Back to the basics of bench press

Despite all the different chest presses that are commonly seen in today's gyms, I've noticed that most people lack proper chest development. Most seem to have forgotten what got us to the proverbial dance, or simply never learned the basic methods that work. When I look at the upper body of the competitors, they seem to emphasize huge deltoids that completely engulf the attached pectoral muscles.

When I look back at the glory days of bodybuilding, it was just brimming with chest development everywhere. The great "Austrian Oak" and now California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou "Big" Ferrigno are just two obvious examples. They have managed to achieve epic breast development that is hard to see these days, even among top bodybuilders. This is despite the fact that they didn't have any of the strange looking machines from the future to exercise their pecs that we see today.

Why the difference? Is it simply a change in preferred aesthetics and a gradual change in workouts that reduce the importance of pectoral muscle development - or is it something more? I'm not sure. What I am sure of, however, is that I'm seeing less and less of the classic bench press on a flat bench, no matter what gym I visit - including Gold's Gym. What I mean by that is that, while some top bodybuilders do use it and do a few token sets with it, I don't see them getting completely exhausted and spent from them. The benchpress used to be the absolute most basic exercise - and the pecs of the stars of the day speak for themselves.

Even though football players or other isla-oriented athletes continue to perform the classic straight bench press as the cornerstone of their training, and ironically, bodybuilders do everything else - incline presses, Smith machine presses, or working with one-armed dumbbells. While they certainly have their place in proper training, however, they should vacate the imaginary front seat to the straight bench press. The worst strength routines skip the benchpress altogether and use some of the presses on the multipress instead.

I'll say it again - I don't know why so few people get it anymore, but I would equate benchpress for the upper body to squats for the lower body. Benchpress will not only help you to increase the volume of your pectoral muscles, you'll gain extra mass on the entire upper half of your body (shoulders, arms, back) with it and thus should be a fundamental building block in your training. While not as important as squats for the lower body, you should practice it often and regularly. You won't regret it. Not only is it a way to work your way up to a massive chest, it will also give you great upper body strength throughout.

Although I think that for experienced bodybuilders the best bench press is with your feet elevated on the bench, in the beginning, perform the bench press with your feet on the ground. Once you've experienced the path of the movement and stability is not an issue, try lifting your feet onto the bench. You can also try a fingerless grip (where all your fingers are on one side of the axis). I don't really recommend this grip, as there is a possibility of the axis slipping out of your hand. But if you are more comfortable with this grip, you can definitely use that one too. For example, the famous bodybuilder Lee Haney used this grip when doing bench press.

Lift the barbell off the rack and place it over your chest at a 90° angle (in relation to the bench). As a less experienced lifter, you should keep your elbows locked out; more experienced lifters can afford to go into an immediate lowering of the bar and not perform a lockout (i.e., elbow extension) at the top.

When lowering the axle, do it slowly and carefully (my motto is "The lower you go, the slower you lower."). Contol the axle and lightly touch your chest, roughly in the area below your nipples. Immediately afterwards, push down vigorously and return the dumbbell to its original position.
You will engage many muscles when performing the bench press. First and foremost, most of the pressure is on the pectoralis major and minor muscles. But the triceps and deltoids are also at work here, which just goes to show that bench pressing really engages a lot of upper body muscles. Remember, the higher above the nipples you place the axis of the barbell, the more load will be placed on the shoulder muscles at the expense of the pectoral muscles. If that's still not enough for you, modern kinesiology says that when you bench press, you'll also engage the psoas, biceps and abductors of the shoulder girdle. So, you've probably already guessed what a properly performed benchpress can do for you.

If you're concerned about pre-contest symmetry, it's not a bad idea to include the classic bench press after you've practiced the positive incline bench press. This type of bench press primarily increases upper body strength, i.e. around the shoulder blades, and engages the upper pecs. In this way, you manage to almost completely isolate the muscles in question and the small pectoral muscle is therefore only minimally involved. If you are starting out, this is not necessary. However, I often find people lately who have the middle part of the upper body considerably more developed and the uppermost third considerably underdeveloped.

There's a catch, though. Namely, you'll only be doing the classic benchpress after you've gone through a few sets with an incline. It may sound weird, but it can mess you up pretty badly. That's why I advise you not to let your ego tell you what to do. Benchpress is often thought of as a sort of barometer of upper body strength, sort of like a giant biceps for bodybuilding. So if you go to the gym, you want to show others some big numbers. But try to put your ego aside and work out so you wouldn't make a mistake.

To recap - benchpress is the equivalent to squats for the lower body. Not only does it help you gain mass on your upper body (chest, back, shoulders, arms) and used to be the absolute foundation of all workouts. But unfortunately, this trend is on the decline and breast training is one of the things that was at a higher level in the earlier days. Back then, we wouldn't even think of skipping the bench press! We even thought that if we didn't do benchpress, we wouldn't be training chest at all.

But today's bodybuilding is about something else entirely. There are huge shoulders and massive broad backs to be seen, but undernourished pectorals are no exception. Benchpress is not only the best way to get big pecs, but it will give you strength beyond compare. In a sentence - don't be afraid, don't listen to your ego and make benchpress a staple of your routine. You won't regret it.