Barbell Bench Press - Medium Grip

Also called bench press, flat bench and barbell bench.

Works

Chest, plus shoulders and triceps

Equipment

Barbell

Level

Beginner

Type

Compound

How to do it

Setup. Lie back on a flat bench. Using a medium width grip (a grip that creates a 90-degree angle in the middle of the movement between the forearms and the upper arms), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.

1. From the starting position, breathe in and begin coming down slowly until the bar touches your middle chest.
2. After a brief pause, push the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out. Focus on pushing the bar using your chest muscles. Lock your arms and squeeze your chest in the contracted position at the top of the motion, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: Ideally, lowering the weight should take about twice as long as raising it.
3. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
4. When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.

Cues

• Shoulder blades pinned back and down.
• Bar to lower chest, elbows about 45°.
• Feet planted, drive the floor.
• Press back toward the rack.

Common mistakes

• Elbows flared to 90°.
• Butt leaves the bench.
• Bouncing the bar off the chest.

Where to start

A starting point, not a law. Pick a weight you could lift two or three more times than the top of the range. Tempo is seconds down, pause, up. When every set hits the top of the range, add a little weight.

Go easy, or pick an alternative, if you have a sore shoulder. Pain that's sharp or gets worse set to set means stop.

Harder

Easier

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