All about the bench press. We analyze in great detail. Wide grip bench press. We study all the subtleties and secrets To increase the bench press, which grip is better

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After reading this guide, you will easily be able to determine for yourself what grip to hold the barbell when performing such an exercise as a barbell bench press on a horizontal bench. So, let's try to answer the question of how wide you need to put your hands, grabbing the bar.

The bench press is an exercise mainly aimed at working out the pectoralis major muscle and triceps. The chest muscle itself is made up of a large number muscle fibers and conditionally it can be divided into several zones or sections: upper (clavicular), middle, lower, internal (closer to the sternum), external (closer to the shoulders). And in order to have beautiful and harmonious developed muscles chest, it is necessary to work out all departments equally, paying more attention to lagging parts. To focus on the top, middle, or lower divisions chest, it is necessary to change the slope of the bench. So, for example, when choosing horizontal bench the main load lies on the middle section of the chest. On the bench press incline bench head up - upper chest, head down - lower chest.

With the width of the grip, we can shift the load from the outer to the inner section. In addition, the width of the arms affects the amplitude of movement and how much big weight you can lift.

narrow grip

A narrow grip is the setting of the hands at a distance of 25-30 cm, that is, approximately shoulder width apart. Putting your hands is no longer advisable for two reasons: firstly, the narrower your grip is, the more difficult it will be to maintain the balance of the bar; second, in this case elbow joints will be in a disadvantageous position for themselves, which is fraught with injury. When using a narrow grip, the main load falls on the triceps and on inner part pectoralis major. When using a close grip, your forearms should form an angle slightly less than 90° to the floor while lowering the barbell.

Wide grip

A wide grip is the setting of the hands much closer to the pancakes along the edges of the bar. When lowering the bar, the angle between your forearms and the floor should be beyond 90°. When using a wide grip, the main load falls on the outer part of the pectoralis major muscle and shoulders. The triceps are the least involved here. A wide grip on the bar when doing the bench press allows you to lift heaviest weight compared to medium or close grips. This occurs due to a decrease in the amplitude of movement of the bar and due to an increase in the number of muscle fibers of the pectoralis major muscle involved in the work. However, this increase in strength comes with an increased risk of injury to the shoulder joints.

Medium grip

When doing the bench press, the barbell is most often held with a medium grip. While lowering the bar, your forearms should form an angle with the floor of exactly 90 °. Here the load is equally distributed on the muscles of the chest and triceps. For most people, a medium grip is the most comfortable. But the best grip is the one when you do not experience discomfort doing the exercise again and again.

Reverse grip

Reverse grip is the setting of the hands shoulder-width apart with the palms turned outward. Your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor. Keep your elbows strictly at your sides, in no case spread to the sides. When doing the bench press reverse grip the main emphasis of the load falls on the triceps and the upper (clavicular) section of the pectoralis major muscle.

How to choose the right grip for you

So what's the best barbell grip for the bench press? There can be no single answer here. After all, it depends not only on which muscle group you want to focus on the setting of the hands. The choice of grip must be determined by the specific training goal that you have set for yourself today.

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Average rating 5 / 5. Total ratings: 6

Article last updated: 02/09/2015

Bench press is one of the most popular exercises in gym, which is used by absolutely all athletes, from beginners to professional athletes. With it, you can increase strength and build muscle mass. In this article I will tell you about this exercise, how to perform it, and we will also talk about the most common mistakes which are performed by both beginners and experienced athletes. I will tell you about all this and much more in this post.

A LITTLE THEORY

As I said, this is a fairly popular exercise that is performed by almost every athlete in the gym. In principle, with regard to technology, on the one hand, everything is quite simple, but if you look from the point of view of sports physiology, everything turns out to be not so easy as it might seem at first glance. In order for this exercise to load exactly the target muscles and not have any negative consequences in terms of injuries for the athlete, correct technique plays a very important role.

Interesting: The absolute world record set by American powerlifter Scott Mendelsohn. In 2013, he conquered the barbell weighing 505.65 kg or 1115 pounds, made this achievement in multi-layer equipment. Also, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the official bench press standards on this page -.

