bench technique

[dr.shred]

heres a real article from well known site and a well known lifter. (Not from a High School gym class website)

Bench Press 600 Pounds
A 12 Step Program
by Dave Tate



Obviously, not everyone has the genetic raw material to bench press 600 pounds. However, if anyone can teach you to increase your bench, it's Dave Tate. Dave's been assisting and training under Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell fame for over 10 years. He's also the co-owner of Elite Fitness Systems and has consulted thousands of athletes throughout the world. When an athlete wants to get stronger and gain an edge in the world of elite, world class competition, the name Dave Tate is often on the short list of strength coaches who can get the job done. As you'll see, Dave "walks the walk" as well as "talks the talk" when it comes to getting bigger and stronger. We're proud to welcome him as a Testosterone contributor.


I spend most of my weekends in transit these days. In fact, I'm writing this article on a plane headed to yet another seminar I'm conducting. This travel time gives me the chance to think, relax, and reflect on many issues dealing with training and life. I also use the time to prepare for my upcoming seminar or consulting session. I normally sit here going over what topics I'll be presenting and how I can better relate them to my audience. But today there's a problem. No there's not a creature on the wing throwing monkey wrenches into the plane's engines, but it's almost that bad. The problem is all I can think about is my bench press!

You see, I train at Westside Barbell, which is renowned for producing world-caliber strength athletes. I've been a part of this group since 1990. Before that, I had spent five years stuck at a 1955 pound total in powerlifting. Then I tore my right pectoralis major tendon while trying to bench 500 at a bench press competition. I figured that was the end of competition days and thought about retiring from the sport. Then I thought to myself, retire from what? I haven't done anything yet!

I knew I had two options: I could keep training the way I always had and totally fall apart, or I could move to Columbus to train under the watchful eye of Louie Simmons. It wasn't that difficult of a decision. After the surgery I packed the car and moved to Columbus. That was over 10 years ago. Since then, my lifts have increased to a 935-pound squat, 585-pound bench and a 740-pound deadlift. This was after my surgeon told me I'd never bench over 400 again!

Although my bench press has increased 85 pounds, it's still a far cry from where it should be. At Westside we have 34 guys benching over 500 pounds and eight benching over 600. (In fact, six of those eight guys press over 650!) My bench pretty much sucks when compared to the others in the gym. When people ask me for bench advice, I cringe because I'm still chasing 600. I've missed that mark five times in competition at the time of this writing.

I kept telling myself that once I push up 600 pounds I'd write a definitive article on benching. Well, I haven't hit that mark yet, but I do have the biggest bench out of everyone on my flight, so I'm feeling like an authority on benching at the moment. Who knows, maybe writing this article I'll teach myself something, or remember something I've forgotten? I also feel the need to write this because of the vast amount of misinformation out there on this subject. I feel there're 12 components to a great bench press. If we apply these 12 steps, then perhaps you and I both will reach our bench press goals.


12 Steps to a Bigger Bench

1 ? Train the Triceps

Years ago, if you had asked Larry Pacifico how to get a big bench, he'd have told you to train the triceps. This same advice applies today. This doesn't mean doing set after set of pushdowns, kickbacks, and other so-called "shaping" exercises. Training your triceps for a big bench has to involve heavy extensions and close-grip pressing movements such as close-grip flat and incline bench presses, close-grip board presses, and JM presses.

Various barbell and dumbbell extensions should also be staples of your training program. Don't let anyone try to tell you the bench press is about pec strength. These people don't know the correct way to bench and are setting you up for a short pressing career with sub-par weights. I just read an article in one of the major muscle magazines by one of these authors on how to increase your bench press. The advice given was to train your pecs with crossovers and flies and your bench will go up! This, along with many other points, made me wonder how this article ever got published or better yet, how much the author himself could bench.

I believe articles should go under a peer review board before they get printed. I'd like many of my peers to review these authors in the gym or better yet on the bench to see how much they really know. Bottom line: Train the triceps!

