6 Ways To Improve Bench Press Game?

Whether it’s your chest muscles that you want to strengthen or your whole body, the bench press is most certainly a staple in your regimen. It has been considered a standard for anyone’s weightlifting skills. And if you are a beginner and have been struggling for a long time with how to improve your bench press? You have come to the right place. Starting right off with earth-shattering weight is not your goal, but you need to reach there slowly and steadily.

What is a bench press? How to do it?

An exercise, known for strengthening your upper body muscles, including but not limited to muscles of the chest, arms, and shoulders. It provides maximum muscle endurance and can help athletes to improve the resistance in their muscles.

The tip to perform bench press is to choose weight wisely. If you work with a barbell or dumbbell, it should be of such weight that it doesn’t look like a burden to you, nor strain your muscles.

• Lay down on a bench with your back flat and feet on the ground a hip-width apart.
• Now hold the bar, so that your eyes are in alignment with the front of the barbell.
• Lower down the barbells/dumbbells to your chest level.
• Lower down the barbells/dumbbells to your chest level.
• Then extend back upwards, by extending your arms in the upward direction.
• Repeat. Once you feel tired, leave it and take a rest.

Which muscles get worked out by a bench press?

Randomly working out with a bench press is of no use if you don’t know which of your muscles will get targeted in this workout. The muscles of the body get worked according to the type of bench press you’ve been practicing. In general, the bench press works out pectoralis major, triceps brachii, serratus anterior, anterior deltoid, and biceps brachii. Various muscle groups can be worked out with variations in the bench press, such as traditional bench press, incline bench press, decline bench press, and narrow grip bench press.

How to improve your bench press?

We cannot emphasize enough maintaining the proper form of your body, as it is the first step towards your improvement journey. However, there are some tips and tricks that you can follow to ace your goal.

1. Make up your mind and Warm up your body

Start by building the mind’s connection with your muscles. Making up your mind and visualizing your workout beforehand can help boost your morale and energy. You need to imagine yourself in the position you are going to work out in as well as make up your mind about how many repeats you are going to perform. After preparing your mind, it’s time for your body to get warmed up. Full-body warm-ups such as dynamic stretching, jogging, or slow running can help. Or you might want to consider lifting light weights just to signal your muscles what’s going to happen.

2. Take baby steps

You might want to rush to hold those heavy-weight barbells, after warming up and dreaming in your head about those. But stop there mate! Taking small steps is the key. Start with a low-weight category. You might be doing better than this but moving gradually from low to high will improve your technique, increase your patience, and will produce more resistance in your muscles. Micro-loading is a great idea.

3. A gear in need is a friend indeed

Pardon for varying this saying but that’s how much a good gear can help you. Taking care of your overall body, including your hands, is very important. Try covering your wrists with wrist wraps and elbows with elbow sleeves. Both help in stabilizing your wrist and elbow joints, respectively. As these two joints are a game-changer during the bench press.

4. Do it three times a week

Practice can never go out of fashion. But doing it in a balanced proportion is what we call smart thinking. Doing it every other day will sore your muscles. That’s why, you should perform bench press every other day of the week and let your body rest in between.

5. Add variety to your style

To work out all your muscles equally, try adding variety to your form. If you are focusing on doing a flat bench press one day, go for the inclined or declined one the other day. Varying the size of weights on alternate days can help you determine your RM (repetition maximum) and let you set goals for your next bench press.

6. Have some healthy food

Eating healthy is as important as practicing. Never skip your meals and try eating balanced meals, full of proteins, carbs, and friendly fats. You can also add nutritional supplements to your diet to increase muscle strength like creatine and protein shakes.

Conclusion

Bench press is one hell of an effective workout, only, if worked on properly. From setting your mind on it to maintaining your position and routine, the bench press is all about patience and practice. If you jump straight to a heavyweight category, you’ll never be able to make it and might get injured in doing so. Improving your bench press can be challenging at first, but continuous stabilization of muscles will take you there soon.