3 Tips for a Stronger Bench Press

The bench press is probably one of the most popular upper body strength exercises in the gym. It’s so popular that the phrase,

“how much do you bench?”

is used to gauge strength by people who don’t even workout. If you’re starting to plateau in the bench gives these tips a shot and hopefully it’ll help increase your numbers!

Work on Your Set Up

A good set up on the bench press can SIGNIFICANTLY increase your numbers. A proper bench press set up will place you in a strong position to generate the full amount of force in that angle. I recommend a set up similar to what Dave Tate had mentioned in the video but with a little less arch:

1. Upper back tight and pinch your shoulder blades together.
2. Hip bridge up, then push your your weight into your traps.
3. Lower one leg and then the other, while still maintaining traps into the bench.

This will create a strong back arch to help generate force from the legs into the bar and to maintain a tight torso position. Keep in mind that you don’t have to have a HUGE powerlifting arch:

Just as long as you’re not flat back like this:

This is something that’s some what of a hybrid:

You’ll have to play around with your set up to see what position you feel comfortable with. Keep in mind that the bar path will change and the “pull down” will be greater than typical. But trust me, it will help strengthen up your bench press numbers, as long as you follow the principle set up we discussed above.

Build Your Base

*you can see the leg drive…BUT I would advise against a fast descent.

Generally speaking I believe most people that bench press need to have a balance of strength and repetition work. Repetition days not only helps build a strong foundation in the bench press but also helps get in more repetitions for more practice. A sample program would look something like this:

• W1 D1: 3×5
• W1 D2: 5×10
• W2 D1: 3×3
• W2 D2: 3×10
• W3 D1: 5×1
• W4 D2: 4×8

As you can see each you have a heavier day and a higher repetition day to build the base. This not only allows you to get more total volume in but also exposes you to heavier weights too.

You can also do a straight linear periodization similar to this:

• W1 D1: Bench Press 3×10
• W1 D2: Incline Bench Press 3×10
• W2 D1: Bench Press 3×8
• W2 D2: Incline Bench Press 3×8
• W3 D1: Bench Press 4×6
• W3 D2: Incline Bench Press 3×6
• W4 D1: Bench Press 5×4
• W4 D2: Incline Bench Press 3×4

Overhead Work

Another good alternative is to do more overhead work. Personally I feel that the overhead press, push press, and power jerk are great for shoulder strength, stability, and (for some) translation to bench press strength. Working on your overhead strength can help strengthen your shoulders, triceps, and upper back at different angle that can help increase your bench press numbers. A sample program may look like this:

• W1 D1: Bench Press 3×5, DB Overhead Press 3×10
• W1 D2: Barbell Overhead Press 3×8 Decline Bench Press 3×10
• W2: D1: Bench Press 3×3, DB Overhead Press 3×8
• W2 D2: Barbell Overhead Press 3×8,  Decline Bench Press 3×8
• W3 D1: Bench Press 4×1, DB Overhead Press 3×6
• W3 D2: Barbell Overhead Press 3×5, Decline Bench Press 3×6

Conclusion

If you’re used to doing bench press once a week, I would suggest that you you go through a very strong physical preparation phase that focuses on shoulder stability and mobility. This combined with a smart progressive overload program should help you sustain an injury free program.

Stay strong,

Team Fusion Trained