The Basics of the Barbell Bench Press

By Phil Sims

The following may come as a shock to those with followed trends and exercise, health and fitness: There was a professional bodybuilding coach who actually professed the sentiment that the barbell bench press wasn’t unimportant exercise.  Who know where this sentiment originated?  Perhaps, the individual took the exercise for granted and assumed that he could find an alternate method that would replace it. Good luck!  Needless to say, this sentiment did not gain any traction because without the bench press there is no way a professional bodybuilder or a hobbyist could ever develop their upper body without the use of the barbell bench press exercise.  To put it mildly, the bench presses that chain of upper body development.  Without it, the ability to build a chest, arm, and shoulder muscles would be next to impossible.

The three forms of bench presses are the supine, incline, and decline bench press. Supine is the traditional flat barbell bench press.  The incline is an angle it moves up words and decline is it an angle that moves downwards. Pushing the weight at different angles develops different sections of the chest as well as places secondary stress on different body parts.  While most people only perform the flat bench press, it is a much better idea to utilize all three angles.  This will create a more symmetric shape to your upper body. Also, it is important to use dumbbells as well as barbells.  This is because dumbbells can be lowered below the chest level since there is no bat bouncing on the chest.  As such, this extended range of motion allows the lower muscles of the chest area are hit through dumbbell use.

It is also important to use a spotter when performing a barbell bench press.  This is for safety reasons because if you are unable to hold up the weight the bar could come crashing down on your chest.  This could create a serious injury to the sternum.  So, unless you are lifting a weight that is easy to manage it would be best to stick with a spotting partner.  The alternative would be to use a piece of equipment known as a Smith machine.  The Smith machine is designed with a built in safety latch that will keep the weight from falling if you are unable to maintain the lift.

Contrary to popular belief you do not have to lift weights excessively in order to achieve results.  Instead, if you lift one or two days a week consistently with and emphasis on resting your muscles as opposed our training them you will discover a number of amazing gains in your barbell bench press routine.  This will be the best course of action to take if you’re looking to develop a strong and well defined chest area.

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