Maybe you're familiar with strength training and maybe you've never spent quality time in the weight training section of the gym. weight on your butt and can be an effective upper body exercise when added to your workout.
The bench press can seem intimidating, but of course holding a heavy barbell to your vulnerable chest won't necessarily relax you. It can strengthen the whole body and build muscle.
If you want to build total upper body strength in a single exercise, say hello to the bench press.This is usually done lying on a gym bench with weights slung over your shoulders. To do the bench press, start by choosing a weight. You can bench press with dumbbells, weights, kettlebells, or cables. If you get stuck working out at home, use a bottle of water or canned food as a substitute for dumbbells.
After choosing your weights, go to the bench. If you don't have a bench, you can also do the exercise lying down, with your feet firmly planted on the ground. Then, push the weight up until your arms are fully extended above your head. Repeat as many times as you feel comfortable with (3-10 reps per set) for a total of 3 sets. If you are using heavy weights or dumbbells, try to do the exercise only when a spotter is present so you can lift safely with proper form. The reason you experience burning in your shoulders, chest, and back is that these muscles work hard during the bench press.
The bench press is a killer move because it works multiple upper body muscles at once. The bench press is very cost-effective because it uses almost every upper body muscle to some degree. You will feel the burn in your triceps, deltoids, pectoralis pectoralis and latissimus dorsi.
For this reason, the bench press is a science-backed exercise for increasing upper body muscle strength and size. Studies show that strength exercises, including the bench press, can increase muscular endurance by training the body to withstand resistance for long periods of time.1
You can also specifically target the muscles you're working based on how you hold the barbell and how you set up your bench. , targets the triceps and forearms with a narrow grip. To work your upper chest and shoulders, try the incline bench press by tilting the back of the bench up so your head is higher than your hips. The Decline Bench Press works by inverting the bench to target the lower chest muscles.
Extra bonus? Perfecting your bench press will prepare your body to perform better in the rest of your workout. By mastering the movement, you can learn a lot about the upper body press that carries over to other exercises and physical activities.
The bench press is standard. One thing to point out, though, is that the bench press should be a full body lift, not just a chest/tricep/delt lift. This is important for performance and safety, but also for proper milking of the elevator.
Here are some 4 key points to turn the bench press into a full body exercise:
- Grasp the bar as firmly as possible. This makes everything more stable, improves the trajectory of the bar and increases the stability of the shoulders thanks to the principle of irradiation. In addition, the bar feels lighter.
- Tighten your glutes and hamstrings. Butt compression is easy to understand. For your hamstrings, your feet should be firmly on the ground as you actively try to "pull the ground towards you." Attempt a bend of the legs against the ground. This creates a more stable base for the extrusion.
- Tighten your upper back. Try to bring the two shoulder blades together. Imagine a pencil between them. Keep it super tight. But more importantly, you need to keep that upper back tight throughout the lift.
- Engage the rat. To do this, we need to create what is called a "spiral tension". Basically, while gripping the bar as hard as you can, push your chest out while rotating your shoulder joints outward. You will feel your back and latissimus muscles contract. This should be maintained throughout the lift.
The hardest part of the exercise isn't lifting the bar. I keep my whole body toned. This should be your main goal.
