How to Improve Your Bench Press – 5  Effective Tips

The bench press is by far the most popular exercise for anyone who lifts weights and those who want to start lifting.
Why?  In additional to being able to get bragging rights on how much you press, this exercise also can increase the size of your chest, which both makes your shirts look better on you and also makes your waist look narrower.

Having a big chest looks good and gives you a lot of confidence.
It’s also nice having people asking you all the time how much you can bench and being able to tell them you can bench 400 (or whatever). Weight lifters are always trying to improve their bench press but many go about it the wrong way.

So how do you improve your bench press? Here are 5 tips, in no particular order…

1) Don’t Overtrain
If you want to improve your bench press then you have to make sure you are not over training. If you are benching every time you are in the weight room then you are doing it too much. You only need to do bench press once per week.  If you are benching all the time and not seeing any gains then try cutting back and see what happens. Your muscles need time to rest and recover. They can’t do that if you are constantly tearing them apart.

2) Train Additional Muscles
Your chest is not the only thing you should be focusing on in order to improve your bench press. You should be working on your entire body with a special emphasis on your triceps, lats, and delts because these muscle groups play a huge role in bench pressing.

3) Have a Lifting Partner You Can Trust
Having someone there to spot you while you are bench pressing will help for a few reasons. The most important one is safety. Let’s just say it’s not fun having hundreds of pounds fall onto your chest and a spotter will stop that from happening. But a lifting partner can also help improve your bench by giving you encouragement and pushing you harder during your lift as well as providing someone to prove yourself to. You will also have the added confidence knowing someone is there to help you if you fail, so you will tend to push yourself harder.

4) Aim For Bench Pressing Additional Weight
If you are trying to get stronger and improve your bench press you should not be able to get more than five reps of the weight you are using. However, you should also be able to actually do the weight close to five times each set so you are getting some reps in. Go as heavy as you can while still being able to get a few reps in each set.

5) Take Supplements – But Only Natural and Healthy Ones

Weight lifting supplements such as creatine and whey protein can help you improve your bench press tremendously. They will help with strength, recovery, stamina, explosiveness, and other things that will allow you to bench more.

There you go, five tips to help improve your bench press. If you want to be able to brag to your friends about how much you can bench start with the above tips and you will improve your bench press very soon.

Today we are going to be working on the tricep muscle along with involving more of the upper body.

Also known as the ‘Skull Crusher” or “French Extensions”, this is another exercise aimed primarily at the tricep muscle, although it gives a good work out to the chest and shoulders also.

This exercise will work out the complete range of tricep muscles in the upper arm, from the lattisimus dorsi through to the elbow.

This exercise can be performed either using one arm at a time, or if you are more experienced, using both arms simultaneously. Starting off with the one handed version may be best until you become more familiar and adept at the movements.

Before commencing this exercise, you will need to position a flat bench, and choose which weights you want to use. If no bench is available, then this exercise can be performed while lying on the floor on a suitable surface or floor mat.

As always, start off with low weights, and gradually build up to heavier ones once you are more confident in your capabilities.
Position yourself on your back on the flat bench or floor mat, and hold the dumbbells straight in front of you. Keep your palms facing away from your body, and hold the barbells in an overhand grip. You should be able to feel all of the weight on the tricep muscle.

Make sure your feet are flat on the floor, and keep your abs taut. If using a bench, ensure that your head hangs just off the edge of the bench, with the ‘dent’ between neck and head resting on the edge.

Extend your arms fully so that they are at a 90-degree angle from the floor and your torso.
Keep your elbows tucked into your body, and your palms facing inwards.
This will now become your starting position.

While inhaling, keep your elbows in and your upper arms static. Lower the weights slowly until they are level with your ears.
While exhaling, and once again keeping your elbows in and your upper arms static, push the weights back up to your starting position, making sure that you use your tricep muscle.

While performing this exercise, make sure to use slow fluid movements. Make a concerted effort to make no jerky movements during arm extensions.
If you find it difficult to keep your arm steady while doing this exercise, use your other arm to help keep the 90 degree angle needed. Try to keep your head, torso and spine steady but relaxed while performing this activity.

Do the required number of repetitions of the same movement.

Another variation of the same exercise can be performed by touching the dumbbells to the forehead, followed by completely extending the arm. It is recommended that if this version is attempted, that you use the floor and not the bench.
This version is not always preferred, as there is more potential for accidents and injuries to occur. As always, try to ensure that there is help available.

Warning: If you suffer from any kind of elbow injury, be extremely cautious when performing this exercise, as it may possibly be too harsh for you.