2 ? Keep your shoulder blades pulled together and tight.

This is a very important and often overlooked aspect of great bench pressing. While pressing you have to create the most stable environment possible. This can't be done if most of your shoulder blades are off the bench. The bench is only so wide and we can't change this, but we can change how we position ourselves on the bench.

When you pull your shoulder blades together you're creating a tighter, more stable surface from which to press. This is because more of your body is in contact with the bench. The tightness of your upper back also contributes. These techniques also change the distance the bar will have to travel. The key to pressing big weight is to press the shortest distance possible.

3 ? Keep the pressure on your upper back and traps.

This is another misunderstood aspect of pressing. You want the pressure around the supporting muscles. This is accomplished by driving your feet into the floor, thereby driving your body into the bench. Try this: Lie on the bench and line up so your eyes are four inches in front of the bar (toward your feet). Now using your legs, drive yourself into the bench to put pressure on the upper back and traps. Your eyes should now be even with the bar. This is the same pressure that needs to be applied while pushing the barbell.

4 ? Push the bar in a straight line.

Try to push the bar toward your feet. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, right? Then why in the world would some coaches advocate pressing in a "J" line toward the rack? If I were to bench the way most trainers are advocating (with my elbows out, bringing the bar down to the chest and pressing toward the rack) my barbell travel distance would be 16 inches. Now, if I pull my shoulder blades together, tuck my chin and elbows, and bring the bar to my upper abdominals or lower chest, then my pressing distance is only 6.5 inches. Now which would you prefer? If you want to push up a bar-bending load of plates, you'd choose the shorter distance.

Here's another important aspect of pressing in this style. By keeping your shoulder blades together and your chin and elbows tucked, you'll have less shoulder rotation when compared to the J-line method of pressing. This is easy to see by watching how low the elbows drop in the bottom part of the press when the barbell is on the chest. With the elbows out, most everyone's elbows are far lower than the bench. This creates a tremendous amount of shoulder rotation and strain.

Now try the same thing with the elbows tucked and shoulder blades together while bringing the barbell to your upper abdominals. For most people, the elbows are usually no lower than the bench. Less shoulder rotation equals less strain on the shoulder joint. This means pressing bigger weights for many more years. I've always been amazed at trainers that suggest only doing the top half of the bench press, i.e. stopping when the upper arms are parallel to the floor. This is done to avoid the excess shoulder rotation. All they have to do is teach their clients the proper way to bench in the first place!

5 ? Keep the elbows tucked and the bar directly over the wrists and elbows.

This is probably the most important aspect of great pressing technique. The elbows must remain tucked to keep the bar in a straight line as explained above. Keeping the elbows tucked will also allow lifters to use their lats to drive the bar off the chest. Football players are taught to drive their opponents with their elbows tucked, then explode through. This is the same for bench pressing. Bench pressing is all about generating force. You can generate far more force with your elbows in a tucked position compared to an "elbows out" position.

The most important aspect of this is to keep the barbell in a direct line with the elbow. If the barbell is behind the elbow toward the head, then the arm position becomes similar to an extension, not a press.

6 ? Bring the bar low on your chest or upper abdominals.

This is the only way you can maintain the "barbell to elbow" position as described above. You may have heard the advice, "Bring it low" at almost every powerlifting competition. This is the reason why. Once again, the barbell must travel in a straight line.

7 ? Fill your belly with air and hold it.

For maximum attempts and sets under three reps, you must try to hold your air. Everyone must learn to breathe from their bellies and not their chests. If you stand in front of the mirror and take a deep breath, your shoulders shouldn't rise. If they do you're breathing the air into your chest, not your belly. Greater stability can be achieved in all the lifts when you learn how to pull air into the belly. Try to expand and fill the belly with as much air as possible and hold it. If you breathe out during a maximum attempt, the body structure will change slightly, thus changing the groove in which the barbell is traveling.

