Muscle Ventures Video Analysis

In this exercise analysis (Quicktime ipod compatible, 9MB; Google video, streaming flash), Nancy Arnold and I (Bud) demonstrate the bench press. The bench press is an extremely well-known exercise which may lead you to wonder why we are presenting it. Basically, we have two motivations. One, we think we have picked up some things doing it two to three times a week during our current program, and we'd like to share them. Two, we'd like to hear others' opinions and ideas on what we might try with this exercise.

The bench is pretty simple to perform. First, you load up a barbell on a specially designed rack like the one you see in the strip of four pictures on the left. Obviously, choose a weight that you can press. The barbell itself weighs 45 lbs. Nancy, a strong woman, can currently do 10 reps at 90 lbs. with no problem. That's about where I first started with this exercise.

Next, lay on the bench so that your eyes are under the bar. Then, reach up and grasp the bar with your hands set at a width that will cause your fore-arms to be perpendicular when your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Once you get the grasp right, barbells have convenient rings etched in the place where you hold your hands for future reference.

You execute the movement by lifting the bar off the rack and moving it so it is centered over your chest (Photos 1 and 3 on left). Then lower the bar until it touches the center of your chest (Photos 2 and 4 on left). For most men, this will be the second rib up from the bottom of your sternum. Then press the bar straight up through your chest until your arms are fully extended (Photos 1 and 3 again).

As we mention in the video, breathing is a key component of this exercise. Breath in as you lower the bar and exhale as you push up. That keeps the muscles involved in breathing in sync with the muscles involved in the pushing movement. I think I have made significant improvements simply by coordinating my breathing better.

A major cheat in this exercise is to not bring the bar fully down to the chest. In the gym, you see people do this all the time. The problem is that the chest is only worked when you bring the bar all the way down. Another cheat is not to bring the bar up evenly but let one side dominate. Generally, this cheat is not intentional but the result of reaching your limit. The problem here is that you overload one side, frequently leading to injury. Finally, keeping the bar further down on the chest keeps the exercise better centered in the pectorals. Bringing the bar too high on the chest (another fatigue move) puts to much stress on the shoulder, again raising the potential for injury.

Additional Links

• Exrx provides an extreme summary overview of the exercise.
• Wikipedia provides further form tips.
• Here's some data on bench weights achieved by advanced bodybuilders. The author recommends that beginners target about 60%. The numbers are pretty high.