Reader Shahim asked:

I’ve been weight lifting for a while and have performed the Bench Press with my feet placed on the leg extension bar of the bench.

I find that this position is a lot more comfortable than keeping my feet on the floor. Is there anything wrong with this position?

Feet Up. You have 2 reasons to Bench Press with your feet on the bench, in the air or on the leg extension bar:

• Lower Back Pain. Your lower back hurts when your feet are flat on the floor. Stop avoiding what hurts, work on spinal flexibility: cat/camels.
• Overload. You want to make the Bench Press harder by removing your legs from the movement.

Feet on The Floor. I recommend to Bench Press with your feet flat on the floor. It has 2 benefits over pressing with your feet up.

• Safer. Feet flat on the floor is more stable. Your body isn’t fixed when pressing with your feet up or on the bench.
• Stronger. You can squeeze your glutes & calves more easily when your feet are flat on the floor. This makes you stronger.

How to Put Your Feet. The correct foot placement to achieve more stability & strength on the Bench Press:

• Weight on Heels. Curl your toes up if necessary. Push from the heels. Squeeze your glutes & calves while pressing the bar up.
• Knees over Feet. Makes it easier to drive from your heels. Put your shins perpendicular to the floor.
• Wide Stance. Wide is more stable than narrow. Push your knees out. If it feels uncomfortable, you’re overdoing the foot width.

Feet up feels better because you’re used to do them like that. Change to feet flat on the floor. You’ll get used to it after a few weeks.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

“How much do you bench?”. I’m sure you often get that question. The Bench Press is the most performed exercise in the average gym. No wonder many want to increase their Bench Press.

If you’re a football player or if you just want to be the strongest at your gym, you need a big Bench Press. Here are 5 ways to increase your Bench Press.

Improve your Technique. Solid Bench Press technique will help you lift more weight & avoid injury. Follow these tips:

• Bar Close to Wrists. Grab the bar close to your wrists, not close to your fingers. Read this article on correct Bench Press grip.
• Squeeze the Bar. Squeeze the bar hard so it doesn’t move. Try to break the bar apart like breaking spaghetti. This activates your triceps more.
• Tighten Your Upper-back. Pull your shoulder-blades together & keep them tight. This gives your body a solid base to press from.
• Drive Into the Bench. Use your legs to drive yourself into the bench. This puts pressure on your upper-back & traps, building a solid base.
• Push in a Straight Line. Keep the bar above your elbows, don’t press it to your face. Fix a point on the ceiling where you want the bar to go.
• Keep Your Elbows Tucked. The only way you can push the bar in a straight line. It also makes using your lats easier.

If you’re into powerlifting, strive for a big arch to decrease the range of motion. Cat/camels will improve your arc. Read this article by Mike Robertson for more info on the powerlifting Bench Press.

I don’t like the idea of arching. The above Bench Press tips echo what Mark Rippetoe advises in starting strength. But if you want to arch: feel free to.

Strengthen Back & Arms. You need a solid base to Bench Press from as well as strong arms to bring the bar down & back up. Strengthen:

• Upper-back & Lats. Bent-over Barbell Rows or Pendlay Rows work your back & lats hard. Rows are the opposite movement of a Bench Press.
• Triceps. Lockout the weight. Close Grip bench press, Dips, Floor Press, JM Press, etc will strengthen your triceps.
• Biceps. The brachialis acts as a stabilizer in the Bench Press. Hammer Curls will strengthen this muscle.

Lift Fast. Lifting slow will never make you strong. Lift fast. The faster you are, the more weight you can Bench Press. You can add bands and/or chains to train on speed specifically if you want.

Eat More. The bigger your muscles, the stronger you are. Eat at least your body-weight in lbs x 18 calories. Get 1g/lbs protein daily from meat, poultry, fish, eggs & whey. Read this article on how to build muscle.

Avoid Injuries. Shoulder injuries are common with the Bench Press. If you eat right & train hard, they’re the only thing that can prevent you to increase your Bench Press. Some tips:

• Balance. Make sure you train the opposite movement to prevent muscle imbalances. Row as often as you Bench Press.
• Proper Technique. Don’t let your shoulders roll forward, don’t flare your elbows, don’t let your wrists roll backwards, don’t use a false grip, etc.
• Posture. Winging shoulder-blades will get you shoulder injuries sooner or later. Overhead Squats, shoulder dislocations, scap push ups, face pulls will help. Check this article by Bill Hartman & the Egoscue Method.

Bench Press Programs. The following training programs will help you increase your Bench Press. It’s not a definite list, you’ll find many more if you search.

