVER… the first thing people ask you when they hear you workout is “how much ya bench?”

It’s one of the best exercises to build upper body strength, that’s why it’s a key component of the DoubleYourGains’ 3-5 program.

But because it’s overused so much, there are a lot of people who get injured doing this exercise… do it wrong… cheat while doing it (in an attempt to bump up their ego)… so this article will teach you how to bench properly and some tips to increase your bench press.

What is a Bench Press

You’re going to lay down on your back on a bench inside a Power Rack or on any type of flat bench that holds a bar above you. You unrack the barbell, lower it to your chest and press the barbell back into place where you arms are fully extended and elbows locked. That’s a bench press.

But there’s lots of variations of the bench press, they all differ by varying how you hold the barbell, the bench angle/height, etc and all have a different effect on your muscles.  Here’s a couple variations of the bench press:

• Decline Bench Press - for lower chest, instead of a flat bench your feet are higher than your head (most guys like this one because they can bench more weight).
• Incline Bench Press - for upper chest and shoulders, bench is more upright, not flat.
• Close Grip Bench Press – for triceps, shoulder width or closer together grip.
• Reverse Grip Bench Press – for triceps – palms face you.
• Floor Bench Press - for triceps, do a bench press on the floor when you don’t have a bench.

This article will talk about the basic, flat bench, Bench Press with a medium grip, the most basic version that builds overall strength throughout the most upper body muscles.

Why You Should Bench Press

Three good reasons:

• Builds Strength – You can press more weight with the bench press than the overhead press, so it’s good to include it along with the overhead press (NOTE: the bench is NOT a substitute for the overhead press!)
• Builds Muscle - More weight = more muscle, you can put on more muscle with the bench press to your upper body.
• You’ll have a good answer to “How much ya bench?” when someone asks you

Equipment You’ll Need

You’ll need A flat bench, a barbell and weights of course and a good spotter (preferably) You can just slide a bench into a power rack if you have those, or they make regular bench pressing stations at the gym (you can spot them because everyone and their brother will be there while the squat rack/power rack sits in the corner and collects dust… or there is some idiot doing 20lb barbell bicep curls in the power rack).

Important Safety Stuff

There’s some things you need to know before you start benching:

• Get a Spotter – you’ll need him especially for the first few times you bench.
• Use Your Thumbs – God gave you them for a reason, if it’s uncomfortable, you’ll get used to it — it’s not as uncomfortable as 100’s of pounds falling on your throat.
• Start light - I know you don’t want to be the guy pressing just the bar at the gym, swallow your pride and do it. Tell people you tore your pec benching 500lbs the week before if you want, but start light and get your form perfect before you try piling on the weight. You look like more of a beginner pressing more weight than you can manage with BAD form than you do pressing light weights with proper form. Remember that.

Stop Looking Like An Ape (Muscle Imbalances)

You will look like an ape or a guy constantly walking around in a powerlifting bench press shirt if you do too much bench pressing and not enough overhead pressing, bent over rows, and pullups. As a general rule you should always be pulling more weight (both in volume and poundages) than you should be pressing.

Muscle imbalances lead to muscle injuries. You’ll have bad posture throughout the day and it’s just in general not a good thing. Do shoulder dislocations and other posture/soft tissue/mobility work to combat this.

Setting Up The Bench Press

The first step is getting yourself into a good position to bench from. The stronger this position the stronger you’ll be and the more you’ll bench.

• Grip It – you’ll want to pinch the bar in your grip with your thumbs then follow with the rest of your fingers rotating in.
• Medium Width – Not too narrow, not too wide, about 22-28 inches from index finger to index finger.
• Squeeze It – the harder you squeeze the bar the more strength you’ll have. Try to break the bar in half.
• Tight Back - Pull your shoulder blades together, puffing out your chest, stretching it and keeping your upper back tight.
• Arch It - Keep your butt on the bench, but it’s ok to have an arch in your back as you puff out your chest
• Breathe Deep – Taking in a deep breath into your chest will help you puff it out, hold it for intrabdominal tension.
• Eyes - look at the ceiling directly above the bar, keep your eyes here.
• Feet - plant your feet on the GROUND (not the bench unless you have a bad back injury that the floor hurts).

Going Down (The Eccentric Phase)

With control:

• Lower the bar - keeping your eyes on the ceiling let the bar come down to your lower chest…
• Focus - on thinking, “get ready to press… get ready to press…” on the way down
• Meet the bar - with your chest on the way down, thinking of it this way will keep your upper back tight and chest out…
• Touch your chest – lightly, don’t bounce it, contract and…

Pressing Up (The Concentric Phase)

• Press - push through the bar, towards the spot you’re focusing your eyes on (the ceiling)
• Hiss - keep the air in your lungs, flexing your abs, you can let out a little air as you press by keeping your tongue on the roof of your mouth, teethe together and slowly letting out the air as a hiss…
• Press slightly down – instead of up, to protect your shoulders…

Key Points To Remember

• Start light - make sure you’re not in a rush to add weight before you get the form right, that will get you injured
• Don’t JUST bench – and ruin your posture and get muscle inbalances, that sucks.
• Your head - don’t push it into the bench, you could injure your neck…
• Get a handoff – if possible from the racked position before you start benching so you can keep your shoulder blades pinched together, this will help if you’ve got shorter arms and can’t keep the proper posture when unracking.

Also, you can read my article on 7 tips to build a bigger chest with the bench press.

Here’s some videos to help you:

Here’s Mark Rippetoe with an intro to the bench press (pt.1):

Here’s pt 2 of intro to the bench press:

Here’s mark on setting up the bench press:

Here’s mark on Grip Width and Arching:

Mark talking about your legs and feet:

Those should help you.