how to blow up your raw bench press: Principles & variations
Bench press. The bro-iest of the three lifts and often the most finicky of them all.
Bench can be a hard one to crack for many. It takes the longest to progress and can be highly inconsistent. Not to mention, there are plenty of misconceptions around technique, programming, and what have you.
With this lift, every little detail matters. One small tweak can make or break you.
Fear not- by attaining solid technique, following a good program, and lots of patience, you can blow your bench press out of the water- eventually.
Technique & Positioning
Technique is arguably the most integral aspect of a good bench press. Efficiency is key with this lift, and it's difficult to muscle through a rep with inefficient form. One small misgroove, one change in positioning, could determine whether you lock it out or the bar falls to your chest. This is specifically true for raw benchers.
Since you don't have the support of a shirt and have to rely on your upper body musculature, the mechanics & recruitment are changed. A raw bench press is often weaker off the chest (since you don't have extra kinetic energy to help you get it back up), relies on your upper body muscles to stabilize & support you, and the bar path, positioning, etc. are different.
How can you best optimize these differences?
A) Strong setup=strong bench.
As a raw bencher, the goal is to create a significant arch in your setup, building as much tension as possible. A sufficient curve will help decrease the range of motion, so you don't have to lower the bar as far, improve full-body tension and lat engagement, and increase your leg drive. These are all integral aspects of benching- and can add pounds to your press from technique alone.
Take your time before unracking the bar, going through a mental checklist. Two of my favorite cues are:
-get high on your traps, pin your shoulders to the bench, and
-¨scoot your shoulders toward your butt.¨
The goal is to:
-close the gap between your shoulders and your rear, and
-ensure that your shoulders stay depressed & retracted (pulled down, away from your ears, and squeezed together) during the rep.
Doing so engages your entire upper body, helping you stay tight and stable.
Don´t rush through your setup; execute with intention, and your reps will thank you.
B) Utilize your lats, and optimize your bar path.
As a raw bencher, your lats provide a stable base of support and allow you to utilize more musculature. This allows for a more efficient ascent.
To effectively use your lats after setting up, maintain tension during your descent. Think about ¨breaking the bar apart¨ or ¨turning your pinkies in;¨ keeping the elbows tucked to your sides- at about a 45-degree angle. A common mistake among many inexperienced lifters is excessively flaring the elbows- this ruins shoulder & upper back positioning, decreasing your base of support & making the lift harder off the chest. Instead, your elbow positioning should be between extremes: not a close grip bench, but not flared either: about 45 degrees.
Hold that lat engagement on the way down, then on the way up, press slightly back toward the rack. The bar path should be a bit of a ¨J¨ Curve, where the bar travels downward below the sternum, then back in line with the shoulder joint. With this bar travel, the efficiency of movement is optimized.
C) Leg Drive
Especially as a raw lifter, relying on your upper body strength, leg drive is your best friend. Instead of viewing the bench press as just ¨chest, triceps, and shoulders,¨ think of it as a full-body lift. The more muscle groups you can use, the stronger your bench will be.
Using your legs will reinforce your upper body position, emphasizing that arch, and give you more ¨pop¨ off the chest- usually your weakest point.
To perform leg drive, think about ¨spreading the floor apart,” ¨pushing the floor away from you,¨ or ¨driving your feet into the floor.¨ You´re extending the knee and squeezing the glutes by using pressure from the ground. This mechanism works whether you bench with heels up or down.
Not only are you creating pressure through your legs, but the goal is to do it simultaneously when pressing the bar up. Your legs and arms should move TOGETHER off your chest for maximal efficiency.
D) Grip width
Another common mistake with many commercial lifters is gripping the bar about shoulder-width apart. With an extremely close grip bench, you´re making the lift harder for yourself: you travel through a greater distance, using fewer upper body muscles together.
Instead, try bringing your grip out a couple of inches- as it feels comfortable for your shoulder. A good starting point is to have your pinkies just inside the knerlings of the bar. This way, you can decrease the range of motion and use a more even balance of the chest, triceps, and shoulders.
2. Programming
Now that you´ve got your technique down, pairing it with intelligent & intentional programming will be your best asset. Again, as a raw lifter, this will look different than those in gear.
A) Volume-
Because you rely heavily on your muscles to do the work, utilizing volume phases will significantly benefit you. Volume helps build your work capacity, connective tissue strength, and, of course, muscle mass- essential to your bench press strength. More muscle has the potential to move more weight and supports you in this upper body lift. Spend phases dedicated to higher sets, higher reps, and variation to help gain some mass. This building work will carry over when you touch those heavy weights in the future.
2) Frequency-
As a raw bencher, you can press far more often than geared lifters. Doing so allows you to get more practice with the movement, optimize technique, and benefit from additional volume, more variety, and more stimulus overall.
Every lifter has a ¨maximum recoverable volume,¨ and the goal is to train as close to that as possible without excessive fatigue. If you´re only benching 1-2 times a week, you´re likely selling yourself short and could benefit from more.
Many lifters succeed in consistently benching around three times a week (sometimes 2) or even 4 for more advanced individuals. This 2-4 range seems to be a sweet spot. Utilize different intensities and variations on separate days to get the most bang for your buck.
