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The Bench Press

The proper technique when you bench can make all the difference in the world.

The Bench Press
The bench press is the ultimate test of upper-body strength and it's a great exercise to build impressive muscle mass in the chest, shoulders and triceps.

Unfortunately, the bench press has a bad rap for causing shoulder injuries. But this isn't due to the bench press being a dangerous exercise, but due to so many people doing the bench press incorrectly. The correct way to do the bench press does NOT involve flaring the upper arms straight out to your sides as you lower the bar down to your upper chest.

The correct way to do the bench press is to tuck the upper arms into your sides more so that your upper arms form about a 45- to 60- degree angle with the sides of the torso. To do this, you actually involve the lats a lot by contracting them to pull your arms in as if you were holding two grapefruits in your armpits as you lower the bar to your lower chest, and then drive it back up toward your upper chest so that the bar follows a bit of an arced path, versus a straight up-an-down vertical path. Using your lats properly in this manner will not only spare you from shoulder injuries, but will also help to increase the amount of weight that you can bench press.



Week 1
Day 1
ExerciseSetsRepsMuscle Group
Bench Press48-10Chest
Reverse-Grip Bench Press38-10Chest
Incline Dumbbell Flye310-12Chest
Cable Cross-Over Chest Press from Mid Pulley312-15Chest
Week 2
Day 1
ExerciseSetsRepsMuscle Group
Dumbbell Flye412-15Chest
Superset00Tips
Bench Press412-15Chest
Incline Dumbbell Flye412-15Chest
Superset00Tips
Incline Dumbbell Press412-15Chest
Week 3
Day 1
ExerciseSetsRepsMuscle Group
Bench Press46-7Chest
Incline Bench Press38-10Chest
Flat Bench Cable Fly315-20Chest
Cable Crossover (Low Pulley)310-12Chest
Week 4
Day 1
ExerciseSetsRepsMuscle Group
Cable Cross-Over Chest Press from Mid Pulley315-20Chest
Dumbbell Flye315-20Chest
Barbell Bench Press With Band415-20Chest
Reverse-Grip Bench Press415-20Chest

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