A Guide to Perfect Barbell Bench Press Technique for Stubborn Chest Muscles

The barbell bench press, the king of all exercises for all the gym bros and also the exercise that 98% of the guys do completely wrong

Now, taking that into consideration I decided to write a quick guide which you can use as a cheat sheet to improve your bench press technique.

There are a ton of videos on YouTube that show proper form but having this stuff written down helps a lot.

I've used cheats sheets when I first started going to the gym, and they served as was a great reminder.

Barbell Bench Press Exercise

A Simple Guide to Perfect Barbell Bench Press

Note: Before you perform the bench press be sure to properly warm-up, especially your shoulders.

Overall, a solid warm-up routine will get your body temperature up and prepare your body for work.

A simple way to warm-up is to spend 5 minutes on a treadmill, follow that up with some dynamic stretching and then do a few sets with 30% of your 1 RM for 5-6 reps.

Now, onto the bench press cheat sheet:

  1. Reduce the weight to improve your technique. – Reduce the weight by 20% or more if you were doing improper technique until now.
  2. Grip the bar correctly – Easy way to find your ideal grip width is place the empty bar on your chest at nipple level and then grip the bar at the point so that your forearm is perpendicular to the floor.
  3. Slightly arch your back, just so that someone can slide their hand behind your lower back – This will protect your shoulders. It's important that you do this before starting the exercise, the body shouldn't be making any adjustments during the reps.
  4. Keep your feet firmly pressed on the ground – Your feet shouldn't be moving during the movement. The Bench press is a full body movement, and your entire body should be tight.
  5. Before You Unrack the Bar Squeeze your shoulder blades tight and keep them tight. – Most people do wrong. Make this adjustment before you start the movement, shoulder blades shouldn't be moving apart. It's difficult to correct this after you start the set.
  6. Grip the bar as hard as you can and imagine breaking it in half.
  7. Unrack the bar.
  8. Lower the bar to touch your chest – Control the weights as they come down, you don't have to lower the bar 4-5 seconds but also don't let it free fall.
  9. Press explosively and with full force.
  10. Focus on flexing your chest muscles as you go past the sticking point to the top of the movement.
  11. Repeat

Congratulations, you now know the proper bench press form.

Thanks for the reading!

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