• 5×5. Beginner Strength Training Program, Texas Method, Bill Starr, Total Tonnage, etc. Similar approaches to increase your Bench Press.
• Sheiko. Russian Bench Press program, here’s a link.
• Metal Militia. “Strongest Benchers in the world”. Here’s their program.

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“I’m on your Beginner Strength Training Program. Doing 5×5 with 165lbs on the Bench Press. But I’m close to failure on the later reps in the 4th and 5th set.

I Bench Press on a smith machine because of this. I know you don’t approve the smith machine for Squats but what about the Bench Press?

My gym is open 24 hours. I go late at night or early in the morning. I’m often the only one lifting weights. I don’t want to get stuck with a bar on my chest. How can I Bench Press safely when I’m alone?

Ask For Help. You train alone so a training partner is out of the question. What you can do:

• Ask someone training at the gym to help you
• Ask the gym manager to help you
• Take someone with you to help you
• Schedule your Bench Press at times people are there to help

My advice is to schedule your Bench Press session when someone is there to help. You have your reasons to train in the morning or late at night. Unfortunately you’ll have to sacrifice. It’s either this or the smith machine.

Stay Away From Failure. If you think you can’t do another rep: stop the set.

Example, you’re in set 4. Your goal is 5 reps, but you feel after the 3rd rep another one will be hard or impossible: stop. Set 4 is over. Do your 5th set. Try to get as many reps as you can. Stop again when you think you’ll fail.

Take note of the number of reps you achieved & try to beat this the week after. As long as you’re a beginner: stop when you think you can’t do another rep. It’s better to stop too soon than to get injured.

Bench Inside the Power Rack. Know what you’re doing for this one: this isn’t 100% safe. Rule number one: learn to Bench Press correctly: press the weight above your chest, not towards your face.

Power racks come with safety pins. Set the pins at about the same height the bar touches your chest. Not too high so the bar doesn’t hit the pins. Not too low so you can put the bar on the pins in case you miss the lift.

If you fail the rep: lower the bar back to your chest. Let it rest on the safety pins by pulling your stomach in & get under the bar. You’ll look like a clown doing this: don’t care about it. Being a clown is better than getting injured.

You can’t use this if you’re pressing 200kg. I used this method for weights up to 90kg. I wouldn’t trust anything above 100Kg as it becomes too heavy. But for weights lower it works if you use your head & know what you do.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

The last 2 weeks I’ve noticed a pain in my wrist following the Bench Press. First time I lifted through it and my wrist hurt for a week. Second time I dropped my last set and it hurt less. Third time I narrowed my Bench Press grip and had no pain.

Do I Bench Press a weight my wrist can take without pain while I strengthen the wrist? Or do I get a wrist brace and keep lifting heavy? I had no wrist pain the last week, but did felt a “warning pain” when I used a wide Bench Press grip last time

Why Your Wrists Hurt. A common error on the Bench Press is gripping the bar high in your hands, close to your fingers. The weight of the bar makes your wrists roll back, stretching them beyond their normal range of motion.

Gripping the bar incorrectly increases the risks of wrists injuries. Your elbows & shoulders are forced to overcompensate, which can also get them injured. Wrists wraps & wrists curls won’t help, you need to grip the bar correctly.

Left: bad technique, wrist rolls back. Right: correct technique, wrist inline with forearm.

Correct Bench Press Grip Technique. Your wrists must stay inline with your forearms on the Bench Press. The only way to do this is to put the bar in the palm of your hand, close to your wrist.

Picture below. The bar is close to the fingers on the left. Notice the pink: the fingers can’t wrap completely around the bar. The solution is to put the bar close to your wrists like on the right.

Left: bad technique, bar close to fingers. Right: correct technique, bar close to wrists.

How to Grip the Bar Correctly. Your fingers support the bar on the Bench Press. But they don’t control the bar. Your thumbs do. This is safer on your wrists & increases power transfer to the bar.

• Setup for the Bench Press
• Put the bar over your palm heels (picture below)
• Rotate your hands out
• Hook your thumbs around the bar
• Wrap your fingers around the bar
• Squeeze the bar hard so it can’t move in your hand

Pain means something is not right: technique, flexibility, posture, … It’s your responsibility to find out what. Never train through the pain.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

The Bench Press is the most popular lift in the gym. It’s the upper-body exercise that lets you lift the most weight. The Bench Press builds upper-body strength like no other exercise & that’s why it’s part of StrongLifts 5×5 program.

Unfortunately the Bench Press causes most injuries, especially shoulder injuries. This article will teach you how to Bench Press with proper technique so you can bench more weight without injuring yourself.

