The Bench Press: You're Forgetting to Do This - Part 3

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 05/27/22)

You’re all set to bench - your grip is pronated, your shoulder blades are pinched back, and you’re driving with your legs, but you’re still forgetting one thing . . .

Jeremiah correctly fixes his gaze at a point on the ceiling.

Find your focal point.

After you’ve unracked the barbell but before starting the first rep, find a point directly above you on the ceiling and stare at that point. You now have created a “sight picture” as you can still see the barbell in your periphery even while staring at the ceiling. You’re going to recreate this picture at the end of each rep, so remind yourself that the bar needs to finish in this exact same position every single time.

Then, simply stare at that focal point during each rep and even between reps - there’s no need to introduce unnecessary variability into your benching by having to re-find the focal point before each rep, so just keep looking at it like you do in the squat (watch the included video).

Having a stationary reference point makes for a more consistent and efficient bar path, and it makes for better balance as well (we don’t watch the bar since it’s a moving reference point).

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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8 Things Successful Lifters Do Before Benching HEAVY (plus BONUS tip)

What should you take care of before a heavy bench press? We cover 8 simple and effective tips - plus 1 bonus tip - when preparing to bench press heavy.

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The Bench Press: You're Forgetting to Do This - Part 2

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 05/06/22)

When benching, you know you’re supposed to retract your shoulder blades, push with your legs, and drive that bar up and back to its original starting position, but you’re still forgetting one thing . . .

Get your grip right.

When taking your grip for the bench, you want the barbell to rest on the base or heel of the palm, i.e., directly over the bones of your forearm. This ensures that you have efficient force transfer between you and the bar, which is rather important when trying to move heavy weights. On the other hand, having the bar back toward your fingers causes your wrists to be in full extension (i.e., bent backwards), which is a flimsy and weak position for them to be in when trying to support a heavy load.

To achieve the correct grip, pronate your hands slightly by internally rotating your arms a bit and then squeezing the bar tightly with your fingers (scroll through the photos below for a demonstration).

If this doesn’t quite make sense, you can use the “diamond grip” approach described in this short article.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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How to Improve All of Your Lifts with ONE Cue!

Improve all of your lifts with only ONE cue?! We'll show you how in less than 3 minutes.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 05/30/22)

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Spotting the Bench Press | You're Doing It WRONG!

Spotting the bench press isn't complicated, but people do it wrong all the time. In under 2 minutes, we cover some basic mistakes as well as how to spot the bench correctly.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 05/28/22)

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The Bench Press: You're Forgetting to Do This - Part 1

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 04/22/22)

You’re all set to bench - your grip is pronated, your shoulder blades are pinched back, and you’ve got your focal point nailed down, but you’re forgetting one thing . . .

Use. Your. Legs.

Don’t worry - Dave is NOT forgetting to do this.

When benching, drive up the bench with your legs. In other words, use your legs to drive your body in the direction of your head (i.e., “up the bench”). You should be driving in such a manner that - if the barbell wasn’t pinning your shoulders to the bench - you might actually start sliding up the bench.

Make sure you’re driving horizontally and not vertically - remember that the rep doesn’t count if your butt comes up off the bench. Drive with your legs throughout the entire rep - drive hard on the descent and drive even harder on the ascent.

Leg drive is easy to forget about - especially if you’re new to the bench press - but it’s important. Your legs give you lateral stability (the bench doesn’t help much here as it’s not very wide), they support your arch, and they help make everything between your feet and your shoulders that much more rigid, which makes for a more stable platform from which to bench.

So use your legs next time, and if you find that you keep forgetting, write “leg drive” down in your training log as a cue for yourself next time.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?