It would seem that it is so complicated, just lie down on a bench, remove the barbell from the rack and press. However, not all so simple. IN bench press a very important role is played by the correct grip, the trajectory of movement, the width of the arms and so on. How to properly work out the pectoral muscles with this exercise, we'll talk a little lower, but now let's talk a little about the varieties this exercise.

BENCH PRESS OPTION

Classic variant

The athlete lies down on a horizontal bench, legs apart a little and firmly pressing his feet to the floor, you need to remove the barbell from the racks and hold it on outstretched arms while maintaining balance. When the athlete lowers the bar to the chest, you can make a slight deflection in the lumbar region. The fifth point and the upper back cannot be torn off the bench. You should lower the neck until it touches the chest, and then raise the neck to the starting point.

A similar option is performed, as you already understood, on an inclined bench, the slope itself is approximately 30 degrees. You can change the angle of inclination depending on which part of the chest you want to work out. For example, you can tilt the power bench down or up. A similar variation is performed in order to pump the lower or upper part chest.

Bench press in the Smith machine

In this version, the athlete performs an exercise with a barbell fixed in a special design. In this type of bench press, the athlete can perform the movement strictly vertically, which is very convenient for beginner athletes, since there is no need to spend an additional load on balancing the bar, you only need to press the bar up and that's it. This greatly simplifies the task. That is, with the help of the Smith simulator, the load is even more localized precisely on the target muscle groups.

Bench press in a power rack

A similar variation is most often used by athletes who have received a certain shoulder injury and, in order to reduce the range of motion, they put special restraints at chest level that do not allow the athlete to lower the barbell even lower. In general, with a shoulder injury, it is better to forget about the press for a while and perform alternative exercises in the form.

Narrow grip is used to pump triceps arms, that is, triceps. This is the basic exercise for this group, so it is best used at the beginning of a triceps workout.

Note: Many mistakenly believe that the narrower the grip, the more and better the triceps are worked out, but this is not entirely true. The width of the grip should be slightly narrower than the width of the shoulders, the technique itself lies in the fact that during the downward movement, the elbows do not move apart, but are pressed to the body and look straight.

GRIP VALUE AND ITS WIDTH

The width of the grip is of great importance, since the position of the hands determines which part of the muscle group will be worked out. That is, if you put your hands too wide, you will pump the side parts of the chest, which are located closer to the front deltas. If you perform the exercise with a narrow grip, this will allow you to concentrate the load on the triceps and the middle. pectoral muscles. If you put your hands a little wider than your shoulders, the load is evenly distributed over the muscles of the chest.

IMPORTANT!!! The grip itself also has its own meaning, as an incorrect grip on the neck can lead to the bar slipping out, respectively, the athlete can get serious injury. To prevent this from happening, always use a closed grip, especially if you are doing the exercise with heavy weight.

THE MOST COMMON ERRORS WHEN DOING THE EXERCISE RECOMMENDATIONS

As I said before, never use " open grip". This option is not suitable not only because it is not safe, but also because such a grip will not allow you to fully control the bar during the exercise. Also, if you use a closed grip, this will increase the effectiveness of the exercise, you can read more about grip strength and how it affects your strength indicators.

To help you concentrate more on the exercise, increase grip strength and grip with the barbell, use special chalk. Also, this will help to avoid slipping your hands to the sides during the next approach.

If you are not sure that you can do the intended number of repetitions, perform the exercise in a special power frame with limits that will not allow the bar to fall below the limit at which you fixed those very limits.

In the event that there is no one to insure you and you are doing the bench press in a regular bench with racks, do not wear special locks. In this case, if you cannot press the bar and safely return it to the racks, you will be able to drop the pancakes to the floor at the bottom point, by tilting to the sides.

If you feel that you do not have enough strength to squeeze the bar and put it on the racks, in no case do not throw the bar with pancakes on your chest. Try to slowly lower the bar to your chest, then gradually roll it down to your waist. Then try to get up and drop or lower the barbell to the floor.

Still very important point, which I would like to mention in today's article - warm-up. Many people are rather dismissive of the warm-up not only before the bench press, but also before the workout itself. If you want to train only with health benefits and get the results you need, be sure to warm up before each workout and before each basic exercise. For example, before the start of classes, they did the 15th warm-up, then, before doing the same bench press, lie down on a bench and do one set with an empty bar. This will help you save your joints and make the exercise more effective.

