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Increase Your Bench Press
How To Increase Your Bench Press
There are many ways that you can increase your bench press weight but first we need to examine what muscles you are using and how you are doing a lift.
Obviously the muscles being used are chest and triceps but the problem is usually not when you start the press with a maximum weight, it is usually the lockout, which is a problem.
What this means is that your triceps are taking all the strain and not your chest. If you do specific movements that increase the overall strength of your triceps you will increase the bench press weight that you lift radically. There are a number of ways to increase the strength of your triceps.
Without going to any great detail in this short article you can do movements that range from close grip bench press to weighted dips and heavy tripe extensions. You need to make sure that you are using a maximum weight and getting past the point of failure in order to notice a big difference to your bench press strength.
Another way of increasing your bench press weight is again training your triceps to get through the toughest part of the lift, which is the lockout. You should put a bench in a squat rack cage and set the bar on a hook that will only allow you to do the last 40% of the press i.e. the completion and lockout.
You will be able to stack on a weight that is about 30% above your maximum press that you are currently doing. This movement is probably only about 8" but it can be extremely effective in increasing your bench press power very quickly.
Although there are many ways to increase the power of your bench press this article is going to end with one last tip that can work extremely well if you concentrate on technique and strictness when doing it. Reverse grip bench press is a very effective way to isolate your triceps and get them strong very quickly.
This movement needs to be done correctly and you need to concentrate on specifically isolating the triceps. Obviously the most important part is the lockout as that is where your triceps are stretched to their maximum and you are using everything you have to get your arms locked out.
In conclusion it is important that you are aware of the kinetics of the bench press and that you know how and when your chest and/or triceps are taking the weight. The classic bench press is a well-orchestrated dance of the combination of your chest, your shoulders and your triceps.
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How To Increase Your Bench Press