Bench press are considered as the universal lift to have those baby bumps in your arms. It is a widely known chest exercise, but the common mistake we tend to do is to restrict it as a mere chest exercise. But the truth is a bench press sets uses the shoulder muscles, the triceps, forearm, pecs, traps, rhomboids and almost every bits and pieces of the upper body muscles. Apart from the upper body muscles, it also effectively works for the lower back, hips and legs as well. 


While emphasizing can be considered as a full body movement exercise precisely. The shoulders are pinged together and engaged to core while back, hips and legs stabilizes and balances the body, this is the basic concept of every bench press. 


This is the best exercise for every exceptional strength builder to add their muscle mass and trim their body to perfect structure. The bigger the bench the bigger the chest. Bench press exercise has myriads of benefits apart from adding muscle mass to the body. It tones up the whole upper body, gives you iron strong triceps, and strengthens your bones and joints making it hard to break.

Bench press is not merely getting under the bars and exploding it up. There are number of forms and techniques to this single form of exercise. And to gain the complete effect, it is important to do it in the right and perfect technique.


Equipment Needed for Bench Press Exercise 

Before moving on to the detailed guide on how to do bench press, make a note of things that you need for doing the exercise. 

  • A bench
  • A weight of your choice, may be dumbbell or barbell
  • A wrist wrap, to keep your wrist in a straight line.
  • Your prepared body is the cardinal thing other than any material.


How to do Bench Press Exercise (Step by Step) 

Bench press are practiced by most, but only a few does it in the exact way possible. Now step back and focus on how to do bench press, to involve every muscle tissue and gain the most from it. Here we provide a detailed guide on the steps and tips to do perfect bench press exercise.


  1. ‍Plant your feet first

The first and foremost thing to be done before diving into the bench press exercise is to plant the base, which is strong and firmly fixed. A strong base is where you draw power from to lift the weight steadily and heavily. 

  • Ensure to keep your feet back towards your butt as far as you can, keeping your feet flat on the ground
  • Now this may vary depending upon the height of a person.
  • Plant the feet properly with a tight grip as if it is rooted in the floor.

  1. ‍Lie down on the bench

Even lying on the bench has its own part to play in initiating a proper bench press.

  • While lying on the bench, make sure the shoulders are not too tight and firm.
  • Keep the spinal curve in a straight manner to avoid any back pain or cramps
  • Squeeze your shoulder blades together to stay intact.
  • Ensuring a proper shoulder width is important to avoid any risk of back pain.
steps to do bench press
  1. ‍Position your hand

Before lifting up the bar or weight, it is cardinal to position the arms to work on the triceps effectively.

  • Keep your arms straight out to each side of your body
  • Now bend the elbows slightly
  • Move your hands to touch the bar or the dumbbell
  • Position the hands shoulder width apart. The position of your hands is going to affect the muscle group you work on.
bench press exercises
  1. ‍Plan the grip

Even the grips are important in the exercise. We often take every minute thing for granted and do it our own way and rant on not gaining enough benefits. There are different types of grips depending upon different muscles.

  • If you want to increase the amount of pectoral muscles, then widen the grip.
  • If you want to Focus on triceps, then bring the grip closely in. 
  • Also for longer arms, the grip should be ideally wider so that you can push maximum weight
  • While for the shorter ones, a narrow grip is mostly advisable. This is the normal form of grip used.

  1. ‍Begin with a warm up

Never jump to heavy weightlifting at the beginning. This fret can lead to major injuries. Before that, just adjust and balance with the weight and prepare your body.

  • Set the weight and first lift the bar slightly above the middle of your chest
  • Inhale and gently lower it down lightly touching the middle of your chest
  • Never bounce back in heck, rather exhale and push it up above the body with a puff carefully. Extend your arms completely without waffling.
  • Initially go for a flex bar, rather than a stern and firm bar, this helps you to build up the balance and stability.
how to do bench press
  1. ‍Initiating the bench press

Now it’s time to initiate a proper and exact bench press, keeping in mind all these forms and techniques. It is better to add more weight to the barbell than the warm up exercise. 

  • Lift the bar up, now, inhale deeply and slowly in smooth pace lower it down right above the chest level with your forearms at an angle of 90 degrees.
  • Initiate the upward movement with an exhale, explode it up by tightening the glutes and planting the legs firmly down. 
  • A leg drive is a good support to maintain the balance properly
  • Squeeze the bars tightly and activate the triceps muscles
  • Maintain a straight arms and back while lifting, wobbling arms are not going to benefit.
  • Arch your back slightly while lifting the weight up. This is good to maintain a neutral spine and for keeping the back tight and firm.
how to do bench press
  1. ‍Repetitions
  • Manage to perform 8 to 12 reps with 3 to 6 bench press sets. (1 set is the maximum number of reps).
  • It is necessary to take rest and hydrate yourself with water, not more, in between the sets
  • Ideally resting in between helps in increasing the mass rather than overshooting. You must give your body the time to relax and shed off after training them under such heavy strain.
how to do bench press
  1. ‍Breathing pattern

Along with the exercise, the breathing pattern is also something that you should focus on. Only a proper inhalation and exhalation can give you the power and pull to do a perfect bench press.

  • Take a deep breath in before lowering the bar, hold it for a second and give strain to your abdominal walls.
  • Now exhale with a puff and push for a powerful lifting. Without a perfect exhalation, lifting is never proper and powerful.
how to do bench press
  1. Use the retraction scapula

One of the best cue in bench press is the retraction scapula or the pinching of shoulder blades together. When the shoulder blades are retracted through the push it opens the back -ups and enables you to use more amount of weight. This is an important technique in bench press. 

These are the steps in detail to perform a perfect bench press exercise. Though everyone does a bench press we often tend to do it in a wrong way, which is just a pain gone vain.


Some of the main movements that people often go wrong in a bench press are:


  • The upward lift, where most of them initiates a bounce back this is neither going to help in lifting the weight nor maintaining balance, instead causes heavy injuries to your back.
  • The breathing pattern is something most of the muscle builders ignore. But while doing bench press exercise or any other weight lifting exercises, it is necessary to follow a continues and proper breathing pattern. Because it is in a way a part and parcel of the whole exercise, contributing to the whole.
  • The shoulder blades are often flaring and not tight. This is a major mistake while doing a bench press. Because it is important to squeeze your shoulder blades, to maintain the weight and balance, the flaring muscles can cause severe cramps and several injuries.
  • Never let the bar drift too forward, let it touch the middle of your chest and nowhere else. The weight moves diagonally from your mid chest over your shoulders, this is the safest and best way to lift heavy weights.
There are different variations in bench press too. Once you become a medium level player, then it is best to shift to other variations like inclined bench press, close grip bench press, floor press etc. to focus on higher muscles and higher muscle mass. 

So ensure that you follow the exact forms and techniques while doing bench press exercise. Lift properly not heavier and be the one you always dreamed off. 


Does the bodybuilder in you have this ardent wish to have those small bumps on your arms? Then what’s better than a heavy sets of bench press. Nowadays bench press exercise has made a very firm and cardinal position in the gym world. So let’s go through a detailed guide on how to do bench press, because perfection is important than mere weight lifting. 

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