8 ? Train with compensatory acceleration.

Push the bar with maximal force. Whatever weight you're trying to push, be it 40% or 100% of your max, you must learn to apply 100% of the force to the barbell. If you can bench 500 pounds and are training with 300 pounds, you must then apply 500 pounds of force to the 300-pound barbell. This is known as compensatory acceleration and it can help you break through sticking points.

These sticking points are known as your "mini maxes," or the points at which you miss the lift or the barbell begins to slip out of the groove. Many times I'm asked what to do if the barbell gets stuck four to five inches off the chest. Everybody wants to know what exercise will help them strengthen this area or what body part is holding them back. Many times it isn't what you do to strengthen the area where it sticks, but what you can do to build more acceleration in the area before the mini max. If you can get the bar moving with more force then there won't be a sticking point. Instead, you'll blast right through it. Compensatory acceleration will help you do this.

9 ? Squeeze the barbell and try to pull the bar apart!

Regardless of the lift, you have to keep your body as tight as Monica Brant's behind. You'll never lift big weights if you're in a relaxed physical state while under the barbell. The best way to get the body tight is by squeezing the bar. We've also found that if you try to pull the bar apart or "break the bar," the triceps seem to become more activated.

10 ? Devote one day per week to dynamic-effort training.

According to Vladimir Zatsiorsinsky in his text Science and Practice of Strength Training, there are three ways to increase muscle tension. These three methods include the dynamic-effort method, the maximal-effort method, and the repetition method. Most training programs being practiced in the US today only utilize one or two of these methods. It's important, however, to use all three.

The bench press should be trained using the dynamic-effort method. This method is best defined as training with sub-maximal weights (45 to 60%) at maximal velocities. The key to this method is bar speed. Percentage training can be very deceiving. The reason for this is because lifters at higher levels have better motor control and recruit more muscle than a less experienced lifter.

For example, the maximal amount of muscle you could possibility recruit is 100%. Now, the advanced lifter ? after years of teaching his nervous system to be efficient ? may be able to recruit 70 to 80% of muscle fibers, while the intermediate might be able to recruit only 50%. Thus, the advanced lifter would need less percent weight than the intermediate. This is one of the reasons why an advanced lifter squatting 80% of his max for 10 reps would kill himself while a beginner could do it all day long.

If you base the training on bar speed, then the percentages are no longer an issue, only a guideline. So how do you know where to start? If you're an intermediate lifter, I suggest you start at 50% of maximal and see how fast you can make it move for three reps. If you can move 20 more pounds with the same speed then use the heavier weight.

Based on years of experience and Primlin's charts for optimal percent training, we've found the best range to be eight sets of three reps. Based on Primlin's research, the optimal range for 70% and less is 12 to 24 repetitions.

We've also found it very beneficial to train the bench using three different grips, all of which are performed within the rings. This may break down into two sets with the pinky fingers on the rings, three sets with three fingers from the smooth area of the bar and three sets with one finger from the smooth area.

11 ? Devote one day per week to maximal-effort training.

For the second bench day of the week (72 hours after the dynamic day) you should concentrate on the maximal-effort method. This is best defined as lifting maximal weights (90% to 100%) for one to three reps. This is one of the best methods to develop maximal strength. The key here is to strain. The downfall is you can't train above 90% for longer than three weeks without having adverse effects.

Try performing a max bench press every week for four or five weeks. You'll see you may progress for the first two, maybe three weeks, then your progress will halt and begin to work its way backward. We've combated this by switching up the maximal-effort exercises. We rotate maximal-effort movements such as the close-grip incline press, board press, floor press, and close-grip flat press. These exercises are all specific to bench pressing and all have a very high carryover value.

12 ? Train the lats on the same plane as the bench.