What’s The Bench Press? Lie on an upright support bench or a bench inside a Power Rack. Unrack the weight & lower it to your chest. Press it back up until your arms are locked. You’ve done a Bench Press.

You have several ways to Bench Press by varying grip, grip width, bench angle, etc. Some Bench Press variations are:

• Close Grip Bench Press. Shoulder width grip. Emphasis triceps.
• Reverse Grip Bench Press. Palms facing you. Also emphasis triceps.
• Incline Bench Press. From an incline bench. Emphasis shoulders.
• Decline Bench Press. From a decline bench. Allows more weight.
• Floor Press. Bench Press while lying on the floor. More triceps.

Here’s a video of Eric Cressey Bench Pressing 315lbs/142kg for 3 reps.

Click here to view the embedded video.

• Builds Muscle. Bench Press if you want a big chest, as popularized by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 70s. Front Shoulders & triceps work too.
• Builds Strength. The Bench Press is the strength training exercise that lets you lift the most weight using your upper-body muscles.

Bench Press Safety. Most injuries in the gym happen when doing The Bench Press. One reason is of course because it’s the exercise done the most. Other reasons are not using the following tips.

• No Thumbless Grip. Use your thumbs when doing the Bench Press. You don’t want the bar to slip out of your hands.
• Start Light. Add weight gradually. You’ll get a feeling of what you can & can’t handle while learning proper Bench Press technique.
• Ask Someone to Spot. Spotters will help you if you get stuck with the bar on your chest. If you don’t have a spotter, read the guide on how to Bench Press safely when you’re alone.

Bench Press & Shoulders Pain. Shoulder pain from doing the Bench Press is common. Switching to dumbbells or quiting the Bench Press avoids pain, but doesn’t solve your shoulder problem. What you should do:

• Improve Technique. If you don’t Bench Press with proper technique you’ll injure yourself sooner or later. Read on.
• Fix Posture. You can’t Bench Press with proper technique if you have slouching shoulders. Start doing shoulder dislocations. Focus on bringing your chest forward & squeezing your shoulder-blades.
• Avoid Muscle Imbalances. The Bench Press works your front shoulders more than the back ones. If you don’t strengthen these by doing the Barbell Row & Overhead Press, you’ll get a muscle imbalance. Causing bad posture & thus bad Bench Press technique. Get on StrongLifts 5×5, it’s a balanced program.

Correct Bench Grip on the right: bar in hand palm.
Bench Press Setup. You need a strong base to press the weight from. Tighten your upper-back. Grip the bar hard: try to break it apart like breaking spaghetti.

• Grip Width. Too narrow & you’ll lose strength. Too wide & the distance the bar travels shortens. Grip width should be about 55-71cm/22-28″ depending on your build. Forearms perpendicular to the floor when the bar touches your chest.
• Gripping the Bar. Secure the bar with your thumbs by rotating your hands in. Put the bar in the palm of your hand, close to your wrist. If you put the bar close to your fingers, you’ll get wrist pain.
• Tight Upper-back. Squeeze your shoulder-blades before getting on the bench. Keep your shoulder-blades back & down at all times like on the picture below. This gives your body a solid base to press the bar from.
• Chest Up. Don’t allow your chest to go flat or shoulders to roll forward. You’ll lose upper-back tightness, losing power & increasing risk of shoulder injury. Keep your chest up at all time.
• Feet. Use a wide foot stance to increase stability on the bench. Feet flat on the floor, weight on the heels, lower leg perpendicular to the floor. This prevents extreme arching of your lower back.

Tight upper-back, squeezing the shoulder-blades. Image credit: dehwang.
The Bench Press. Remember to keep the tight position during the Bench Press from start to finish. Squeeze the bar, keep your upper-back tight & your chest up. Unrack the weight with straight arms. Bench.

• Bar to Chest. Touch your chest where your forearms are perpendicular to the floor when looking from the side.
• Press in a Straight Line. Don’t look at the bar. Fix a point at the ceiling. Press the bar in a straight line above your chest, not towards your face. Keep the bar above your elbows during the whole lift.

Common Errors. The following Bench Press errors are either inefficient or potentially dangerous. Avoid them at all costs.

