The bench press is a much simpler movement relative to the squat. With that in mind, a lot less attention will be devoted to detail. Only the bare essentials to get you in the gym, executing the lift correctly.
First item I’d like to mention is grip. There is no universal concept of exactly where you should grip on the bar. Just with any other barbell movement, it’s going to vary due to the unique anthropometrical differences. This said, it’s best to simply grip the bar will you feel comfortable in terms of width, as long as you are not excessively wide or narrow, which will alter the exercise and muscle recruitment.
Also in terms of grip, I see many trainees using an open grip; meaning all of their fingers are on one side of the bar, including their thumbs. This is a no-no. Using a closed grip assures the fact that the bar will not roll out of your hands (unless your thumb snaps). Any exercise that involves lifting weight over the head or neck should use a closed grip. This means fingers wrapped around one side of the bar, thumb around the other.
Before unracking the bar from the supports, it’s also important to make sure the bar is placed properly on the hand. This entails supporting the weight with the heels of your palms directly over your forearms rather than up close to your fingers which would cause excessive wrist extension.
Once this is done, it’s time to unrack the bar. When you unrack, immediately go to a locked-arm position and get the bar over the body where it’s supposed to be. This is NOT over your head/neck. It should be over your nipple or mid-chest area.
Next point of importance are the elbows. The elbows are something I see a lot of trainees mess up in the bench press. It’s a critical component of the movement too, as all force generated by the chest is pushed down through the elbows as well. When discussing where the elbows should be during the lift, we consider the angle between the upper arm and the torso. In other words, there’s a spectrum beginning with elbows in tight to the torso in the bottom position and ending with elbows flared outward creating a 90 degree angle with the upper arm relative to the torso. These extremes most likely won’t be used. I like to use something close to a 45 degree angle with the torso.
As you come down each rep with the bench, I suggest touching (softly) the bar to the chest… unless there is some pathological issue going on with the shoulder. Many trainees will take this to the extreme and use their chest as a trampoline to bounce the bar off of in order to lift more weight easily. Don’t be that guy or gal. For starters you look ridiculous. Plus, your diminishing the training effect of the exercise.
Shoulder and upper-back positioning is where most people mess up. Actually, most people don’t even think about this part of the exercise and believe it or not, it’s most critical in my mind. To put it easily, and this is from Rippetoe, when we bench we push both the bar AND the bench. What this means is, we use our backs to drive the weight by pushing our shoulders and upper back into the bench. We create this platform for stabilization by adducting (or pushing the shoulder blades together). This needs to be maintained throughout the movement too. I find many trainees relax this position at the top of the press. Don’t! Driving the back/shoulders into the chest will also help to elevate the chest which is a critical concept too.
An important point is to keep your butt and feet planted. You’ll see so many trainees in the gym using a weight well beyond their means. Sure, they can get the weight up with bad form but they don’t understand what the opportunity cost is. If a weight’s too heavy, the first thing you’ll see a trainee do is excessively arch their lower back, lift their butt off the bench, and possibly kick one of their legs out. Don’t do this. If you feel the need, you are most likely going to heavy. Remember, form before anything always!
Here are a few vids of properly performed benches. Remember; start with the bar only until proper form is learned. Once learned and comfortable, systematically/incrementally add weight to the bar until rep speed slows or form becomes shaky. Stop. That is the end of workout 1 and you’ve successfully found your starting weight for the next workout to build upon.
http://college.holycross.edu/departm...ch%20Press.mov
In the above video, my only negative comment would be to keep your forearms perpendicular to the floor. You can see this trainee's tend to drift inward.
http://www.performanceworkouts.com/e...benchpress.mov YouTube - Personal training: Bench press technique