I'm talking about the horizontal plane here. In other words, you must perform rows, rows, and more rows. "If you want to bench big then you need to train the lats." I've heard both George Hilbert and Kenny Patterson say this for years when asked about increasing the bench press. When you bench you're on a horizontal plane. So would it make sense from a balance perspective to train the lats with pulldowns, which are on a vertical plane? Nope. Stick to the barbell row if you want a big bench.


Now that my trip is over and I'm back in Columbus, I no longer feel like an authority on bench pressing. My 585 pound bench press is considered sort of "puny" by Westside standards, after all. By writing this article, however, I've realized a few things I need to change about my bench pressing. I bet you have too. Hopefully, I've helped you correct a few problems that might've been keeping you from breaking your own personal record. Remember, the smallest things often bring the biggest results.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459808

[Strictly Business]

why is this even a question? why would you want to do anything other then the best? there is a reason why they are the best. . . butt on the bench shoulders on arc ur back and hit the chest with the bar

[dr.shred]

wow i wonder why westside has 34 guys bench over 500 and 8 over 600 go figure.
Or you could go to the site that tells you how to bench safely. AG5678 wants to talk about safety benching when hes recommending d-bol, deca , test only cycles to people.

[AG5678]

wow i wonder why westside has 34 guys bench over 500 and 8 over 600 go figure.
Or you could go to the site that tells you how to bench safely. AG5678 wants to talk about safety benching when hes recommending d-bol, deca, test only cycles to people.

Ok Shred what have you used in your life?

[dr.shred]

i can count on two fingers what ive used.

[AG5678]

im waiting

[dr.shred]

ive asked a lot questions on here, but never really experimented.

[dr.shred]

1-l-carnitine 2-Cla. 3. Benching all the way down. excuse me three fingers.

[Steele]

saw this thread and have to say the unspoken obvious: there is no one way that is the best form for the bench press. proper form has been established by two things: general anatomy of the human body, and the goal(s) at hand. powerlifters like to lift heaviest amount of weight as possible so they raise there buttocks to make the amount of distance the bar travels from the body smaller and give them more leverage, they drop their elbows to use the anterior delts and triceps to help assist the chest in pushing the weight. bodybuilders TARGET specific muscles in order to cause hypertrophy and size. ronnie lifts like a bodybuilder and is probabbly the strongest man alive, becuase he aims to train specific muscles to get bigger and stronger, the result is in compound movements with all his muscles working together and aiming to lift as much weight as possible with out trying to target a muscle i think he would be one of the best benchers in the world.
if your chest is huge then you might have to touch your chest to get a full contraction, if your chest is small or if you have long arms then you don't have to touch the chest to get a full contraction. based on my anatomy and shoulder flexion it is impossible for me to touch the chest with the bar with BODYBUILDING form without putting strain on my rotator cuff. just my 2 cents. just don't get hurt, do whats right for your own skeleton taking into consideration what the goal is at hand

[dr.shred]

saw this thread and have to say the unspoken obvious: there is no one way that is the best form for the bench press. proper form has been established by two things: general anatomy of the human body, and the goal(s) at hand. powerlifters like to lift heaviest amount of weight as possible so they raise there buttocks to make the amount of distance the bar travels from the body smaller and give them more leverage, they drop their elbows to use the anterior delts and triceps to help assist the chest in pushing the weight. bodybuilders TARGET specific muscles in order to cause hypertrophy and size. ronnie lifts like a bodybuilder and is probabbly the strongest man alive, becuase he aims to train specific muscles to get bigger and stronger, the result is in compound movements with all his muscles working together and aiming to lift as much weight as possible with out trying to target a muscle i think he would be one of the best benchers in the world.
if your chest is huge then you might have to touch your chest to get a full contraction, if your chest is small or if you have long arms then you don't have to touch the chest to get a full contraction. based on my anatomy and shoulder flexion it is impossible for me to touch the chest with the bar with BODYBUILDING form without putting strain on my rotator cuff. just my 2 cents. just don't get hurt, do whats right for your own skeleton taking into consideration what the goal is at hand

first of all ronnie coleman is not the strongest man alive by any means. He does half squats and half bench, half reps with everything he does (not legit). Second, powerlifters do not lift their butts they arch their back and keep their butts flat, obv you didn't read the pervious threads because you would of known this. Makes you wonder that all the best benchers in the world bench like this so they must be doing something right. You guys all can do your half reps and what have you, but when it comes down to legit bench you should be substracting 50 pounds off of whatever you think you can do, because you could not even come close to that weight doing a legit bench.

