Bench Press

The bench press is not only an excellent compound movement for the chest, shoulders and triceps, it is also the benchmark (for many) in strength. The exercise sets up with five major contact points: the head, upper back, hips and both feet firmly planted throughout the exercise. Grip width will affect shoulders and triceps differently (wider is more shoulder, closer is more triceps) but typically, the grip is approximately 1 1/2 times shoulder width. At the start of the exercise, bar is taken out of rack and held over the bottom of the chest. An arch in your lower back will not only keep shoulder blades in place (which provides stability) but as well, the arch keeps your chest higher off the bench which decreases distance bar must travel throughout the range of motion. By decreasing distance bar must travel we are able to exercise with greater resistance. Take care to lower bar with control and make sure speed of descent is never slower than your ability to press the weight. Bar pathway should travel in a straight line from bottom of chest to lockout position as a curved bar path is much less efficient and causes a rotation in the shoulders.