Not so catastrophic, but still a mistake, this is when the athlete independently removes the barbell from the racks. It is not advisable to suffer from such masochism, since this is a rather traumatic and very stressful movement for our native joints, especially if the weight is large enough. Don't be lazy and always ask someone to help you get the projectile off the racks. This is both convenient and safe.

I also get a little outraged by the fact that many people do not think with their heads. I mean the bridge when doing the bench press. Yes, this reduces the amplitude quite well, in this position it is easier to press and so on, however, I increasingly notice that beginners begin to suffer from this “bridge”, who watch videos on the Internet and thoughtlessly repeat everything that was shown. Yes, this is all good, but only knowledgeable people who have quite good experience in training and nothing more can make such movements. If a novice athlete repeats such movements, due to a weak back, he can simply injure himself. Therefore, you need to train wisely. Watch videos, learn from the mistakes of others. Approach this issue with your head, because you are still working with your own body, and this is not a joke.

If you haven't been able to find a power rack in your gym that has stops that keep the bar from dropping below a certain point, then it's best to have a partner help you if you're not sure you can get the last rep out of a set.

Many often do not notice and do not attach much importance to how the bench is located under the barbell. Remember, it should stand exactly in the middle of the bar and lie flat so that when you lie down on it, your eyes are at the same level with the bar.

Your elbows should be exactly under the bar or under your wrists so that your forearms are perpendicular to the floor. To place your hands in this way, you need to choose the correct grip width. It should be right for you, based on the length of your limbs. Usually, for men, the distance between the palms is about 52 cm, and for women this distance should be reduced by 10 cm. However, these are not exact numbers, experiment and find a more comfortable grip width for yourself.

I recommend always using wrist bandages , when doing the bench press, this will help protect your wrists from injury and all sorts of complications. Naturally, at first, when the weights are not so big yet, you can do without them. However, when the power starts to grow, I recommend getting one like that.

You can not do the exercise in beating off the chest. This means that when you bring the barbell down to your chest, it is as if you are pushing the barbell away from it and pushing it back to the starting point. This cannot be done. In the picture that I have provided below, you can see the correct trajectory of movement while squeezing the bar up. You can do both. When you raise the bar up above you, in order to avoid tilting the bar towards the legs, you should slightly change the angle of inclination towards the face, as shown in the picture with a black line.

PROPER BENCH PRESS TECHNIQUE

Let's finally look at the correct technique for performing this exercise. Everything, as I said earlier, at first glance is quite simple, however, as you have already understood from all of the above, everything is not so easy. So, the right technique, let's go.

Before starting the exercise, set up a bench. Place it exactly in the middle of the neck so that it stands correctly and is not at any angle. If you are doing the exercise in a power rack, set the limiters in advance. Also, just before the start, ask someone to insure you and help you remove the barbell from the racks.
When everything is ready, lie down on a bench, firmly rest your feet on the floor, bend a little in the lower back. Grasp the bar firmly (before rubbing your hands with chalk) and with the help of a friend, remove the bars from the racks.
So, you removed the barbell from the racks, and on outstretched arms it was in front of you. Lower slowly
neck to the bottom of the chest, that is, just below the level of the nipples. The forearms during movement should be perpendicular to the floor, that is, when viewed from the side, they should be vertical. If they are not located vertically with respect to the floor, then you did not take the bar correctly.
After the bar is at the bottom, you can stay in this position for 1 second, then with a powerful and controlled movement, squeeze the bar back to its original position.
At the top point, you do not need to fully straighten your arms, so the load will fall on the elbow joints. You should always bend your elbows a little at the top point and keep your arms in tension. Many, by the way, when they are tired, squeeze the barbell up and hold it with straightened arms until they rest. You don't need to do this. You should forcefully complete the approach, without long pauses.

Any athlete knows that for competent pumping of the chest, it is necessary to use the load from different angles, using, and. On the one hand, this is correct, since the pectoral muscles receive a comprehensive workout. On the other hand, no matter what angles we “bomb” our chest, the width of the grip in the press remains unchanged. At the same time, most of the athletes perform the bench press with the least effective average grip.

