How to increase your bench press

Bar path and touch point

Lower the bar under control to your lower chest, around the nipple line or slightly below. Keep your elbows tucked somewhere around 45 to 70 degrees from your torso rather than flared straight out. Flared elbows put more stress on the front of the shoulder and are a common cause of bench-related shoulder pain.

Press the bar back up and slightly towards your face, finishing over your shoulders. The path is a gentle curve, not a straight vertical line. Pause briefly on the chest in training at least some of the time; bouncing the bar off your ribs hides weakness and is unkind to your sternum.

Control the descent, taking roughly one to two seconds, then drive up hard. A crashing descent makes the bottom position unstable and throws away the tension you built in the set-up.

Grip width shifts the work around. A wider grip shortens the range and uses more chest; a narrower grip uses more triceps and lengthens the press. Most people do best somewhere in the middle, with forearms roughly vertical at the bottom.

Use your legs

Leg drive sounds odd for an upper body lift, but it makes a real difference. Pushing your feet into the floor, as if trying to slide yourself back along the bench, creates tension through the whole body and helps you stay tight at the bottom. Keep your glutes on the bench; the drive is horizontal, not a bridge.

Your head, upper back and bottom should stay in contact with the bench throughout, and your feet should stay planted. If your feet slide or your bottom lifts on the hard reps, the set was too heavy or the set-up was loose. Flat, stable shoes help, as squashy running shoes make leg drive harder to feel.

Frequency and progression

If you are new, simply adding a small amount of weight each week to 3 sets of 5 will carry you a long way. Once that stalls, the bench responds well to frequent practice with a different emphasis each session:

• Heavy day: 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps at around RPE 8.
• Volume day: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 10 at a moderate weight.
• Variation day: close grip bench, paused bench or dumbbell bench press, 3 sets of 6 to 10.

Upper body lifts progress more slowly than squats and deadlifts, so 2.5 kg jumps soon become too big. Fractional plates of 0.5 or 1.25 kg let you keep adding weight for longer, as does adding a rep or two before adding load. Record your heavy sets; upper body progress is slow enough that without a log it is easy to think you are stuck when you are actually creeping forward.

If you also do lots of push-ups, burpees or wall balls in conditioning sessions, your shoulders and triceps are already working hard. Count that in your weekly load and keep bench volume sensible so the joints stay happy.

Accessories that support the bench

Bench strength depends on the chest, the front of the shoulders and, heavily, the triceps. Most people who fail near lockout need stronger triceps. Useful additions include:

• Close grip bench press and dips for triceps and lockout strength.
• Overhead press for the shoulders and general pressing strength.
• Rows, pull-ups and chest-supported rows to build the upper back you press from.
• Face pulls and band pull-aparts to balance all that pressing and keep the shoulders happy.

A good rule of thumb is to do at least as many sets of pulling as pressing across the week. Push-ups are underrated too: weighted or high rep push-ups add pressing volume that is kind to the shoulders and fits into any session.

Safety and shoulders

Always bench heavy with a spotter or with safety arms set just below chest height, and never use a thumbless grip, because the bar can roll out of your hands. If you train alone, leave a rep in reserve on heavy sets.

Wrist pain usually comes from the bar sitting too close to the fingers, which bends the wrist back. Set the bar low in the palm, over the forearm bones.

Shoulder pain is common among people who bench a lot, especially with flared elbows and little pulling work. If the front of your shoulder aches when you press, reduce the load, tuck the elbows more and add upper back work. If it persists, get it looked at. Our guide to shoulder impingement explains a common cause, and Lycan Strength members get 20% off on-site physiotherapy.