My Favorite Exercises: Bench Press

The bench press is a classic! It's the exercise that never goes out of fashion--with good reason. The bench press works all the muscles of the chest. Since you use a barbell (or dumbbells), you also need to incorporate your core for stability.

I like to do my bench press with a barbell. Almost every gym has benches with racks for the barbell.

Here are some tips to keep in mind as you do bench presses.

Tip #1: Keep your back pushing into the bench. If you try to lift too much weight, you will compensate by arching your back. This places tremendous strain on the back and can cause injury. As you do your press, focus on exhaling and pushing the small of the back toward the bench. Bodybuilders trying to impress often use way too much weight on the bench press. Don't be impressed if you see them arching their backs like crazy. Feel sorry for them and the back pain they may have to endure later.

Tip #2: Relax your shoulders. As I've mentioned before, we tend to transfer our tension to the shoulders. Unless you want to develop bulky muscles around your neck, think about your shoulders relaxing and pulling down.

Tip #3: Choose a natural grip with your hands slightly wider than the shoulders. Adjust until it's comfortable for you. The length of your arms will make a difference.

Tip #4: Exhale as you press up. Inhale as you return.

Tip #5: Use the full range of motion. Lower the bar almost to the chest and raise it until the arms are fully extended without hyperextending the elbows.

If the barbell is too heavy, or you just want variety, you can also do the bench press with dumbbells. The added benefit of using dumbbells is that you have to stabilize both arms individually. You do the exercise exactly the same way except holding a dumbbell in each hand rather than using the barbell.

Keep in mind that most of the barbells in the gym used for the bench press weigh 35 pounds before adding any plates. That may be plenty of weight for you (or even too much to start). Start easy and build up if you have not done classic bench presses before.

Try the bench press as an alternative to the chest press machines at the gym. Don't be intimidated by the free weight area. Most of those muscle-y guys don't know anything you don't. Considering how often they do their exercises incorrectly, they probably know less.