How to PROPERLY Bench Press for Growth (5 Easy Steps)

With proper bench press form, the bench is the GOAT of upper body exercises. Learn how to bench press properly and you’ll see massive gains in your chest, shoulders, and arms. But get your bench press technique wrong, and even if it doesn’t happen right away, you risk seriously injuring your shoulders and elbows to the point where you may never be able to barbell bench press again. But don’t worry, perfect bench form is actually quite simple. Learn how to bench press for chest growth in 5 steps.

The most important part to getting your bench press form right is with step 1, setup. To find the perfect grip width for you, lay down on the bench with your arms straight in front of you. Pull your elbows back until they make a 90 degree angle. Then, bring your elbows in towards your sides until your thumbs line up with your nipples. The distance between your hands is your ideal grip distance on the bar. Then, for a smooth unracking, position your body such that your eyes are directly under the barbell. And when you grab the bar, for the most secure grip, I’d recommend keeping your thumb around the bar. Finally, walk your feet back under your knees and plant them firmly into the ground.

Step 2: create whole body tension. Before you even consider unracking the bar, you need to activate various muscles that will help unlock your bench press strength and keep you stable as you lift. Use your quads to push your feet down into the ground and use your glutes to drive your knees out. Then, activate your lats by bringing your armpits down to your hips. You can imagine there was a band attached to the bar pulling it back as you try to pull it forward. Next, we want to create an arch in your upper back by thinking about opening up and extending your chest. Once you’ve set your arch, straighten your wrists by pointing your knuckles to the ceiling. Then, through your nose take a deep 360 breath into your abdomen, and brace your core.

Now, step 3: unracking. This is where most people lose all their tension and mess up their bench press technique before they’ve even started it. To avoid this, maintain your arch and stay tight, then push the bar up to get it off the rack. From there you want to use your lats to “pull” the bar into the starting position right above your shoulders. Then, re-engage your lats by thinking about bending the bar in half.

Step 4: descent. The most common mistake people make here with the barbell bench press has to do with the bar path. During a proper bench press the bar should not travel straight up and down. Instead, you’ll want to bring it down and slightly forwards. To do so, focus on pulling the bar down towards your lower chest, right around the level of your nipples. As you do this, avoid tucking your elbows too close into the body and also avoid the more common mistake of flaring them out to the sides. Instead, to maximize chest activation and minimize shoulder discomfort, keep them tucked at about a 45 to 70 degree angle away from your body. Now as for how deep to go, ideally, you want to touch your chest with the bar. But if your shoulders roll forward at the bottom (which can cause discomfort and potential injury), stop an inch or two above your chest or wherever is most comfortable. But once you do reach the bottom position, your forearms should not be bent inward or outward. If they are, try narrowing or widening your grip to get your elbows stacked directly under your wrists.

Step 5: ascent. Most people lose out on chest gains by letting the bar bounce off their chest. Instead, force your chest to work even harder by pausing here for half a second. But do NOT completely relax and let the bar simply sit on top of you. Keep the tension in your legs and upper back and feel your chest working to keep the bar stable. After the slight pause, use your quads to push your feet forward against the ground as if you were doing a leg extension, and then drive the bar up off your chest. Drive the bar back up towards your head so that from the side view, the bar travels in a slight arc. As you get to the top, keep your chest up by maintaining the arch in your upper back and squeeze your biceps into your armpits until your arms fully straighten over your shoulders. Exhale through pursed lips as you come to the top, take another deep breath in your stomach, brace, and then control the weight back down for another rep.

And ... congrats! You now know how to bench press for chest growth.

Found this useful? Click below for a step by step plan training plan that shows you how to properly train to maximize growth and minimize injury:

[jeffreybright]

You're the only fitness YouTuber that doesn't make me feel like I need to become super jacked, and ya don't make the stuff feel overwhelming. The explanations are nice, im sciencey, so it's better than hearing "do it this way bc it's right". I think you're a dope person and you're the epitome of what a natural, healthy body can look like with concerted effort and education. Many thanks

[TrueCrimeCasesAudio]

The animations, the explanations, the examples, the content, the humor, he always finds a way to make it even better.

[fazeelhussain]

As an intermediate lifter, I would say this is by FAR the best tutorial on the bench press I've seen

[loki]

I love these no BS instruction videos, keep it up Jeremy!

[dannymelo]

**Step 1: Setup**
- Use a relatively wider grip to maximize chest growth but not too wide to avoid injury.
- Find your ideal grip distance by lining up your thumbs with your lower chest.
- Position your body such that your eyes are directly under the bar and maintain a secure grip with your thumb around the bar.
- Walk your feet back under your knees and plant them firmly into the ground.

