Bench Press - With Bands

Also called band bench press, banded chest press and resistance band bench.

Works

Chest, plus shoulders and triceps

Equipment

Band

Level

Beginner

Type

Compound

How to do it

Setup. Using a flat bench secure a band under the leg of the bench that is nearest to your head.

1. Once the band is secure, grab it by both handles and lie down on the bench.
2. Extend your arms so that you are holding the band handles in front of you at shoulder width.
3. Once at shoulder width, rotate your wrists forward so that the palms of your hands are facing away from you. This will be your starting position.
4. Bring down the handles slowly until your elbow forms a 90 degree angle. Keep full control at all times.
5. As you breathe out, bring the handles up using your pectoral muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, squeeze your chest, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly. Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up.
6. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions of your training program.

Cues

• Band under the bench, handles at the chest.
• Blades back, feet planted.
• Press straight up.
• Lower slow against the band.

Common mistakes

• Elbows flared to 90 degrees.
• Bouncing the band back.

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.

Harder

Easier

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