5 Ways You're Ruining Your Bench Press!
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Let’s cover a few mistakes that you might be making with your bench press, and then let’s fix them fast.
Mistake #1: Wrong (or Nonexistent) Focal Point
When you bench, look at an immovable target - specifically, look directly above you at a point on the ceiling. When you start each rep, although you’re looking at the ceiling, you can still see the bar in your periphery, and the bar needs to finish in the same place in your periphery at the end of each rep. Do NOT watch the bar - it’s a moving target. Watch the ceiling.
Mistake #2: Vertical Bar Path
Do NOT bench straight down and straight back up again. “Gasp! What?! Not a vertical bar path?!” Nope, not on the bench press. The bar starts directly above the shoulders, but it touches a point on your chest a couple inches further “down the bench” (i.e., further toward your feet) - roughly the mid-sternum. Because of this, if you view the bar path from the side, it’s not completely vertical; rather, it’s a bit angled - you drive the bar both up and slightly backward.
The bar path still feels mostly vertical - it’s not a huge diagonal path - but you don’t actually bench vertically. Simply aim for the same spot on your chest each time on the descent, and then push up and back slightly on the ascent so that the bar finishes in the same spot from where it started.
Mistake #3: Lousy Shoulder Positioning
Keep your shoulders retracted (i.e., pulled or pinched back) when you bench. Make sure they are retracted before you unrack the bar and before you start the first rep, and then keep them retracted throughout each rep. You might have to re-retract them a bit before starting a rep if they slip out of place a bit during a rep or during the initial unracking process.
Having your shoulder blades retracted gives you a nice, wide base of support on the bench, and the bench isn’t all that wide in the first place, so we’d like as wide of a base as possible. Keeping them retracted allows for a more unrestricted range of motion as well, so overall, this puts your shoulders in a stronger, more stable position from which to perform the lift.
Mistake #4: Not Using Your Legs
That’s right - you need to actively use your lower body when you bench press. Your legs should help you drive up the bench (i.e., toward the direction of your head). You don’t slide in that direction since the weight of the bar will pin your shoulders into place, but you drive in that direction nonetheless. With that said, if you have a bench with a slippery surface and you find yourself actually sliding a bit, purchase a non-slip rug pad and watch the included video.
Driving with your legs (with your feet positioned in a roughly squat-width stance) gives you lateral stability, supports your arch, and makes you more rigid overall, and more rigidity is always good when moving heavy weights.
Mistake #5: Bad Leg Drive
I know - we just said to drive with your legs, and now we’re changing our minds? Not quite. Your legs should drive you up the bench (again, not literally sliding), but they should not drive your body up off of the bench. In other words, your butt needs to remain in contact with the bench itself. If your rear end comes off the bench, the rep doesn’t count, so again, make sure you are driving up the bench, not up off of the bench.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
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How to Use Lifting Straps in 1 Minute!
/Save your delicate, baby-soft hands and learn how to use lifting straps in under 1 minute.
(This is a Blast from the Past video originally published on 12/25/21.)
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The Jerk: Landing Positions
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Jonny performs a power jerk.
(This is a Blast from the Past article originally posted on 07/02/21.)
We’ve covered the three landing positions for both the snatch and the clean in past articles, and not surprisingly, there are also three landing positions for the jerk. Again, each has its own advantages, so let’s briefly cover them:
POWER JERK
Landing Position: Partial squat
Advantage: The power jerk is the simplest to learn as your feet do not travel far from their original position. Your feet don’t move very much as they barely leave the ground and then immediately land in a squat-width stance. You receive the bar overhead with your hips and legs in a partial-depth squat position. Due to its simplicity, the power jerk often serves as an intermediate step on the way to learning either the squat jerk or the split jerk.
Note: If your feet never leave the ground during this movement, many coaches will call this a push jerk to distinguish it from a power jerk (but some coaches use the terms interchangeably).
Jonny performs a squat jerk.
SQUAT JERK
Landing Position: Squat (i.e., full-depth squat)
Advantage: Of the three landing positions, the squat jerk allows lifters to drop the farthest under the bar, which means the bar doesn’t have to be lifted as high before locking it out overhead. With this in mind, there is great potential with the squat jerk, but this potential is tempered by two drawbacks - first, the lifter needs excellent flexibility to achieve what is essentially a narrow-grip overhead squat position in the receiving position for this jerk, and second, the lifter has relatively little stability from front-to-back due to the lack of a split (see the split jerk below), so the squat jerk is extremely unforgiving of jerks that are slightly forward or backward.
