How To Do The
Perfect Bench Press Rep


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We all know very well how popular bench-press is when it comes to bodybuilding and weight training. However there are still many people in the gym that still seem to do this classic movement incorrectly so we will now isolate a few important points in order to be sure to do the perfect bench-press.

The first thing is your hand spacing, which can directly make a big difference to the weight you can press. You should do this with ONLY the bar and no weight added. You need a partner to look at the orientation of your forearms at the bottom when the bar is at your chest so that your forearms are as close to vertical as possible and you should adjust your grip width accordingly.

The next step you should add some weight on the bar in order to do the lockdown correctly. Planting your feet firmly on the ground with your knees bent at about 80 degrees. In order to lock your shoulders into the correct position when doing bench-press you should do the following.

Don’t put your palms on the bottom of the bar like you normally would but rather place them at the back of the bar. Without removing your grip with the spacing that you have already seen is optimised you should rotate the bar down so that your palms are then directly under the bar as they should be, which will have the effect of putting your shoulders in the strongest position.

It will help a lot if you can lift your torso off the bench just a little bit and squeeze your shoulder blades together while you are locking down your shoulders. Doing this will puff out your chest and force your shoulders back which will place your pectorals into an optimal position creating a much more effective line with which you lower the weight down with.

The bonus of getting into this position is that it will make your torso slightly thicker which will reduce the distance that the barbell needs to move. Now lower the bar to your sternum or breastbone, still squeezing your shoulder blades together and always keeping strict control of the weight.

As you breathe in lowering the bar you should think of your upper body as a spring loading up to explode. Then you lightly touch and NEVER bounce the weight as you explode breathing out and pushing the bar to the lockout position as fast as you can.

It is a good idea to exhale forcefully as you push the bar upwards and always keeping your feet firmly on the floor. Reducing the pressure that you are pushing down on your feet will immediately diminish and break the base of your power when you press.

You should always push the barbell with your legs pressed firmly into the ground, which is something that most beginners do not do. You should first try this with just a barbell and no weight added so that you can get used to this way of pushing bench-press.

The last part of a perfect bench-press is the lockout which is something that you need to do so that your triceps are fully extended and your elbow joint is completely locked out. If you do bench-press in the form mentioned above you would have completed a perfect bench-press rep and be able to dramatically increase the weight that you use.



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