Bench Pressing the Proper Way

    I began lifting weights in High school my sophomore year and ever since then, they've become one of my favorite hobbies to do in my spare time and one of my favorite weight lifting exercises happens to be the bench press.

    There are over four dozen different types of weight lifting exercises but for this blog specifically, I'll only be talking about the fundamentals of bench pressing and what you need to know to start bench pressing right away. Bench pressing can be done either at your local gym or at home, but please keep in mind that if you would like to perform bench pressing at home that it would be a bit pricy since you would have to purchase the correct equipment to do so. 

    The requirements to bench press are; shoes and clothes that you feel comfortable enough to sweat in, a barbell, weighted plates, a squat Rack, and a bench. (Below is an image of the equipment needed for bench pressing).

Bench Pressing

Bench Pressing is an upper bodyweight training exercise that is considered by many to be one of the best exercises when it comes to building muscle and endurance. The bench press targets mostly your upper chest, triceps, forearms, and your front shoulders. Bench pressing can be done in a variety of different ways some examples being using dumbbells, kettlebells, and a smith machine instead of a barbell, but for our case, we'll be using a barbell since from my personal experience I believe the barbell to be the best when it comes to learning how to bench press. 

 Bench pressing step by step:

1.  Lay flat on your back and allow for your legs to dangle from the end of the bench, make sure to plant your feet firmly onto the ground
2. Arc your upper back to a comfortable position
3. Grip the Bar with both hands at shoulder width apart
4. Un-rack the bar from the squat rack and bring the bar down slowly to where it almost touches your chest 
5. Push Up the barbell as you breathe out
6. press the barbell up until your arms are straight
7. Once finished with the exercise always re rack the barbell into the squat rack 

    Some other things that you'd like to keep in mind are that when your legs are dangling from the end of the bench, you would want to plant your feet into the ground so that you can maintain your upper back arch. Make sure that you can control the barbell with your hands as you bring the bar upwards and downwards.

Correct Form

    Using the correct form when weight lifting will allow you to have a more efficient workout and it also prevents injury especially when it comes to lifting heavier weights.

       Straight Wrist

    When you un-rack the barbell from the squat rack, you use both your hands to do so, when pushing the weight upward and downward you always want to make sure that your wrist is straight and not bending. Bending your wrist puts allot of pressure on your wrist and it also can stress your tends and ligaments. Bending your wrist constantly when benching can lead to severe and long-lasting wrist pain. Using a straight wrist is the safest way to bench since it allows for less stress on your wrist joins and can also increase your bench press at the same time.

      Arcing Upper Back

    

 When benching, its important to arc your upper back so that your shoulder blades can be protected from injuries when weight lifting. Back arching allows for greater lifting capacity along with better bar movement and a stable position. Try not to arch your back to high up where the position feels uncomfortable, but try to use a position that feels most comfortable for your spine so that you can engage in the weight lifting exercise as much as possible.   

        Leg Drive

    

    Leg Drive is also known as planting your feet firmly into the ground when bench pressing. The purpose of leg drive is to help you maintain your upper back position and it also manages to increase the stability and stiffness of your torso, which allows for a greater level of strength pushing.

Spotter & Warm-ups

    A spotter is someone who watches you as you perform the exercise, they are there to make sure that you are not struggling with the weights and that you are keeping the correct form when bringing the bar upward and downward. A spotter can be anyone, from a friend that is bench pressing along with you to a stranger in the gym who you asked politely to spot you. 

  It is always beneficial to warm up before working out and it is no different when it comes to weight training. Warming up helps you reduce soreness, increases the blood flow to your muscles, and most importantly can lessen the risk of injury. For benching pressing in particular warming up can be as simple as doing push-ups, stretching, and even doing a couple of reps of bench pressing with no weights added to the barbell. 

Number of Reps & Sets

    Repetition also known as Reps are the complete action of one strength training exercise. For example, when your bench pressing, you push the bar upward from your chest, this is counts as one Repetition or one Rep for short. A set is the number of reps you do in a row between periods of rest. An example of this would be doing 10 reps of bench pressing in one go, this can be phrased as one set of 10 reps. 

  The number of Reps and Sets you do determines the amount of weight that you are using for bench pressing. The bar itself weighs about 45 pounds and the weighted plated vary from 2.5 pounds, 5 pounds, 10 pounds, 25 pounds, 35 pounds, and 45 pounds. If you are using lower weights for the barbell then I'd recommend doing about 4 to 5 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions. if you plan on using heavier weights for the barbell then I'd recommend about 3 to 4 sets of 4 to 6 reps. 

  Some other things to keep in mind is the importance of resting in between sets, after you complete one of your sets you would want to take about a 2 to 3 minutes rest before you began another set of the same workout. This way you're able to catch a breath before your next set and you also give your muscles some time to rest.

The Benefits

    The Benefits of Bench Pressing are as follow:

• Increase upper body Strength
• Build muscle along with Endurance
• Improves Bone Health
• Increases your push-ups
• Improves grip strength

Keep in Mind

    Some additional things to keep in mind are that if you looking to gain full-body muscle, bench pressing alone won't get you there. You would have to incorporate different types of weight lifting exercises into your workout along with bench pressing. Another thing is that never try to bench press in back to back days, resting your muscles the day after you just bench press is crucial for your muscles to heal and grow. I'd recommend that you bench press at least 2 to 3 times a week and rest in-between days that you bench and also as you bench more try your best to add more weights so that your benching can increase which would build more muscle and also increase your endurance.