Pressing Matters: The Bench Press

 By far, this is the singular most popular and widely referenced exercise around any gym or fitness culture. Start up a conversation with someone about going to the gym and the first question after, “Oh? You lift?” is, “Whaddaya bench?” It usually goes somewhere along those lines. More for guys than gals, it seems. In spite of the love and draw of this movement there are still a number of mistakes in the form. Some of which can land the person doing them in hot and painful water. From my own experience, years back, as I was doing triples with 315, my left shoulder came apart. That bar landed on my chest and rolled onto my throat.

That one event, the injury and the bar on my throat, scared me. It scared me more than the injury hurt. Let me assure you, it hurt like nothing else. The failure of my shoulder was due to my form. Thanks to my using poor form, my shoulders were not properly supported by either my musculature or by other bones the way they should have been. That is why my left shoulder came apart.

Today, we are going to detail the proper form and technique for bench pressing. I am not going to go through that kind of pain again, nor am I going to sit by and not say anything that could prevent you from the same.

I am not a doctor. Talk to your physician and make certain that your body is ready for the stress that you are about to put it under.

As Boromir has so elegantly pointed out, you do not just flop onto the bench, heft the bar, and go to town. There is technique to the bench press. Far more than I had imagined prior to tearing my shoulder apart. When you stop to think about it, the shoulder is a rather tenuous joint that is held together in a precarious manner.

Let’s take a quick look, not an in-depth or medically technical one, but a basic understanding-style look at the shoulder here. The construction of the joint is ball in socket. This allows for an enormous range of movement. Along the flexibility and range of movement comes the higher risk of injury. The joint is held together and stabilized by four muscles and tendons. This group is known as the rotator cuff. It often takes the brunt of injuries.

The image here, from Stack, shows the muscles used in this exercise and how they encapsulate the shoulder. It all comes out to be a very impressive package.

The form used, the way one moves the weight while under it is what we have come to. We don’t just flop on the bench, no. There are preferred points of contact that will be on the bench. Those points include the upper back, shoulders, head, and your glutes. Your feet are on the floor and pressing firmly down and slightly out. How far out and at what angle is up to you. Still, try to keep your heels close to being under your knees. Squeeze your glutes some.

 With your upper back on the bench you will squeeze your shoulder blades together. Flexing your upper back stabilizes your entire back, shoulder, and chest region. This is the solid foundation from which you will move the earth.

Grip the bar firmly. I prefer a narrower grip at shoulders width. For someone of my height and long arms this is an anomaly. Competitive lifters with my build will go for a wider grip. This is to shorten the vertical range of motion that the bar must move in to complete a repetition. You will also see the wider grip used with barrel-chested lifters, again for the same reason of shortening the distance needed to move the weight. Still, I like to lift with my grip at just outside of my shoulder width.

Back flexed? Check

Grip firm? Check

Feet planted? Check

Butt on the bench? Check

Unrack the bar and bring it over your chest. As you begin to lower the weights your shoulders could move in a variety of angles. The strongest angle is where your upper-arms come down alongside your torso and, when at your sides, are at a 45-degree angle to your centerline. Imagine that there is a straight line down the middle of your body. Just a perfectly straight line. The line from the tips of your elbows to your shoulders and going on to intersect with that centerline should be about 45 degrees from the centerline. The positions the shoulder joints to be best supported by the muscles of the shoulders, the chest, back, and along the sides of your body. In order, these muscles are the deltoids, pectoralis, rhomboids, and latissimus dorsi.

You have unracked the weight and have lowered it toward your chest. The bar should not hit you with a thump, thud, or hard impact. You must have enough control over the weight to stop its decent so that the bar just lightly touches your shirt. The bar will make contact, and you should be aware of this light contact, just above your diaphragm.

At this point you can hold the weight here for two seconds before pressing it up, just to increase the intensity, or immediately press the bar upwards. Once the bar reaches the top position, pause. Do not lock your elbows at the top of the repetition as this will later cause problems for you, rather keep your elbows slightly flexed.

While you are bench pressing you will want to coordinate your shoes with your workout top. No, not really. Nobody gives a fig about your outfit. You should coordinate your breathing. Inhale as deep as you can at the top of the repetition. Hold your breath without forcing it on the decent. Exhale on the pressing portion. Breathe again with the weight in the top position.

A spotter, someone you trust implicitly, is a highly suggested thing. When my shoulder came apart, I was alone. Nobody was even in the gym with me. Believe me, you do not want to get caught under a bar with more weight than you can press or a with a shoulder injury.

Use a weight with which you can do three sets of 8 to 10 repetitions with if you are just starting our or adjusting your form. Practice your form adjustments and make them a regular habit prior to attempting a 1-rep maximum.

Whether you are new to the gym or not, I hope that this helps you out.

Lift safe and lift smart.