.webp "فتنس واي تي - تمارين")
The bench press
The bench press is a classic and popular exercise among all bodybuilders, as it is considered a basic chest exercise, so almost no exercise program is devoid of the bench press.
For bodybuilders and those who aspire to build muscle, the importance of the bench press is a complex exercise that aims to build muscle in the upper body.
For weightlifters, the bench press is one of the big three along with deadlifts and squats.
The importance of the bench press for athletes - football, basketball and other athletes - in developing sports performance cannot be neglected.
How to perform the punch press
1- Exercise position: lie on a flat bench with your eyes under the bar, raise your chest and squeeze your shoulders, with your feet fixed on the floor.
2- The grip: Hold the bar - there are markings on the bar to help you with this - Place the bar in the palm of your hand with a full fist and a straight wrist.
3- Raising the bar from the stand: Take a deep breath and raise the bar from the stand by straightening your arms, making the bar at the level of your shoulders.
4- Lowering the bar: slowly lower the bar until it touches the middle of your chest, make sure your forearms are perpendicular and hold your breath down
5- Raise the bar: raise the bar up again while exhaling and make sure that your lower back is fixed to the bench.
Important tips for training the bench press
The bench press is a complex exercise, not only the chest muscles, the shoulder muscles and triceps are also involved. And if you perform the exercise with the wrong technique, it can be disastrous.
Therefore, you should focus on improving your technique, and not only will the movement become safer, but you will find a noticeable improvement in results. If you find my words convincing, the tips below may help you improve exercise performance and raise the level of safety
1- Feet position: Although the position of the feet is not very important in this exercise, it is still important.
Try to have two feet pointing toward your back as much as possible while keeping them flat on the floor. The goal is to hold the feet in the ground in order to generate the energy needed from the ground to lift the bar.
2- Curvature of the back: This is a little controversial. Some believe that the arch of the back is for weightlifters only, not for bodybuilders, but the curvature of the lower back helps protect the back from injuries and helps in the integrity of the spine.
If you're not a weightlifter, you don't need to exaggerate. A slight arch will do the trick.
3- The width of the fist: the width of the fist depends on the length of your arms, if it is long, it is better to have a slightly wider fist width
But if your arms are short, make the width of your fist for the bar relatively narrow.
4- Correct grip of the bar: Hold the bar tightly and try to keep the bar away from the palm of your hand as much as possible, and the reason for this is that placing the bar on the top of the palm will make the rest of your hand more straight, and do not neglect to wrap your thumb around the bar to increase safety.
5- Raising the bar from the stand: Take a deep breath and push the bar from the stand, then let go. If you do not have a partner to help you, push your back hard in the bench to raise the bar, especially if the weight is heavy.
6- Lowering the bar down: Take a deep breath again and use this breath to strengthen your abdominal wall, slowly lower the bar and hold the bar firmly, imagining that you are trying to bend the bar - the reason for this is that you are protecting your shoulders while pressing trying to bend the bar from the middle - Hold yourself until you reach the end Push yourself tight again while lifting.
7- Making the bar touch the chest: Ignore touching the chest and focus on two things only.
The first is to put your arms at the end of the movement, forming a 90 degree angle. The second is to hit the exact same place in each repetition in the set.
The reason for this is “It can be complicated if your arms are long and your fist is narrow, of course. When the bar touches your chest, your elbow may reach the floor. Can you imagine this?”
8- Pushing with the feet while lifting: Press your feet into the ground while lifting. This is not considered cheating but may help keep you in control with heavy weights. And remember to breathe while lifting and to have a slight arch in the movement of the bar like the letter "J".
Common mistakes in Punch Press
As you can see, bench press is more complicated than you expected and it is a dangerous exercise so be sure to avoid these mistakes.
1- The bar above the jaw or neck: The path of the bar should not be above your neck, which means that the bar must be moved from the stand forward a little and put it back again after completing your set using your arms.
2- Individual elbows and suddenly: Some advice warns against individual elbows, but this is not true. You can individual elbows, but make sure that this does not happen suddenly or quickly so as not to cause an injury to your elbow.
3- Raising the head off the bench: keep your head flat on the bench and your feet flat and firmly on the ground for maximum stability and do not try to raise your head to help you while lifting the bar up.
4- Lifting the buttocks up: The buttocks must be kept flat on the bench because lifting them up may lead to injury or pain in the lower back.
Safety and precaution
If you suffer from any shoulder injuries, avoid the bench press
If you feel pain or tear in the shoulder during exercise, end the exercise immediately
It is better to search for a partner or assistant during the punch press, especially if you are using heavy weights
If a friend is not available, do the exercise in a bench press, which has side bars to protect you in case the bar falls from your hand.