Bench press starting position – what should I be looking at?
4 min read
Asked by: Sherry Taylor
Where should I look when bench pressing?
Your eyes should be directly under the barbell and the bar should be no higher than your wrists when your arms are locked out overhead. For most people, your hands should be on the bar just a bit wider apart than your shoulders.
What is a good starting point for bench press?
Start at the Bottom
The weight bench is not the place to try being a hero. Benching more than you’re supposed to can cause injury or even your untimely death, so start light and increase your load slowly. If you’ve never benched before, try lifting about 22 pounds and work on your technique.
What should I focus on when bench pressing?
How to bench press
- Set Your Feet. Although your foot placement isn’t as crucial on the bench as it is for the deadlift or squat, it’s still important. …
- Position Yourself Under the Bar. …
- Arch Your Back. …
- Set Your Grip. …
- Brace and Unrack. …
- Breathe In and Lower the Bar. …
- Touch Your Chest. …
- Push With Leg Drive.
How do I know if Im bench pressing correctly?
8 Signs That Your Bench Press Form Is Incorrect
- Your shoulders hurt more than your chest. …
- Your elbows are out too wide or in too close. …
- The barbell is bouncing off your chest. …
- You don’t have enough contact with the bench. …
- Your grip isn’t properly aligned. …
- Your feet aren’t flat on the ground.
Should you look at the bar while benching?
No, you do not need to look at the bar to Bench Press!. You’ll know the bar has touched your chest because you also have this cool other sense, called touch, that allows you to feel the bar has touched your chest while you are looking at another point in space. That’s it! It’s so simple!
How do I start bench pressing?
Press is a simple dumbbell row from the hinge position soft knees tight core flat back rowing up controlling all the way. Down.
How much should a 16 year old bench press?
What Is The Average Bench Press For A 16 Year Old? The average bench for a male 16-year-old is 1.2 times bodyweight. The average bench for a female 16-year-old is 0.8 times bodyweight.
How much can the average 15 year old bench?
Standards for More Experienced Lifters
For 120-pound boys, this means benching about 101 pounds. At 130 pounds, the standard is 113 pounds. Your 115-pound daughter might be able to bench between 53 or 54 pounds. If she weighs closer to 125 pounds, she might be able to bench closer to 60 pounds as a novice lifter.
Should I bench heavy or light?
Heavy weights are good for developing strength and targeting specific muscles. If you need power—for a bench press personal record, CrossFit, or to squat your body weight—you need to train with heavier weights.
What are the 5 common mistakes when performing the bench press?
12 biggest bench press mistakes
- 1 – Going too heavy. …
- 2 – Flaring elbows out at 90° angles. …
- 3 – Bending wrists backwards. …
- 4 – Improper grip width. …
- 5 – Lowering bar too high up on chest. …
- 6 – Bench pressing with a flat upper back. …
- 7 – Raising butt off the bench. …
- 8 – Not keeping the feet grounded.
Why is my chest not sore after benching?
If you’re not sore after a chest workout the cause may be because you’re not performing exercises in a manner that maximizes chest muscle activity. Rethink your form by pulling your shoulder blades back and performing exercises slowly with a complete range of motion.
Why do I feel my bicep when I bench?
Bicep pain with bench pressing is often the result of excessive training volume running through the biceps tendon, an excessively wide or narrow grip, and inadequate tissue mobility at the bottom of the press.
How much should a beginner bench press?
For a 198-pound man — a very close match for the national average — who has no experience benching whatsoever, ExRx.net places the standard at 135 pounds. That jumps up to 175 for a novice and 215 for an intermediate lifter. At the advanced level, the number is 290 pounds.
Is 20 kg bench press good?
A standard Olympic barbell weighs 20kg (45lbs) and this is the weight I recommend most people with a reasonable base level of fitness start flat barbell bench pressing at. Yes, that is a recommendation to start bench pressing with an empty bar! 20kg is a reasonable weight.
Do push ups increase bench?
Do push-ups help the bench press? Yes, push-ups do help the bench press. Push-ups help bench press performance by improving work capacity, building muscle mass in the chest, shoulders, and triceps, and maintaining healthy function of the shoulder joint and shoulder blades for training longevity.
Why is my bench so weak?
If you’re weak off the chest in the bench press it’s either because (1) you have weak contributing muscle groups, namely the pecs, or (2) you have inefficient technique, ranging from an inconsistent touch point, bringing the bar down to slow, lacking a bench press arch, or picking the wrong grip.