[dr.shred]

I wonder why these articles have been posted on the one of the most well-known websites (t-nation) and by some of the most recognized and respected people in these fields. Read the thread from t-nation i posted before you reply this this thread anymore.

[Steele]

you are missing the issue at hand. you are choosing to bench press like a powerlifter, and this thread is in the powerlifting forum so that is all that should be talked about. but you did title this "proper form" i don't know the specifics on how pwerlifters press because it is no concern of mine. i only lift for size and safety. ronnie lifts this way as well. and when you touch your chest (depending on your build) you will almost surely disengage the chest and the weight will momentarily be resting on your shoulder girldle which can cause severe rotator problems. i am a multi certified personal trainer and in my last semesters of physical therapy so i think my opinion is pretty legit. lift like a power lifter and get stronger and more than likely you will look bulky and smooth, lacking muscle seperation. i lift safely like a bodybuilder to target muscles and contract them. your goal seems to be lifting weight. which is a good goal if you are a pwerlifter. my personal goal is to build size and strength without getting hurt so i contract muscles, the weight just happens to move. that is bodybuilding. that produces great physiques (arnold,ronnie, jay cutler, milos sarcev, etc). if your goal is to lift heavy and sacrifice size/strength/and seperation of muscles (which usually happens) each to there own. oh, and every time i have a client who insists on touching there chest for "full range of motion" i tell them they are cheating because at the bottom of the rep they are resting just for a second. so, they don't touch the chest and have to physically stop the momentum of the bar by contracting the muscles and all of a sudden they can't do the same amount of reps they did with the same weight that they were doing when touching the chest. so does that make them pussies? one way is more intense, one way allows you to lift more weight.

[dr.shred]

actually i did not start this thread...i lift like a powerlifter and and i am 190 about 6% bf, you can look at my pics in the picture forum and you will see that i am not smooth looking.

[AG5678]

you are missing the issue at hand. you are choosing to bench press like a powerlifter, and this thread is in the powerlifting forum so that is all that should be talked about. but you did title this "proper form" i don't know the specifics on how pwerlifters press because it is no concern of mine. i only lift for size and safety. ronnie lifts this way as well. and when you touch your chest (depending on your build) you will almost surely disengage the chest and the weight will momentarily be resting on your shoulder girldle which can cause severe rotator problems. i am a multi certified personal trainer and in my last semesters of physical therapy so i think my opinion is pretty legit. lift like a power lifter and get stronger and more than likely you will look bulky and smooth, lacking muscle seperation. i lift safely like a bodybuilder to target muscles and contract them. your goal seems to be lifting weight. which is a good goal if you are a pwerlifter. my personal goal is to build size and strength without getting hurt so i contract muscles, the weight just happens to move. that is bodybuilding. that produces great physiques (arnold,ronnie, jay cutler, milos sarcev, etc). if your goal is to lift heavy and sacrifice size/strength/and seperation of muscles (which usually happens) each to there own. oh, and every time i have a client who insists on touching there chest for "full range of motion" i tell them they are cheating because at the bottom of the rep they are resting just for a second. so, they don't touch the chest and have to physically stop the momentum of the bar by contracting the muscles and all of a sudden they can't do the same amount of reps they did with the same weight that they were doing when touching the chest. so does that make them pussies? one way is more intense, one way allows you to lift more weight.