**Step 2: Whole Body Tension**
- Activate your lower body by pushing your feet down into the ground and dragging your knees out.
- Engage your lats and create a slight arch in your upper back to make the press more comfortable and recruit more chest fibers.
- Straighten your wrist, take a deep breath into your abdomen, and brace your core.

**Step 3: Unracking**
- Maintain the arch and stay tight, push the bar up to get it off the rack.
- Use your lats to pull the bar into the starting position above your shoulders.
- Re-engage your lats by thinking about bending the bar in half.

**Step 4: Descent**
- Pull the bar down actively using your back muscles towards your lower chest.
- Keep your elbows tucked at about a 45 to 70-degree angle away from your body, avoid letting them flare out or tuck in too close.
- Touch your chest with the bar if mobility allows, else stop an inch or two above the chest.
- Make sure your forearms are not bent inward or outward at the bottom position.

**Step 5: Ascent**
- Pause for half a second at the bottom, keeping tension in your legs and upper back.
- Use your quads to push your feet forward against the ground and then drive the bar up off your chest.
- Drive the bar up and backward off the chest to maximize chest activation.
- Keep the chest up by maintaining the arch in your upper back as you straighten your arms.
- Exhale through tight lips as you come to the top, then take another deep breath in your stomach, brace, and control the weight back down for another rep.

[mickeyoern]

Thank you Jeremy. Your explanations are immensely helpful with their high levels of details visualized.

For others who may like a shortened summation of pointers within the procedure. Here's one take on it.

Push Feet Down - Arch the Back - Squeeze the Lats - Extend the Chest - Brace the Core - Long Inhalation - Straight Up Hold - Pull Down Chest Line - Touch Chest - Half Second - Elbows in Arrow - Elbows under Wrists - Upwards Backwards - Straight Up Hold - One Second - Repeat Motion.

[Understanding_Football]

I cannot tell you how much am thankful to you for this video. Today was doing bench press and I could feel the pressure on my shoulder joints. After a few tries, I gave up rather than continuing the incorrect way- felt like I would injure myself. Then I found this video. Am going in confident of a better show tomorrow 😊🙏

[lifewithsy]

How about the editing of this video. Straight fire 🔥

The in-depth body, skeletal, muscle fibre highlights. Awesome!

Subscribed 💯

[jayelee]

I like how you say pull the bar down to your chest as opposed to letting gravity take over... i recently gained this insight when i was doing squats and the technique naturally translated to all my lifts including bench, i think this is the single most important lesson that needs to be learnt when it comes to weightlifting.

[KareemJabr]

I've had shoulder pain when bench pressing. And it's most likely due to doing bench press wrong for a long time. After watching your videos I learned how to work around my shoulder pain and focus more on my chest. I wish I knew these tips before. My shoulder pain isn't 100% gone. But I'm learning how to minimize the pain by following your videos. You're the best!

[Lancelot]

I appreciate you putting out these videos and the way the editing is done. Very easy to understand with all the highlights in the muscles and zoom ins. I wish you the best in your YouTube journey my friend

[shreyakhannadoodles]

I’m a beginner and your videos mean a great real deal to me. I love how you even mention the mistakes that one might make and the cues to use have also helped me. Thankyou for what you do. Wishing you grace always ❤

[prady]

Thank you Jeremy..i watched this video last night and had chest day today. Thanks to you I was able to have a correct form and could bench heavier and with more reps with almost no shoulder pain today. You are a lifesaver.

[thomasrasser]

The "Overhead Press" would be a great addition to this series.
I know you made something similar already a while ago, but your step-by-step instructions are just phenomenal, and I would really appreciate it, especially as a beginner

Keep up the good work

[zen]

This editing is out of this world. On par with world class documentaries. Combined with the great knowledge and tips this is now one of my favorite fitness channels.

[Kosen]

After this video this was the most chest activation (so much less on shoulders and triceps) that I've ever felt in a workout. You're the best dude!!

[MrAskOnce]

Your videos are the best Jeremy! I recommend to all my friends who have questions about various lifts. You explain it so well, especially with all the visuals. Keep it up my man!

[nataliocorradini]

This how-to series is simply awesome! Short videos full of real data, what to do, what to avoid. can´t get any better.

[maddewkey]

THIS VIDEO. OMG I’ve been struggling bench press for the longest time, and you’ve pointed out ALL of the things I’m doing wrong. Once I fixed those issues, my bench press has been so good!

[paathimself]

Strong production value on this one, Jeremy. Your video editor is brilliant.