Meanwhile, the width of the grip plays a crucial role here. Surely everyone knows that in addition to the pectoral muscles, triceps also participate in the bench press. Thus, changing the width of the grip allows you to adjust the interaction of these two muscles - the wider the grip, the less work of the triceps and the greater the load on the chest, and vice versa.

Why is the average grip so popular in bodybuilding, because it is not the most optimal in terms of pumping the pectoral muscles? Yes, everything is simple. The fact is that it is the most convenient. At the bottom of the exercise, the elbows are bent at a right angle, and therefore the load is distributed between several joints - the shoulder, elbow and wrists. This position is very convenient.

Why is the average grip in the bench press bad? The thing is that this grip is not able to properly load the pectoral muscles. In it, a significant part of the load is taken up by triceps, which, being smaller muscle groups, significantly limit the power potential of the bench press. In addition, the load on the pectoral muscles changes its vector - most of the work falls on the weak inner areas of the chest and upper chest. Thus, such a classic as the bench press shakes the chest only half-heartedly. In order for the pectoral muscles to fully realize their potential, it is necessary to direct the load over the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe chest, and not on individual muscle bundles.

Use an exceptionally wide grip on the bench press to maximize your pecs. It almost completely eliminates the triceps from work, forcing the load to beat exactly across the entire plane of the chest. By the way, a wide grip is actively used by all security officials, since it is he who is able to effectively increase the strength of the chest.

By switching to a wide grip in the bench press, you will probably notice that the previous working weights are beyond your strength. There is nothing wrong with that, feel free to lower the weight of the barbell. Most importantly, now the pectoral muscles get the maximum load. By the way, do not give up on the average grip. It is logical to assume that the use of both types of grip will bring more results. For example, for 4 weeks, pump your chest exclusively with bench presses. wide grip, and the next 4 weeks - the average.

Related materials.

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The bench press is an exercise mainly aimed at working out the pectoralis major muscle and triceps. The pectoral muscle itself consists of a large number of muscle fibers and can be conditionally divided into several zones or sections: upper (clavicular), middle, lower, internal (closer to the sternum), external (closer to the shoulders). And in order to have beautifully and harmoniously developed chest muscles, it is necessary to work out all departments equally, paying more attention to lagging parts. To focus on the upper, middle or lower chest, you need to change the slope of the bench. So, for example, when choosing a horizontal bench, the main load falls on the middle section of the chest. With the bench press on an inclined bench, head up - the upper section of the chest, head down - the lower section.

With the width of the grip, we can shift the load from the outer to the inner section. In addition, the width of the arms affects the range of motion and how much weight you can lift.

narrow grip

A narrow grip is the setting of the hands at a distance of 25-30 cm, that is, approximately shoulder width apart. Putting your hands is no longer advisable for two reasons: firstly, the narrower your grip is, the more difficult it will be to maintain the balance of the bar; secondly, in this case, the elbow joints will be in a disadvantageous position for themselves, which is fraught with injury. When using a narrow grip, the main load falls on the triceps and on the inside of the pectoralis major muscle. When using a close grip, your forearms should form an angle slightly less than 90° to the floor while lowering the barbell.

Wide grip

A wide grip is the setting of the hands much closer to the pancakes along the edges of the bar. When lowering the bar, the angle between your forearms and the floor should be beyond 90°. When using a wide grip, the main load falls on the outer part of the pectoralis major muscle and shoulders. The triceps are the least involved here. A wide barbell grip on the bench press allows you to lift the most weight compared to a medium or narrow grip. This occurs due to a decrease in the amplitude of movement of the bar and due to an increase in the number of muscle fibers of the pectoralis major muscle involved in the work. However, this increase in strength comes with an increased risk of injury to the shoulder joints.

Medium grip

Reverse grip

Reverse grip is the setting of the hands shoulder-width apart with the palms turned outward. Your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor. Keep your elbows strictly at your sides, in no case spread to the sides. When performing a bench press with a reverse grip, the main emphasis of the load falls on the triceps and the upper (clavicular) section of the pectoralis major muscle.