Jonny performs a split jerk.
SPLIT JERK
Landing Position: Split stance
Advantage: The split jerk allows the lifter to drop further under the bar than the power jerk without requiring the ability to drop into the squat jerk position, and due to the front-to-back split, the split jerk is more stable. For this reason, the split jerk is - by far - the most commonly executed jerk in training and competition.
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 Front Squat: Improve Your Front Rack Position by Doing This!
/If your front squat rack position is terrible, and your cleans and front squats are causing you pain and discomfort, try this.
At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.
Testify Courant - August 14, 2023
/THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION
From our video Valsalva and Your Deadlift (click the title to watch):
Buono Legnani's Palette
Should the Valsalva maneuver be used with all the exercises, i.e. deadlift, squat, bench press, press, power clean, and even lying tricep extension, pullup, etc. or only when doing deadlifts?
Phil
Yep, all of them.
ARTICLES & VIDEOS
Get Your FIRST Chin-up or Pull-up | 6 Ways to Success!
Want to get your first chin-up or pull-up. We cover 6 ways to help you get it done. Click here to watch.
What's the Difference: Snatch vs Hang Snatch vs Power Snatch | FAST & EASY
Snatch, hang snatch, power snatch, hang power snatch . . . in under 3 min! What are the differences between these lifts, and how can we easily remember each one? Click here to watch.
Things You Should NEVER Do
Here are a few training-related situations that you should try to avoid. At all costs. Watch out, now. Click here to read.
Blast from the Past: DIY Lifting Straps in 1 Minute!
In less than a minute, Phil demonstrates how to make a cheap and practically indestructible pair of lifting straps. Click here to watch.
Blast from the Past: Do This . . . NOT This: Lifting Etiquette
Ever gotten a bad hand-off on the bench press or had someone stand in your line of sight while pressing? Phil covers a few key points of lifting etiquette. Click here to read.
NEW TESTIFY GEAR!
Baseball season is here, and so is Testify’s new 3/4 raglan shirt - in multiple colors! Get yours today and represent your favorite gym!
Click here to head to the Testify Store.
WHAT'S COMING UP
Below are a few of our upcoming events, and you can find out what else is on the calendar by heading to our events page at www.testifysc.com/events.
Deadapalooza! The Annual Testify Deadlift Festival
August 25, 2023
Deadapalooza is a strength meet wherein the only contested lift is - you guessed it - the deadlift. There will be one bar (possibly multiple bars if numbers dictate), and the meet will be conducted in a "rising bar" format, so the weight on the bar only goes up! It's a ton of fun, so come on out!
Click here to register or for more information.
Women’s Strength Group
8 week class beginning on September 19, 2023. Meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Get stronger with Starting Strength Coach Barb Mueller and Testify coaches Jamie Morrissey and Stephanie Sharp.
NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED! Open to all women who want to get strong!
Click here to register or for more information.
Starting Strength Self-Sufficient Lifter Camp
September 23, 2023
Spend the day learning the Squat, Press, and Deadlift and how to self-evaluate your lifts while training in your garage or commercial gym without a coach.
Click here to register or for more information.
THIS WEEK’S CONDITIONING
Option 1
”Prowler Base+1”
1. Load up a manageable weight.
2. Sprint 40m at 85% intensity.
3. Rest 30 sec.
4. Repeat 5-15 times.
Courtesy of “Death by Prowler” (on Starting Strength).
Compare to 2023.06.12.
Option 2
5 rounds:
10 cal bike
1 min rest
4 sandbag-over-bars
1 min rest
Set the yoke crossmember at 35/33, and the weight is 150#/75#.
Compare to 2023.05.22.
Option 3
Outdoors:
5-10 rounds:
50 yd sled push (25 yd down-back)
50 yd farmer carry (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 min
Indoors:
5-10 rounds:
100 yd sled push (50 ft down-back)
100 yd farmer carry (50 ft down-back)
Rest 1 min
Compare to 2023.04.24.
Option 4
Row 10 x 100m
Rest 1 min between sprints. Your score is your slowest time.
Compare to 2023.04.24.