• Unracking with Bent Arms. Don’t risk the bar falling on your face. Your arms are strongest when your elbows are locked. Unrack & bring the bar above your chest with locked elbows.
• Pressing to Your Face. The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line. Press in a straight line. Fix a point at the ceiling where you want the bar to go. Don’t look at the bar.
• Bending Your Wrists. This will get you wrist pain. Put the bar in the palm of your hand. Close to your wrists, not close to your fingers. Squeeze the bar so it doesn’t move.
• Elbows. Too high is bad for your shoulders. Too low is inefficient. Put your elbows between perpendicular to & parallel with your torso.
• Shoulders Forward. Don’t let your shoulders roll forward. It’s bad posture, bad technique & a guaranteed way to get shoulder injuries. Keep your chest up, shoulder-blades back & down and upper-back tight.
• Glutes off the Bench. This makes the distance the bar travels shorter & thus the Bench Press easier. However it puts pressure on your back, especially when the weight gets heavy. You’re more stable when your glutes are on the bench. Keep them there.
• Pushing Your Head into The Bench. You’ll injure your neck. Tighten your neck muscles, without pushing your head into the bench.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

One day later my shoulder still hurts from the Bench Press. The pain is on the right side. First it was in the front of my shoulder. Today the pain is more on the side of my shoulder.

It’s not really the muscle that hurts, but more the joint/bone. The shoulder pain goes into my biceps. I can feel it in the inside of my elbow & in my forearm. My wrist also hurts.

What’s the cause of my shoulder pain? The Bench Press? A nerve stuck? I fear having to cut the weight on the Bench Press if this shoulder pain doesn’t go away soon.

Bench Press & Shoulder Pain. When you have pain in your:

• Arms: biceps, wrists, elbows, forearms, …
• Shoulders: front, back, ..
• Neck

Check your shoulderblade. If your shoulderblade doesn’t work like it should, other muscles will compensate. In the long-term this translates into pain. Pain is your body telling you something is wrong. Listen to your body & you’ll avoid injuries.

Never train through the pain. Think long-term. It’s better to cut the weight for 2 weeks, than no upper body training during 2 months. Here are some solutions for shoulder pain.

Bench Press Technique. Check your technique on the Bench Press:

• Shoulders back & down
• Chest forward

Don’t let your shoulders come forward. It leads to injury. You just maxed on the Bench Press. Cut back the weight and focus on speed & technique. This will give your shoulder time to recover.

Shoulder Posture. Same as for the Bench Press. Shoulders back & down when sitting behind your computer, shoulders back & down when walking around, shoulders back & down when driving your car. Don’t be a Quasimodo.

Behind the Neck Band Pulldowns. This is one of the many exercises that you can use to strengthen your lower traps. They also put your shoulderblades where they should be.

• Grip a mini band at shoulder-width
• Look forward
• Chest forward
• Shoulders back
• Squeeze your glutes
• Keep your torso upright
• Pull the elbows forward, not back
• Pull the band down behind your neck
• Hold the contraction & reverse the movement

Here’s a video of behind neck band pulldowns.

If you don’t have bands, you can perform the same exercise while standing against a wall. The same rules apply.

• Back against the wall
• Elbows & hands against the wall
• Pull your elbows down toward your sides
• Squeeze at the bottom
• Reverse the movement

Ghost Pulling Knifes. I got this one from Super Joints by Pavel Tsatsouline.

• Look forward
• Chest forward
• Shoulders back & down
• Torso upright
• Squeeze your glutes
• Right hand on your spine
• Left hand behind your head
• Tighten your right biceps
• Tighten your upper back
• Pull your right shoulder forward
• Pull forward with your left hand
• Push your neck back
• Hold for the contraction

Perform 3×20 Behind the Neck Band Pulldowns & 2×60 seconds Ghost Pulling Knifes several times a week. Take some time off the Bench Press & the shoulder pain will go away in no time. Good luck.

Copyright © 2007-2009 STRONGLIFTS BVBA. Disclaimer.

He weighs about 72kg (165lbs) & told me his Bench Press was stuck at 60kg (132lbs)

I watched his technique & gave him a few tips. He went home with a 70kg (154lbs) Bench Press max. Here’s how.

1. Use Your Thumbs. Forget the thumbless grip. Put your thumbs around the bar. This is:

• Safer: the bar can not roll out of your hands
• More effective: more power can be transferred to the bar

2. Squeeze The Bar. Not only should you use your thumbs, you should also squeeze the bar.

Try to break the bar apart, as if you were breaking spaghetti. This will involve more muscles leading to more weight.

3. Be Fast. One rule for all exercises: lift as fast as you can. All sports are done fast, strength training included. The only reason the gym manager don’t want you to lift fast, is so you don’t break his equipment.

The faster you go, the bigger the weights you can move:

• Touch & go: explode from the bottom
• Be as fast as you can on the way up

Then try to go even faster on the next set.

4. Keep Your Upper Back Tight. This will make you more stable on the bench:

• Put your shoulderblades back & down
• Bring your chest forward
• Drive against the bench

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