How to choose the right grip for you

So what's the best barbell grip for the bench press? There can be no single answer here. After all, it depends not only on which muscle group you want to focus on the setting of the hands. The choice of grip should be determined by the specific training goal that you set for yourself today.

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Average rating 5 / 5. Total ratings: 6

Arthur Miller. 03/10/2018

In short:

Lie down on the bench so that the bar is exactly at eye level. Arch your back - push your chest up, bring your shoulder blades back. You must lie on your shoulder blades. Don't take your butt off the bench. The back should be curved in the form of an arch - an open palm should pass freely under the lower back. Place your feet on the floor shoulder width apart under your hips. Feet are on the floor with the entire surface of the foot. Fix the shoulder blades, buttocks, feet, they should not move anymore.

Grab the bar without taking your shoulder blades off the bench. Encircle it with your fingers in a ring - the thumb should be opposed to the rest. Do not arch your wrists - the fist and forearm are located in one straight line.

Take off the bar, taking a deep breath, hold your breath and straighten your arms - the barbell will rise above the rack holders at the level of your eyes. The shoulder blades should not move from under you, they are brought together, as before, and you lie on them. Now, with straight arms, slowly move it forward above you. It should be above the level of the shoulder joints. The arms should be vertical when viewed from the side. From this position, the bar will descend to the chest.

Lower the bar on the chest, approximately in its middle. Do not lower the bar vertically, it should move down and slightly forward. At the lowest point, the elbows are retracted from the body at an angle of 75 °. Do not spread them apart at a right angle - this injures the ligaments shoulder joint. At the bottom, the forearms should be vertical.

Push the bar up from the chest until the arms are straight. Fully extend your arms at the elbows. At the top, the bar should be above your shoulders. Exhale. Take a deep breath, repeat the previous paragraph.

Now consider the bench press in detail, in all its nuances.

Head

Position yourself on the bench so that the barbell is just at eye level. In this case, your shoulders will be at the optimal distance from the mounts on which the bar rests: not too close to them so that the rack does not interfere with the rise of the bar up, and not too far so that the bar does not have to be moved overhead for a long distance.

During the bench press, do not rest your head on the bench, this can lead to pain in the neck. Instead, tighten your neck and raise your head slightly off the bench so that it barely touches your hair.

Keep your head in neutral position, don't tip it back or lift it up to watch the bar go down. You should feel the bar touch your chest as it goes down.

Shoulders

Shoulders, like shoulder blades, should not come off the bench. Do not raise your shoulders at the top of the press - this will increase the path of the bar, reduce the effectiveness of the exercise. The shoulders, together with the shoulder blades, form a stable stable base for the press. If you cannot remove the barbell from the rack without taking your shoulders off the bench, then you should place it lower or ask the spotter to help you remove the barbell.

Shoulders should not move at all, they are glued to the bench. If you lift your shoulders off the bench, you release tension from the pectoral muscles. By doing this, you reduce the effectiveness of the bench and it loses its meaning. Moreover, the mobility of the shoulders during the bench press will sooner or later inevitably lead to injury and pain in the shoulders.

shoulder blades

Proper fixation of the shoulder blades is 50% success in the bench press. The shoulder blades should be brought together with force and moved down. You must lie on them. When removing the bar, you firmly press the shoulder blades and shoulders into the bench and they should not move anywhere. They are pinned to the bench with a barbell. This is very important, without reducing and fixing the shoulder blades correct bench press with an emphasis on the pectoral muscles will not work. Insufficient fixation of the shoulder blades also leads to a rise in the shoulders above the bench.

Throughout the bench press, the shoulder blades should be brought together with force. Imagine trying to squeeze a pencil between them. Don't lie on a bench like you're on a couch. The shoulder blades, like the entire back, must be in constant tension.

Insufficient fixation of the shoulder blades is one of the two main causes of shoulder pain after the bench press. The second is the breeding of the elbows to the sides, which we will discuss below.

Breast

Lying on a bench, lift your chest up to the ceiling. You should kind of stick it out, make your chest a “wheel”. This will shorten the vertical path of the bar - by bringing the chest (bottom point) closer to the top point of the exercise. This will also shorten the horizontal path of the bar - by bringing the chest closer to the shoulder joints. Lifting the chest activates the maximum muscle fibers of the pectoral muscles, because. they begin to settle down more vertically.

