Barbell 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

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.

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.
Create an arch in your thoracic region and the glutes stay 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.
The Larsen press is the same lift with the feet up on the bench, which removes leg drive and forces the upper back to hold the position on its own. Expect less weight.

This guide covers these exercises in the Ægir Iron library:

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.