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Weight Loss Exercise

Best Bench Press Workout

The world will never agree on the best bench press workout to get you stronger in the fastest time possible. Advanced lifters use an in-depth training system which includes bench press bands and chains for greater resistance. They are effective but may be rather complicated for a person entering the bench press world for the first time. Also bear in mind that just because another method is simpler, i.e. not involving chains and pads, doesn’t mean that it’s not as effective. It is! It’s just different.

So let’s get to your bench press workout.

Bench Press Workout Technique

Best Bench Press WorkoutFirstly, getting the correct technique is vital. You are going to be lifting larger and larger weights as time progresses in your bench press workout and it is absolutely essential to get the right technique to avoid future injury. So, you need to use good leverage and be stable to bench press more weight. Lie down flat on the bench and using your middle fingers, hold the bar over the engraved lines. Gently shimmy up the bench so your chest is under the bar which is still on the rack at this stage. Steady your feet firmly on the floor and raise your shoulders away from the bench.

Then arch your back and place your neck and trapezoid muscles on the bench so only your butt and trapezoids are touching the bench. At this stage the bar, which is still on the rack, is still above your head. Now, squeeze your shoulder blades together and keep them squeezed throughout the lift. This will assist you to remain stable and lets you use your triceps and lats along with your shoulders and chest to move the weight.

So the next step now you have this position is to place about 25% of your bench press maximum weight onto the bar. Maintain your position as above and lift the bar off the rack. Have it at arms length above your chest then lower it, keeping control, to slightly under your nipple line. During the lift, your elbows should be at a 45 degree angle to your body leading to good leverage and line. Now, in a straight line, press the weight back to where you started.

Bench Press Workout Tips

Your bench press workout will change and vary over time. A time tested tip for when you are pressing the bar upward is to try and pull the bar apart. This helps you lock out the weight and you can angle your index finger knuckles towards you which makes it easier.

Now it’s time to add some more weight for your bench press workout. Place 55% of your bench press maximum onto the bar and using the same start position as above, repeat 5 presses as above. Ensure you adequately stretch and rest for at least 3 minutes between each set. Then you will be ready for the heavier weights.

Now put 75% of your maximum bench press onto the bar and lift for 3 repetitions. Rest and stretch as above and then place 80% onto the bar and lift for 1 repetition. Now place 85% of your maximum onto the bar and do 7 to 9 sets of 1 repetition, remembering to rest and stretch between each set as above.

Now it’s time to recover from your bench press workout. It is recommended to take some whey protein and creatine within 60 minutes after your bench press workout to gain in strength and size in a faster time.


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10 Ways to Lower Stress



Not all stress is created equal. You can feel stress from work, home, family, friends, and yourself, but you can also experience stress from winning the lottery and moving into your new mansion. Long term stress, however, can even contribute to health problems if not dealt with.

While it is normal to have some stress, most of us tend to have too much of it. Here are some suggestions for relieving your stress. What is relaxing to one person may not be so relaxing to another, so use the techniques that appeal to you.

10 Ways to Lower Stress

Ways to Lower Stress

1. Laugh – What makes you laugh? Your puppy, a funny movie, a comedy routine? Make some time to laugh; it can be an instant stress reliever.

2. Exercise – Perhaps a brisk walk in the park or a game of tennis with a good friend. Fire up those endorphins while enjoying nature or companionship.

3. Massage – See a professional. Better yet, have one come to your home. If you can’t afford it, get a 15 minute shoulder massage at the mall or coax your spouse into doing it.

4. Music – A fast beat can make you dance, and it’s hard to feel stressed while you’re dancing. At the other end of the spectrum, calm music will help you feel calm.

5. Discussion – Talk out your problems with the people who can help you solve your problems, whether it be your spouse who IS the problem or a professional who can give you coping methods.

6. Yoga – This combines several stress relieving modalities including breathing, meditation, and stretching.

7. No – Learning to say no to people and situations will help you to stop heaping so much on your plate. Step back and look at your 24 hours and decide where you want your priorities to lie. Weed out everything else.

8. Deep-breathing – Breathing deep can bring quick relief from an immediate stressful situation and allows you to focus. Plus it oxygenates the blood.

9. Entertainment – Let others take the stress on their shoulders as they entertain you. Get out of the house or office, and away from the stress and take in a movie, a nice restaurant dinner, a tour of the city, or a concert.

10 – Journal – If you don’t want to talk about it then write about it. Keeping a journal of your concerns and stresses will help you get a clearer picture of your issues and might help you come up with a plan to get to a place of less stress.

Even if you can’t remove all the stress in your world, you can certainly lower your stress levels when you try some of these tips. These 10 ways to lower stress should get you on your way to a healthier and happier life

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The keys to getting a big chest


Getting a big chest is a big deal. For most people lifting weights and getting ready for summer there are a few big priorities. One of the things that most guys want is a big chest. There are a few exercises that are key to increasing chest size but also there are a couple of important facts to remember. I think that if you follow all of these you will have huge pecs in no time.

Getting a Big Chest – Don’t Overtrain

First of all you need to be aware that it is fairly easy to overtrain your chest so especially for someone that has been weightlifting for a yea or less it is very important to make sure that all of your chest exercises and related are done in the same workout, this includes chest as well as shoulder exercises. First things first, make sure that your chest workout is hitting all three angles to his all of the muscle fibers of your chest but do not do to many exercises or sets as this is the easiest way to overtrain.

There are three parts of your chest pec muscles. Your pectoral muscles can be broken up into three parts, well kind of anyway, the top near your shoulders, the middle of your chest and the bottom of your chest.

Getting a Big Chest- Upper Chest Exercises

getting a big chest

getting a big chest

To his the upper chest you can do incline bench or incline flyes. Try switching each workout to doing one or the other and try to keep your reps are 6-10 reps for three sets, each set to failure.

Getting a big chest – Middle Chest Exercises

To hit the middles of your chest you can do flat bench bench presses or flat bench flyes. For your lower chest you can do flat bench flyes or cable crossovers. Make sure that you are changing your exercises each workout but try to always hit the upper and middle of your chest and every second or third workout do some decline bench for your lower pecs.

Getting a big chest – Lower Chest Exercises

Lower pec muscles will grow very quickly but really what people are looking for is a bigger upper chest as a bigger lower chest makes your chest look a little saggy. The difference between doing flyes and bench press are important to think about. When doing flyes you will get a very focused chest exercise but in doing bench press you will be heaving more weight and most people seem to agree that the increases to your chest size will be higher.

I know that I have glossed over the exercises for increasing your chest size but there are a couple of issues that are almost as important as the exercises and that is the shoulder influence as well as the frequency of the workouts for your chest.

Most of the time in magazines you are told to do 12 – 16 sets to work your chest muscles but no one really looks at the mechanics of how your shoulder muscles will really influence your chest workout and this is critical. After you have finished your chest workout you should work your shoulders, I say this because a tough chest workout of nine sets or so is really going to burn your shoulders and if you try to isolate your shoulders again in the next couple of days then you really do risk overtraining your deltoids.

Work Chest and Shoulders Together

Make sure that after your chest and shoulder workout that you rest at least two days before hitting pecs and delts again as you will really need the rest to let your chest and shoulders heal. I do not want to dwell on nutrition again but it is very important to eat lots of protein, 30 or so grams of high quality protein per meal.

There is always an urge to workout more often than this but I really believe that if you really nail all of the angles of your chest and do all of your sets to failure then you are going to have a good chance to getting a big chest.