Bench press with flat chested increases the distance the bar travels. This reduces the effectiveness of the exercise. It can also lead to injury to the shoulder joints due to the increase in the horizontal travel of the bar.

Raising your chest and arching your back is not cheating, but don't lift your butt off the bench.

Back

Lying on a bench, arch your back with an arc, a bridge. Lean on the bench with your shoulder blades and gluteal muscles. Don't take your butt off! The lower back is raised above the bench in such a way that under it you can put your palm on the bench. During the bench press, the spine does not experience vertical axial load, as in the squat or deadlift, in which it is strictly forbidden to change the physiological curves of the spine, so arching the back during the bench press is completely safe.

The pictures for the article and most of the text are taken from the bench press manual from stronglifts.com

At the same time, there is no need to overextend. This can cause lower back pain, especially zealous ones can even displace the intervertebral disc. Your task is to lift your chest up and press your shoulder blades to the bench, arch your back just enough to achieve this, but no more.

ass

During the bench press, your butt must be firmly pressed against the bench, otherwise the repetition does not count. Raising your ass off the bench is a cheat because it raises your chest beyond the limits and significantly reduces the range of movement of the barbell. Also, lifting the buttocks can lead to dangerous hyperextension of the spine.

Legs

The bench press is performed with the feet on the floor. Spread your legs shoulder-width apart, resting on the floor with a full foot. Don't lift your heel. The entire foot should be on the floor. The heel is under the knee or slightly behind the knee. The shins should be vertical, perpendicular to the floor.

Having set your feet in place, rest them on the floor, as if trying to move the bench back. The weight of the bar, pressing the shoulder blades and shoulders to the bench, will not let you move back. During the bench press, your legs are not just on the floor, you are actively resting on them, they are constantly tense. With your feet in place, don't move them any more, don't move them during the press.

grip

The bar must be clasped with all fingers in a ring. That is, the thumb must necessarily be opposed to the rest. During the bench press, it is strictly forbidden to use a monkey grip (when the thumb is with the rest on the same side of the bar). With a monkey grip, nothing prevents the bar from sliding down, no one is safe from this.

The bench press is the only barbell exercise that can kill you on the spot if you break safety rules. Several deaths are reported in the US each year as a result of using a monkey grip on the bench press (you can google “Bench Press accident”). People are really dying. Straight to death, no jokes. Dozens of others remain profoundly disabled. Imagine what happens to a person when a barbell with a working weight falls on his neck or nose. Not a single insurer will have time to react. By the time the ambulance arrives, the body will have cooled down. Never use a monkey grip on the bench press.

opposition thumb effectively prevents the bar from slipping. Grasp the bar tightly in the ring with all your fingers, and it will not move anywhere.

In order for the bench press to be effective, you need to squeeze the bar very tightly, with all your strength. Imagine that you want to leave on it a clear imprint of every millimeter of the skin of the hands and fingers. Squeeze the bar like you squeeze a dynamometer.

During the bench press, it is recommended to use the “bulldog grip”. It is so called because of the oblique position of the hands, similar to the clubfoot position of the front paws of a bulldog. With this grip, the bar is located low in the palm, at its base. The bar crosses the palm not perpendicularly, but at an angle. See drawing.

The bulldog grip on the bench press has several advantages. The low position of the neck in the palm leads to the fact that the hand does not arch back under the weight of the bar. The axial load immediately falls on the bones of the forearm, this relieves tension from the hand and prevents it from overextension. The bulldog grip, as it were, “straightens” the hands, setting them in line with the forearm. At the bottom of the exercise, this grip allows you to keep your forearms vertical and not feel uncomfortable.

Most cases of pain in the hands and wrists during the bench press disappear when using the bulldog grip.

Grip Width

grip width different people will be different. It should be such that at the bottom of the exercise, when the bar touches the chest, the forearms are vertical when viewed from behind.