Well Spoken. And Shred if it was between you or Steele. I think i would listen to the personal trainer/Steele.

[AG5678]

And hes going to compete in a couple of months. And ive seen him so i know hes not just talking shi*.

[dr.shred]

I am personal trainer fyi.

[Son Of Khadafi]

Shred I liked the article you posted, but had a couple questions. What are board presses and JM presses?

[Son Of Khadafi]

I also was at the gym yesterday and spotted someone on the bench who gripped the bar with the heel of his palms facing his head. Do any of you guys know what the benefit of benching like that is? Does it work the muscles differently than the regular grip?

[dr.shred]

board press is using usually a 6 inch board in which you bring the weight down to the board not bouncing to work a different range of your bench. The guy you spotted probably used that grip out of his own preference. Personally I would never use that neither would the guys at westside. You want to wrap your thumbs around and keep your wrists straight. JM Press is a type of tricep extention with db or straight bar. you can find the desc. on abcbodybuilding.com.

[Son Of Khadafi]

Thanks for the info Doc.

[dr.shred]

no prob

[Juggernaut]

I also was at the gym yesterday and spotted someone on the bench who gripped the bar with the heel of his palms facing his head. Do any of you guys know what the benefit of benching like that is? Does it work the muscles differently than the regular grip?

Triceps mostly.....I don't like this one much.

[angelxterminator]

Triceps mostly.....I don't like this one much.

I dont like this one at all either. It feels very awkward. If i want to hit triceps more i'll just take a closer grip!

[goodtobeapimp]

Since when is bench pressing an isolation movement? If you want a fuller chest stick to the incline...Heavy bench pressing,squating,deadlifting should be the core in any mass program.

[Ice_cold]

the board press works the top part of your bench,floor presses will work the bottom.If your sticking on the bottom,then do floor presses.If your sticking in the middle or having problems locking out,then try board presses.You can make them as thick as you want.get two spooters.one to hold the board and one to grab the bar.

1 mo-thang.dont ever touch the bar with your chest.your going past the shoulder blades.your asking for major problems.2 inches from the bottom is about right.

[dr.shred]

ya well like i said 1000000 times this is A POWERLIFTING FORUM....find me one powerlifter that does not touch his chest. read all the posts before you throw out your comments.

[CrashNDown]

I am fairly new to powerlifitng meets. I just finsihed my second meet where I benched 450 on a pause. There are set bench techniques but the bottom line is how you train and what you are training for. For example: If you want to train for open bench press (with a shirt) you want to be more of a shoulder and back (low) bencher. If you train for raw bench then you need to incorporate your strengths in your press (tri's, chest, back, shoulders, even legs). Its all about finding your strength and maximizing it.

[CrashNDown]

In follow up to some earlier comments abotu stopping 2 inches off of your chest.. etc etc... you must not be training for a powelifting event or ever been to one. It has to touch your chest.

[goodtobeapimp]

I'd like to also add that there is a HUGE difference in bench pressing raw and shirted. Yes in powerlifting meets they pause on their chests but thats with a shirt as well. For anyone that has never wore a shirt, it makes a hell of a difference pausing with a shirt compared to pausing without one.

Like I said before. Bench pressing isn't an isolation movement. Nor would I attempt to make it one. Comparing bodybuilding to powerlifting is apples and oranges. Different techniques and goals.

[Mighty]

I can see how "resting" the bar on your chest would disengage the excercise, but when I bring the bar down and touch my chest, thats all it is...a touch. I dont crush my sternum, and use it for a trampoline to relieve some of the stress on my pecs. I just go through the FULL range of motion. My workout partner doesnt come all the way up when hes repping, and I think thats strange also. Pick the bar up unassisted, bring it all the way down and touch your chest, raise the bar all the way up, and hang it up = 1 clean rep, IMO
I cant think of one excercise where it would be benificial , not to go through the full range of motion.