{"id":71781,"date":"2020-12-07T16:26:11","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T16:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/\/\/uncategorized\/do-this-to-increase-your-bench-press"},"modified":"2022-04-08T12:10:10","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T17:10:10","slug":"do-this-to-increase-your-bench-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/do-this-to-increase-your-bench-press\/","title":{"rendered":"Do This To Increase Your Bench Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever said any of the following about your bench press<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost had it, I just mis-grooved<\/em> the lift.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI always get pinned at the bottom of my bench.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can touch and go this weight, but when I pause my bench, I\u2019m so much weaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy overhead press and other bench accessories all got stronger but my bench stayed the same.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Have you ever said any of the following about your bench press<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost had it, I just mis-grooved<\/em> the lift.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI always get pinned at the bottom of my bench.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can touch and go this weight, but when I pause my bench, I\u2019m so much weaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy overhead press and other bench accessories all got stronger but my bench stayed the same.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Related: The Best Chest Workouts for Muscle Mass, Strength, and More<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

These are comments I frequently hear from people who are struggling to increase their bench press<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The good news is they\u2019re easily fixed by identifying the underlying problem and implementing effective solutions to address them.<\/p>\n

Typically when people fail, their bench presses a few inches off their chest because of one or more of these reasons<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Weak pecs<\/a> relatively to their shoulders and triceps<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  2. Inability to rapidly absorb and reverse the direction of the load<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  3. Poor technique<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    When the bar is touching your chest, your pecs are stretched and in an advantageous position to generate force<\/a> and reverse the load<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    However, at that same bottom position, your shoulders and triceps are at a disadvantaged point of leverage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Their primary contribution occurs closer to the mid-range and upward<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    That\u2019s generally the point where we see the elbows flair to transfer loading demand from the pecs to the shoulders and triceps in an attempt to complete the lift.<\/p>\n

    I am going to provide an overview explanation here but if you need to work on your own specific goals or have other issues just contact me at Stacked Strength<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Weak Pectorals<\/h2>\n

    When a lifter mis-grooves<\/em> a lift right off the chest, it\u2019s often indicative of weak pecs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Since the pecs aren\u2019t capable of generating enough force to press the weight up, the elbows flare excessively to shift loading demands onto the triceps and shoulders.<\/p>\n

    However, as mentioned earlier, at the bottom of the rep, the triceps and shoulders are at a disadvantaged mechanical position to press the weight<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    So weak pecs are typically the culprit when an athlete fails a rep a few inches off the chest<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    However, this often goes hand in hand with an inability to effectively absorb the load and maximize the stretch-shortening cycle<\/a>. As the athlete lowers the bar, if eccentric<\/a> and isometric strength is insufficient, they will not absorb the load leading to a decrease in elastic energy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    This energy, if not lost, would be used to reverse the weight from the chest rapidly.<\/p>\n

    Poor Technique<\/h2>\n

    Another major contributing factor to failing is poor technique<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    But there are several articles and instructional videos on how to optimize bench press technique<\/a> based on your leverages and experience.<\/p>\n

    So, the technique won\u2019t be the primary focus of this article since the assumption is that the technique is not the limiting factor.<\/p>\n

    Here I\u2019m going to teach you a simple strategy that tackles both of these major issues so you can start hitting some new PR\u2019s.<\/p>\n

    Who Benefits?<\/h2>\n

    But first, let’s talk about who this is for. As mentioned previously, if you fail at the chest, or if you often mis-groove<\/em> lifts or struggle with paused reps<\/a>, and assuming your technique is decent, you likely have weak pecs.<\/p>\n

    Also, you likely lack the specific eccentric and isometric strength<\/a> to both absorb and reverse the weight.<\/p>\n

    If this sounds like you, then this strategy can help. The individuals who primarily have these issues are beginners and intermediate lifters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Advanced athletes are a bit more complex, which can make the solutions equally complex. But I digress.<\/p>\n

    The Solution<\/h2>\n

    Below is a video demonstration of an effective exercise to correct the aforementioned issues<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    The strategy I discuss can be implemented with various pressing exercises with great success and isn\u2019t limited to the demonstration below.<\/p>\n