In order to determine the optimal grip width for you, take an empty neck (or any straight stick, plastic pvc pipe, mop, bodybar). Lie down on a bench and lower the bar to your chest. Now look to the right and to the left, at the position of your forearms. Adjust your grip width so that your forearms are vertical at the bottom of the exercise (perpendicular to the floor). Always use this grip width when bench pressing.

With such a grip width, when viewed from behind, at the top of the exercise, the straightened arms will seem to diverge to the sides at an angle from the shoulders. It's okay, that's how it should be. To prevent this position of the forearms from “breaking out” the hands, use a bulldog grip.

Elbows

Lowering the bar from the top position to the chest, bring the elbows to the body. At the lowest point, they should not stick out to the sides at an angle of 90 °. Such a perpendicular arrangement of the elbows leads to damage to the ligamentous apparatus of the shoulder joint. This breakdown in technique is a common cause of shoulder pain after the bench press. If a person complains of shoulder pain after a bench press, I’m willing to bet that he spread his elbows too much to the sides.

At the bottom of the bench press, the elbows should be pulled away from the body so that an angle of approximately 75° forms between the humerus and the body. This position of the hands is ideal for distributing the force of the pectoral muscles and completely eliminates injury to the shoulder joint.

At the same time, do not press your arms too close to your body, this will reduce the effectiveness of the exercise.

To determine the angle of the elbows that is ideal for you, focus on the position of the forearms. At the bottom of the exercise, the forearms should be vertical (plumb/perpendicular to the floor) both when viewed from behind and from the side. Record yourself on video from behind and from the side, look, draw conclusions, correct mistakes.

The barbell is lifted from the chest until the arms are fully extended at the elbows. Otherwise, the repetition is not counted.

forearms

At the bottom of the exercise, the forearms are vertical (perpendicular to the floor) when viewed from behind (from the side of the head of the bench). Forearms "littered" in the direction of the head speak of narrow grip and redistribution of the load from the pectoral muscles to the triceps. Forearms that are tilted to the sides indicate an overly wide grip, which can hurt the shoulders and be painful for the hands.

If you look from the side, then at the bottom of the bench press, the forearms should be relaxed in the same way - perpendicular to the floor, vertically. Moreover, the brush should be on the same line with them, be their continuation. This removes the load from the hands, prevents them from overextension back.

Removing the bar from the rack

Get in the right position on the bench, arch your back, pull your shoulder blades together tightly, grab the bar, take a deep breath, hold your breath, and you're ready to take the bar off.

Straighten your arms at the elbows. The bar will rise above the rack holders. Now slowly, with straight arms, move it slightly forward so that it is exactly above your shoulders. You will feel the right position - it is very easy to hold the barbell in this position, because your arms are straightened, and the weight is not held by static (isometric) muscle contraction, but simply lies passively on your bones, set vertically in a column (forearm bones and humerus).

This position of the bar—just above your shoulder joints—is the start and end point of the barbell’s path. Find some landmark on the ceiling corresponding to this position of the rod. From here the bar begins to move down and here it returns at the end of the ascent. This position of the bar will allow you to take small pauses between repetitions for exhalation-inhalation.

When removing the bar, the shoulder blades should not diverge, the shoulders should not come off the bench. If you can't reach the bar without lifting your shoulder blades, set it lower.

When you grab the barbell before taking it off, your arms should be slightly bent at the elbows. If your arms are straight before you take the bar off, then the bar is high, set it lower.

Downward movement

Start moving down by bending your elbows. Lowering the bar to the chest, bring the elbows to the body. Do not spread them to the sides at a right angle, but do not touch the body with your elbows.

At the bottom of the exercise, the elbows should be pulled away from the body to the sides at an angle of approximately 75 °.

The bar should go through the full range of motion - from the top point with straight arms to touching the chest. If the bar does not touch the chest at the bottom of the bench press, the repetition does not count. Reducing the amplitude reduces the effectiveness of the exercise, turns off most of the fibers from work. If you can't complete the full range of motion, use lighter weights.

The bottom point of the exercise

For most people, the bottom of the range of motion of the bar in the bench press will be around the middle of the chest (sternum). It will depend on the physique, grip, etc.

