Press with a bar you can control

Barbell Bench Press

Feet planted. Shoulder blades pinched. Bar path you can repeat. This is not a max-out on week one.

Hunter: If the last rep was ugly, I do not add plates. I log the clean ones. Ugly is not a PR.

Cues

Eyes under the bar. Shoulder blades pinched and set on the bench.
Feet on the floor. They stay. No kickstand dancing.
Wrists stacked over the bar, not folded back.
Lower to mid-chest with control. Elbows about 45 degrees.
Press the bar back toward your face path, not toward your feet. Own the lockout without slamming.

Setup

Safeties if the bench has them. A spotter if you are near failure. First gym month, 3 sets of 6-8 with a weight you could do 2 more times. Use the plate calculator so loading is not a math test.

First Gym day 1

Goblet squat, then this, then a pulldown. You do not need five chest machines after. Log the working weight. If the gym is crowded, the chest-press machine is an honest swap. Log that name instead.

1RM later

Estimated max is a tool after you own 5 clean reps. Not a dare tonight. The Engine log of working sets is the thing that makes next week easier.

Common misses

Bouncing off the chest. Flaring to 90. Hips hopping off the bench. Also: unrack walking the bar to your belt. Set the bench so the unrack is short.

FAQ

Arch?

A slight upper-back set is fine. A powerlifting bridge is not required. Keep your butt on the bench.

Touch every rep?

Yes, with control. If you cannot touch without bouncing, the weight is too heavy.

Log the bench press in the free Vitality Engine. Plates on the bar, every working set.

Create free account Log this in Engine

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