The bench press is a basic exercise in classic powerlifting. The technique for performing the exercise is very simple, but before you learn how to do it correctly, it will take more than one week of training. Starting position – lying on a bench, the barbell is approximately at eye level, and arms are spaced at a distance of no more than 85 centimeters from each other. The technique of the exercise – the bar is lowered to the chest, and it is possible to touch the chest, a slight delay in the bar, and rise to the starting position.
Problems with the bench press are present for both beginners and professionals. The main characteristic feature of the exercise is “stagnation” in terms of muscle growth and strength, that is, from training to training, the athlete lifts the same weight, unable to cope with a greater load.
Causes of stagnation when benching
- No changes in the training program for three or more months
- There is no training strategy, no clear definition of the set, incorrect technique, etc.
- Lack of development in one or more auxiliary muscles
- Physical fatigue of the muscles, in which your muscles don’t get to recover properly
- Bad diet
Training program
In the process of training, the athlete uses various programs borrowed from the Internet, written by a coach or formed independently. Suppose that the program is well-designed and theoretically should lead to results, but, as you know, there is the concept of “muscle memory”, that’s it, it works after several months of the same type of training. Some muscles give in to it earlier, some later, but eventually a period of stagnation begins, when the athlete does not observe any progress.
The main thing that needs to be done is to urgently revise your program. You can give a lot of advice on its adjustment and compilation, but the fact remains – changes are needed, a “shake-up” of the muscles is needed, they must again feel the stress leading to another adaptation. Adaptation, in turn, will manifest itself in an increase in strength and mass.
Benchpress strategy and technique
If the athlete does not learn how to perform the exercise correctly, then in the future it will be difficult to change his technique. Another mistake may be the wrong exercise strategy, that is, the athlete may not increase the weight, or vice versa, use exorbitant weights. The strategy should be built on a systematic increase in the load, both in the number of approaches and in the weight of the projectile. For example, very often professionals include supersets in their workouts, where antagonist muscles participate.
The bench press strategy for a powerlifter can be put together as follows:
| Weight | Reps | Description |
| 50% | 12 | Warm-up weight |
| 65% | 10 | Transitional weight |
| 80 – 85% | 8 | Working weight |
| 90% | 6 | Working weight |
| 105 – 110% | 1 | Weight to increase strength |
| 80% | Failure |
Equal development of all muscles
Even if an athlete started his workout with basic exercises, there are still muscles that do not have received proper development and these muscles can slow your progress down significantly. Regarding the bench press – the latissimus dorsi, triceps, and shoulders affect your progress the most. Performing exercises, you can vary the work of your muscles using a different grip. For example, by narrowing the grip on the bar, you increase the load on your triceps, but spreading your grip increases the load on your pectoral muscles instead.
Overtraining
When pumping one muscle group, an athlete risks overloading them, which leads not only to stagnation, but also to injuries. Do not allow more than two workouts of the same muscle group per week, and you should combine light workouts with heavy ones. Remember, muscles only grow when they are repaired!
Nutrition
An athlete’s diet should not only consist of protein products, so do not forget about pre-workout carbohydrates, creatine and other biological elements. Stay away from synthetic additives that are used to protect joints and cartilage. Try after each workout to consume proteins that are easily absorbed by the body.
How to improve your bench press?
- Correct technique, use the maximum number of your muscles, arch in the back, steady feet
- Use a firm grip
- Adjust the grip on the bar properly
- Train muscles that are lagging behind with isolation exercises
- Choose the most natural bar movement trajectory
- Do not hold your breath while lifting
- Keep an average pace while doing your exercise
- Warm up
- Don’t increase the weight every workout, but don’t decrease it either
- Do not exercise more than twice a week or twice in a row (same muscle group)
- Use the technique of progressive resistance
- While training your technique do it with minimal weight
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