To determine the place on the chest where the barbell should fall specifically in your case, be guided by the forearms. At the bottom of the exercise, when the elbows are abducted to 75°, the forearms should be vertical both from behind and from the side. Film yourself from behind and from the side, determine the desired position of the forearms. The place where the bar is on the chest when the forearms are vertical is the optimal position of the bar at the bottom point. This is where the bar should drop on each rep.

No need to pause at the bottom point, try to use the muscle stretch reflex (). Touch the bar to your chest and immediately push it up.

At the same time, make sure that the bar does not bounce off your chest. If it hits the chest and bounces up due to the cushioning from the chest, then you are lowering it too quickly. This is dangerous and inefficient.

Rod trajectory

An important point that many do not understand, which leads to most of the problems with the bench press.

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So, the inclined trajectory of the barbell is the safest and most effective in terms of anatomy and physiology. Therefore, you can’t do a bench press in the Smith machine. The rigidly fixed vertical stroke of the bar forces the shoulder joint to work in a pathological, unnatural manner for it, moreover, under load. This leads to permanent traumatization of the ligamentous apparatus of the shoulder joint, chronic inflammation, pain in the shoulder, and sharply increases the risk of shoulder injuries when performing other exercises. Never bench press on a Smith machine. Just like any other bench press or deadlift.

Secrets of an effective bench press

Many people have problems with the growth of the chest muscles, they complain that the muscles do not respond to training. In order for the muscle to be maximally involved in the work, you need not just try to push the bar up, but do it with the pectoral muscles. There are a few tricks for this.

Think about what push yourself into the bench, not the barbell up. Imagine that you need to move a closet next to the wall. You lean back against the closet and push yourself off the wall with your hands. Do the same for the bench press. This will help keep your shoulder blades together and not lift your shoulders off the bench.

There is a very old and very effective trick for activating the chest muscles. When pushing the bar, imagine trying bend it into an arc how to make an arch out of it, like strongmen in a circus bend rods. Squeeze the bar with all your might and try to turn your fists with the bones outward, imagine that you are bending the barbell. It is clear that the bar will not bend, but this action will immediately involve the entire volume of the pectoral muscles in the work.

At the same time, try to put your hands together over the chest. Naturally, your hands should not move a millimeter on the bar, but you must transfer this force to your fists when you hold the bar. To understand what I'm talking about, raise your hands, put your open palms together in front of you and try to squeeze them with all your strength. Do you feel how the pectoral muscles work?

When you push the bar up spread your elbows, they must remain under the bar. If you do not spread your elbows out to the sides when moving up, they will be in front of the bar, which will shift the emphasis on the triceps. The triceps cannot effectively press the working weight designed for the pectoral muscles.

Installing the boom on the rack

Do not rush. At the end of the last repetition, fully straighten your elbows. Pause while holding the bar over your shoulders.

Making sure that you firmly and confidently hold the bar over your shoulders with straight arms, slowly take it horizontally back until it rests on the rack. The bar has rested against the rack, it is located directly above the rack holders. Now bend your elbows and lower the barbell onto the bindings.

Some people try to put the barbell on the rack at the end of the last rep by immediately moving it back in an arc. This is a gross violation of safety regulations. At the end of the set, the arms are tired and cannot support the weight of the bar if the elbows are bent. Straighten your arms completely - this will take the load off the muscles of the hands, the weight will rest on the bones set in the column, and you can easily and safely move it back to the rack. As soon as you feel that the bar has rested against the rack, bend your elbows and lower the barbell onto the mounts.

Breath

Take a deep breath at the top of the exercise with the barbell straight over your shoulders. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, arch your back, press your butt, hold your breath. Drop the bar. Don't exhale on the way down and also at the bottom of the bench, otherwise rib cage“deflate”, the chest will go down, the effectiveness of the exercise will fall.

Raise the barbell back to the starting position above your shoulders, exhale and inhale again. You can do this several times before the next repetition, if necessary. Try to breathe as if halfway so that the air does not come out completely, and the rigidity of the structure does not decrease.

Over time, when you start to bench press with a lot of weight, it will be more convenient for you to do several repetitions on one breath, without exhaling in a pause. Experienced athletes often use this technique, doing the first 2-3 repetitions in one breath. But while you are just starting to train with a barbell, learn the correct and safe technique - breathe between repetitions.

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