The Power of the Bench Press

When you're ready to begin a weight training program, there are several exercises that should be on your short list. One of these exercises is the bench press, considered by many to be the king of chest exercises.

The bench press is a compound lift, meaning that it involves more than one joint and more than one muscles group. A properly executed bench press not only works the chest, it also works the arms and shoulders.

Notice I used the phrase 'properly executed bench press'. Every time I’m in the gym I see people doing exercises, including the bench press wrong. They go down too quickly and bounce the weight off their chest, or only go down halfway, or do so much weight their training partner is getting more of a workout then they are.

If you're getting ready to start resistance training, you owe it to yourself to learn how to do bench press. Using proper form, doing the right number of reps for the type of results you want to see, and knowing how to select the appropriate level of resistance will go a long way toward helping you reach your goals.

There's not much worse than working hard at something, or thinking you're working hard at something, and then learn you've been doing it wrong and wasting the majority of your effort.

If you're looking for a good bench/squat rack combo, check out the CAP Fitness Bench/Squat rack; you can get it for a really good price and use it to flesh out your home gym. If you're going to do barbell squats, you need to have a squat rack!