How to Bench Press the Proper Way

Bench pressing is one of the most favored exercise amongst the men in the gym today. Almost anybody that is into bodybuilding that is either starting out or has been working out for a while tends to focus a lot of attention to their chest. Because you are usually dealing with a fair bit of weight it is so important to lift with proper form. Lifting with proper form will keep you from getting hurt, and in the end produce better results. Let's go ahead and take a look at the proper way to perform the bench press.

1. Make sure the equipment you will be using is in proper condition and is not in anyway going to cause harm to you or anybody else. It is also a great idea to have a spotter as well in case something goes wrong.

2. Lay flat on the bench and pinch your shoulder blades together, this will help to create a more solid base, make sure that your eyes are roughly in line with the bar.

3. Make sure that your feet are planted firmly on the ground and are just a little wider than the shoulder width apart.

4. Making sure that your hands are about shoulder with apart or just over, grasp the bar with the bottom portion of your palms, and then close your hands around the bar.

5. Lift the bar off the racks and bring the weights forward until the bar is in line with the bottom portion of your chest(nipple area).

6. Slowly lower the bar, keeping your elbows tucked into your sides, until the bar just touches your chest. With a short burst push the weight back up to the starting position. It also helps to push with your feet while lifting, it will give you more power. Repeat this step until you have reached your desired reps.

Some of the most common poor practices when benching are:

-Placing your feet on the end of the bench
This actually takes away from the effectiveness of the bench press, this is because when your feet are on the ground it causes a small arch in your lower back. This arch causes the weight to be focused on the chest region. If your feet are on the bench your back will be working with your chest to handle the weight.

-Flaring your elbows out
This is one of those things that can get you pretty seriously hurt. Having your elbows flared out when benching can place an extreme amount of stress and pressure on your rotator cuff, and trust me when I say this is the last thing you want to injure.

-Using weights that are too heavy
This is pretty self explanatory, if you use a weight that is too heavy for you to lift, you will end up getting poor results, and increasing your chances of getting hurt. If you find that your are tilting the bar to one side this shows that, that side is weaker than the other. If you notice that your are using other parts of the body to provide momentum during the lift then you are also lifting too much weight.

-Resting the bar on your chest
When bench pressing you are never and I mean never suppose to let the weight of the bar rest on your chest before pushing the weight up. You are suppose to let the bar just touch your chest. Letting the bar rest on your chest is very dangerous and can often lead to very serious injury.

Bench pressing is a great exercise for working our the entire chest. It is going to be one of your best mass building exercises. However this exercise if not done correctly can produce some pretty major injuries, and poor results. Use the above steps and you will notice a positive difference.
For more information on health and fitness visit my website: Health and Fitness Focus