Barbell Bench Press

Also known as: Bench Press, Flat Barbell Bench Press, Flat Bench Press

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Body Part: Chest

Description

Lying on a flat bench, you lower a barbell to your lower chest and press it back to straight arms to build a bigger chest and a stronger press. The whole chest works, from the collarbone down to its lower edge, and you feel it most at the bottom. Your front delts help drive the bar off the chest and your triceps finish the lockout. With both hands on one bar you can handle more weight than with dumbbells and add it in small, exact steps, which is why it's the standard test of upper-body strength and one of the three powerlifting lifts.

How to Perform

Set the bar in the hooks at a height you can unrack with your arms almost straight, then lie down with your eyes under it.
Plant your feet flat and wide, under or a little behind your knees. They stay put until the bar is back in the hooks.
Take an overhand grip with your thumbs wrapped, hands a little wider than your shoulders. On an Olympic bar that's often near the ring marks.
Pull your shoulder blades back and down and pin them to the bench. A small lower-back arch is fine, but your glutes stay down.
Unrack on straight arms and bring the bar out until it sits over your shoulders. Breathe in and brace your stomach.
Lower the bar over 1–2 seconds to the bottom half of your chest, around nipple level, elbows 45–60° from your sides and forearms vertical.
Touch lightly without bouncing, then press up and slightly back toward your face until your elbows are straight and the bar is over your shoulders.
After the final rep, lock out, move the bar back until it touches the uprights, and only then set it down in the hooks.

What Muscles Work

Primary Muscle:

Secondary Muscles:

Tips

For strength, 3–5 sets of 3–6 reps are typical; for muscle size, 6–12, sometimes up to 15. End most sets with 1–3 reps left in the tank.
Add reps before weight. On 3 sets of 6–10, build up until all three sets hit 10, then add 2.5 kg (1.25 kg per side) and work up again from 6. Beginners can often add 5 kg a session at first; small 0.5–1 kg plates keep you moving later on.
A sharp or pinching pain at the front or top of the shoulder, or sore wrists, means stop and check three things: grip width, elbow angle and where the bar touches your chest.
For sets close to failure, set the safety arms just below chest height or have someone spot you. Training alone with no safeties? Leave the collars off so you can tip the plates off one side if you get stuck.
New to the lift? Groove it with the empty bar or start on the Machine Chest Press. Once it feels solid, make it harder by pausing the bar on your chest for 1–2 seconds every rep.
Substitutes: Dumbbell Bench Press if a fixed bar bothers your shoulders, Smith Bench Press when you train alone, Machine Chest Press, or Push-Up with no equipment.

Common Mistakes

Bouncing the bar off your chest to get it moving. Lower it at an even pace and just touch; if the bounce keeps sneaking back, pause for a split second.
Elbows flared out to 90° with the bar landing high on the chest or near the neck. Tuck them to 45–60° and touch the bottom half of your chest.
Shoulder blades sliding apart so the shoulders roll forward at the top. Set the blades back and down before you unrack and stop at straight elbows instead of reaching for the ceiling.
Wrists bent back with the bar sitting in your fingers, sometimes with the thumbs off it. Hold it low in your palm over the forearm and wrap your thumbs, since a thumbless grip can let the bar roll onto your chest or neck.
Hips coming off the bench to grind out the last rep. Keep your glutes down and push your feet into the floor; if the rep won't move that way, the set is over.
Pressing straight up or toward your feet, so the bar finishes over your chest. Drive it up and slightly back until it's stacked over your shoulders.