Barbell Slingshot Bench Press

A step-by-step form guide from the Ægir Iron exercise library: how to do the lift, what to watch for, and the muscles it trains.

HOW TO PERFORM

Slide the sleeves up your arms until the main band sits flat across your chest and the bottom edges rest just above your elbows.
Lie back on the bench with the eyes under the bar and the feet planted firmly on the floor.
Take the bar slightly wider than shoulder width and squeeze it hard.
Pull the shoulder blades down and together, puff the chest up, and hold a slight natural arch in the low back.
Lift the bar off the hooks and hold it straight over the shoulders with the arms locked.
Lower it slowly to the lower chest or sternum, tucking the elbows in to about 45 degrees.
Drive the bar straight up and slightly back toward the start until the arms lock out.

Maintain your standard grip width and setup. As you lower the bar, proactively squeeze your upper back and lats to pull the bar down against the elastic tension. Keep your elbows tucked directly under the bar. Expect to move more weight than normal, given the assistance of the sleeves.
The shoulder blades stay down and together and the chest stays up from unrack to rerack. Letting them flatten at the bottom loses the base and hands the load to the front of the shoulder.
Arch through the upper back and keep the glutes on the bench. Lifting the hips is a red light in competition and a lost brace anywhere else.
Set the safety pins, or use a spotter, on anything heavy. It is the one lift you cannot put down on your own.
Grip width changes the emphasis: closer hands give more of the work to the triceps, wider shortens the range.
Perform your primary, heavy "raw" bench press sets first while your muscles are completely fresh. Slip the device on for 2 to 3 final back-off sets to accumulate extra training volume or to execute heavy overload triples.

Log it in Ægir Iron to track your PRs and estimated 1RM, and to see the sets each muscle gets every week. Free for individual lifters.