3) Variety-
If you´re only doing comp bench, no variations, you´re selling yourself short & predisposing yourself to staleness.
If you´re using unspecific variations, changing them all the time, or constantly doing something different, you´ll never develop the qualities you need.
Variation is an essential component of programming, but for raw lifters especially; it must be used intelligently.
Your bench press variations should target your unique weaknesses. Secondary variations are chosen based on what you require, not just what you desire to do.
Avoid changing multiple variables at the same time.
I.e. A high pin press w/ reverse bands and chains is far too unspecific to have any real carryover to your comp bench. You´re doing too much. Remember, raw lifters typically aren't weak at lockout- so tons of lockout overload usually doesn't make sense.
Choose 1-2 things to change at a time: grip, specialty bar, tempo, accommodating resistance, load, etc.
Further out from a meet, more variation is warranted- but as you get closer, specificity should increase. Most of the time, keep your comp bench (or a very close variant) in your programming and use variations on other lift days.
Use variety- but be smart with it- for best results.
3. Sample Variations
Speaking of accessory bench presses, what are some tried-and-true options for raw lifters?
While there are many different exercises to choose from based on individual needs, here are five staples that damn near anyone can benefit from:
A) Close Grip-
The close grip bench press entails a grip just a few inches in from your typical competition width. Even this slight adjustment changes the mechanics of the movement.
CG forces you to train through a greater range of motion, increasing the difficulty off the chest & at midrange strength.
The closer grip reinforces lat engagement & helps cue the elbow tuck.
This variation places more emphasis on the triceps, the main mover of the bench press- making it a good option for hypertrophy. CG can be done with higher reps/sets in a volume block to help you build bigger arms- and a bigger bench. It's just a staple variation, and there are variations of it, too: pauses, tempos, Legolas, chains, bands, what have you.
B) Legolas-
The ¨Legless¨ or ¨Legolas¨ bench press takes your legs out of the entire movement. Your feet hang off the bench instead of resting on the ground. Earlier, leg drive was mentioned as an integral part of the lift- so what's the benefit of removing it?
Without leg drive, you rely solely on your upper body strength to press the weight. For raw benchers, this is essential, helping you develop your working muscles. Therefore, Legolas can be a smart option for both hypertrophy and strength.
Additionally, with your feet hanging in the air, there´s an element of instability- reinforcing proper setup & positioning.
C) Pins/Dead Presses-
Where do most raw benchers fail a lift? Off the chest.
Performing a bench press off pins (set at your sticking point) targets this weakness directly. With a dead-stop, the stretch reflex is removed, requiring your raw strength to get the bar off the pins. Breaking up the movement pattern this way can also help cue consecutive leg drive- an aspect that can be difficult for many to get down. Plus, it helps address any imbalances in the lift- you´ll be humbled quickly if one arm is less even than the other.
This variation is best suited for heavier reps rather than volume, allowing you to build maximal strength.
Don´t cheat yourself through these presses- ensure that the bar rests fully on the pins before initiating the ascent. That way, you´ll be relying on your true strength.
D) Tempo Bench-
Yes, the dreaded tempo reps. But seriously, it's a programming staple for good reason.
Changing the eccentric or adding a pause is an effective way to improve your bench press.
A slower eccentric requires lifters to hold lat tension for greater periods, focus on tucking the elbows and maintain shoulder contact with the bench.
All competition reps are paused, so pauses should be in your program nearly year-round.
But, longer pauses can help cue holding tension throughout the whole rep and improve strength off the chest- where you may struggle.
Tempo can be used in pretty much any cycle, and paired with other variations, as well. Simply altering your speed can help unlock that number you´re trying to reach.
E) Dumbbell Bench-
While Dumbbells may be more of an accessory movement, and the load capacity is lower, I still think they´re a phenomenal variation for raw lifters.
Dumbbells are a solid option for hypertrophy- which they´re best suited for. The free degree of movement allows you to favor certain muscle groups- helping you hammer that upper body. You can crank out sets of 8-12 with dumbbells and achieve a great stimulus.
They can help you develop your pecs and triceps through a larger range of motion, improving strength off the chest.
The asymmetry also improves lat engagement and helps develop any strength deficits between your two arms. With a straight barbell, it's hard to know if one side is significantly stronger than the other. One arm may approach lockout faster than the other- which can become problematic. Dumbbells help address this issue.
Because of the asymmetry, tucking your elbows and engaging your lats is further cued, helping improve technique & mind-muscle connection.
Use Dumbbells in volume/strength phases, either on a lighter day or after your main work.
A big bench press- it´s a lift many of us dream of- and one that can take a lot of work to achieve. Some love bench, some hate it, but we'd all like to be stronger with it.
While bench press can be a difficult code to crack, there's a high level of satisfaction that comes when you do. Unfortunately, with all of the bench-press-obsessed gym Bros, and geared styles such as Westside, there's a lot of misinformation on it. Raw, competitive benchers have their own set of needs. By optimizing technique, using correct variations, following a solid program, and lots of patience, that lifetime number goal can become a reality.
