Bench Press - "How to do it properly!"

The bench press is  one of the Mecca of weight bench exercises. The bench press is generally used by most people as a measurement of how strong you are, although using the bench press as a measurement of total strength isn’t a very good indicator of your overall physical strength. However it is a great exercise that will help build your chest as well as your arms and being able to push alot of weight on a bench is a great way to show off to your friends. Many people do not realize that half of the work is in the technique.

Position yourself correctly
Most people, especially beginners do not know how to position themselves on the weight bench. when resting on the bench line yourself correctly so that your forehead is inline with the center of the bar and your arms are of equal distance apart. this will help you balance the weights once you have lifted them from the rack. once you have the balance sorted each arm will take equal load of the weight thus preventing one arm taking too much weight and failing a few reps short of your full potential.

Use full and precise Movements
There’s nothing more important than form. if you cant lower the bar to your chest at a controlled speed its time to lower the weight until you can. on the push action its both beneficial to push fast and push the weight up slowly so from one week to the next or on different sets fluctuate the speed at which you push the bar up. you will gain no benefit in dropping the weight to your chest (you may however cause an injury).

Breath
Breathing is a big deal, if you stop you will fail to circulate oxygen around your body and muscles, which will decrease the amount of repetitions you can achieve as the lactic acid will build up faster. As you lower the bar breath in. as you push the bar breath out – DO NOT HOLD YOUR BREATH!

Mix it up
Don’t allow your muscles to get used to any particular weight or set of repetitions whilst Benching. mix it up occasionally by lifting less weight with more repetitions. Also have a session at least once a month were you try and lift as much weight as possible, even if you only achieve one rep. if you put your body through un-normal stressful situations it will respond better.

Partner up
there’s nothing more encouraging than a training partner. a training partner will give you more focus and will help push you that little bit further. You can also cheat on the last few reps with the assistance of a training partner and they can also be there for safety to help you if you struggle to rack the weights or drop them.

Rest and Relaxation
Do not bench press every time you see a weight bench. Your Muscle’s need to rest every time they have been through a stressful exercise (recommended amount of rest is 24hrs). if you don’t rest, your muscles will never get the chance to repair themselves which will result in a sports injury which could put a stop to your bench press action altogether.

NOW ... NEXT TIME YOU GO TO THE BENCH PRESS, DO IT RIGHT!!!! Prevent getting injured by just knowing the simple facts/tips on how to perform it properly, and to the best of your ability.