Tips on Increasing Your Bench Press

I have been working out pretty serious now for about a year now. Before that it was a couple of months on and off. I never really was into working out. I wanted to be strong but couldn't stand the hard work. Now that I've gained some knowledge on the topic I would like to share with you some tips on increasing your bench press.

I would like to start by going over the main muscles that are worked when doing a bench press movement. There are three main muscles that play a big role in moving the weight on the bar and they are the shoulders, the triceps and the chest. Depending on the way you grip the bar a certain muscle may have a bigger responsibility but we'll get into that some other time. When doing the bench press you may better recognize the weak muscle by breaking down the movement into three zones. When the bar is anywhere from the chest up to about three to four inches above the chest the chest muscle is the main muscle being used at this time. When the bar is about half way up I consider the shoulders to kick in more. From there to locking out the weight is controlled by the triceps.

When you attempt a max on the bench and you miss it, notice where the bar stops when trying to push it up. Determine which zone you failed in and realize that those muscles are your weak link. Then the best thing to do is to do some isolation exercises for that muscle group while continuing your regular routine. Maybe you're just starting out and you have no clue on what type of exercises work what muscles. Well I'll give you a couple of good isolation exercises for the three muscle groups that work on bench.

I'll start with exercises for the shoulders. My favorite exercise is the DB shoulder raise. Take two dumbbells, one in each hand, and put your arms down by your sides. Then raise both arms outwards. Another great exercise is the seated shoulder press. Take two heavier dumbbells and sit down on the bench. Put the dumbbells up to your shoulders then press them to the ceiling.

Now I will give you a few chest exercises. The best isolation movement for the chest would be the DB fly's. Lie on the floor, bench or step. Hold weights over the chest with the palms facing each other. Keeping the elbows slightly bent, lower the arms out to the sides and down until they're level with the chest. Keep the elbows in a fixed position and avoid lowering the weights too low. Another exercise that works the chest well is the incline bench press. To do the incline bench press you set your bench to an inclined angle then lay back on the bench with your desired weight. Now take two dumbbells and raise them to your chest. The incline bench is very similar to the flat bench. The only difference in the inclined bench is the body is inclined instead of flat, hence the name.

Last muscle group I want to talk about is the triceps. My favorite exercises for the triceps are the tricep extention and the dips. Tricep extention you can use an EZ Curling bar. Lay down on the bench with the weight in your hands. Have the bar locked out above the chest then bend your arms at the elbows and bring it back up. The dips are easy to do. You can use two elevated areas to do this exercise. Put both hands on each elevated area and take your feet off the ground using only your arms to hold you up. Then bend again at the elbows. Once you've gotten your arms at a 90 degree angle you then push yourself back up using your arms.

Each of these muscle groups play a major role in the bench press movement. If you can determine which one is the weaker through out the movement then you can make it stronger causing your bench to increase. Now I would also like to add that with out the proper amount of nutrition and rest your bench will not go up, it may even decrease. To make sure that doesn't happen, eat plenty of healthy foods and get at least eight hours of sleep every night. Hit the weights hard and be smart when it comes to taking care of your body and your bench press will increase.