Want to bench more weight? Well, then, grow stronger! Most of the time, I completely agree with this answer. Have a sticking point? Grow stronger! Want to hit more reps? Grow stronger. Do not feel explosive enough? Grow stronger. Does your shoulder hurt when you bench? Grow stronger! Do you need to stop flaring your elbows when you bench? Grow stronger! I hope you get my point here.
Getting stronger will solve most problems and is always a part of the solution but is not quite that simple. What exactly needs to grow stronger? Is your technique in the lift helping you grow stronger or hindering it? If your goal is to bench the most weight possible, why not take advantage of every aspect that helps you lift more weight? Why not grow stronger in the quickest and most efficient ways possible?
In powerlifting, the strongest person does not always win. The best lifter wins the competition. I am known for being an exceptional technician at the lifts, and many times, I beat guys who were stronger than me because of this. One time, my friend had just squatted 800 pounds, but it was really more of a good morning. I said to him, “Damn, that was impressive, and I admit you are stronger than I am because I do not think I could have stood up like that.” Then, I proceeded to squat 850 pounds on my third attempt. It was the truth, and I was trying to make a point. The point was that he should have been out-squatting me but could not simply because of poor technique.
It is a big mistake when powerlifters forget they are athletes and think this sport is just about raw strength. Football players strive to be better football players. Baseball players lift weights to be better baseball players, and so on and so on down the list of sports. Powerlifters should also train to be better on the platform when performing the three main lifts—training with intelligence, understanding everything about performing their movements, and doing what it takes to lift the most weight on the platform.
Top-Five Mistakes in the Bench Press
Mistake #1: There's Not Enough Shoulder Depression
Shoulder depression or scapular depression is performed with the lats, lower traps, serratus anterior, and pecs. I generally focus on the lats being the prime mover in this movement. Depression does not mean down but more depressing the shoulders into the glutes or towards your back pockets. When setting up on the bench, you must have your shoulders fully depressed. As you are performing the eccentric phase, you want to continue to keep those shoulders in full depression by flexing the lats down—not flaring the lats like a bodybuilder posing. I think about squeezing the lats even harder as the bar descends. The beginning of the concentric phase is where I see many lifters fall apart. Once they start the concentric phase or just before, they let the shoulders go into elevation. Raising the shoulders creates several issues.
- It decreases the power of the back to start pushing the bar up.
- It displaces energy all over the place.
If the shoulders are moving into elevation, then energy is moving in the direction of your head, and that energy is not being pushed into the bar. As the shoulders rise towards the head, the elbows will want to wing out. Again, energy is going in other directions than into the bar. This will also want to make the bar go up towards the face, not up in a benching movement. Misplacement then puts the shoulders into an unstable position, which means the back and triceps cannot put all the force they can into the bar. The joint must be stable for the muscles to put out full force.
Many lifters think they are weak just off their chest when the problem is not strength in that position but not enough strength to stay in the best position. So, in this case, the answer is to get stronger. Get the lats stronger to hold in that position under tension. Also, strengthen your mind so that you have the strength of focus to keep that technique under heavier weights.
Mistake #2: Your Scapula Isn't Fully Retracted
Scapular retraction is performed with the rhomboids, mid traps, lower traps, and lats. I feel the prime movers and ones I focus on are the rhomboids, mid, and lower traps. When setting up for the bench, you want to have those scapulas squeezed together as tightly as possible. We want as much scap on the bench as possible. Remember, your shoulder is actually your scapula and the humorous. So, a weak upper back means weak shoulders. We also want them squeezed back and tight to give the back and triceps a strong solid base to push from. If you try to push the bar up and the shoulders move back towards the ground, then some energy is going in the direction of the ground instead of all your energy going into the bar. We want all our energy or force going into the bar.
Mistake #3: Your Forearms Aren't at a 90-degree Angle
The forearm needs to be as close as possible to 90 degrees when looking from the side of the bench. If it is too far past 90 degrees, you will have a hard time driving up and risk dumping the bar on your belly. If the bar is less than 90 degrees, you make the triceps work extra hard to get the bar moving. Moving like this is similar to doing a JM press designed to work the triceps. Not using a 90-degree angle also makes it hard to utilize the strength of the back at the bottom of the lift, putting all the pressure on the triceps. We need to look at the upper arm angle to the torso and then adjust where the bar touches with respect to the chest and belly.
Mistake #4: Your Wrists Are Bent
I see wrists being bent quite often these days. A lifter that just grabs the bar and lets the wrist go into a severe extension. They usually wrap wrong and think the wrap will solve this problem. You want the wrist in a position where the bar in the hand is directly over the Radius and Ulna. Having the wrist in this way, you can get a direct drive to the proper bar path. Would you punch someone with a bent wrist, and how powerful do you think that punch would be?
If your wrist is in extension, when you press the weight, there will be some added extension in the wrist, which, again, is force or energy going in another direction than into the bar. Also, with the wrist bent, once you start to push, the bar will move in the direction of the face, and you will have issues with the elbow wanting to flare out because they are trying to get under the bar.
Mistake #5: The Supplemental Exercises Are Executed with Improper Technique
I generally see this with many lifters, but it really pertains to bench and squat. For example, if your weakness is keeping your scapulas together with heavy weight on the bench or in the squat. If you then perform all the upper back work like shit, then you will not see good results out of this work. Now, if you focus on the technique of these lifts and perform them correctly, you will see a ton of carry-over into your main lifts. Lifters realize their upper mid back needs work, so they do many heavy bench rows. The problem is that they never fully retract their scapulas when performing this exercise. They load the bar, pull themselves down to it, and then pull into full scapula retraction.
When I have clients who are way behind with a Rhomboid, mid, and lower trap weakness, I sometimes start them doing their rows in full scapula retraction through the whole lift. This is not a proper movement pattern, but I find it helps to get the strength up faster, and then I move them into doing full protraction into full retraction with their rows.
I see similar issues with tricep work for the bench. If you are always doing elbow-out tricep work, then it will not transfer as well into your bench. Ideally, a raw lifter will have their elbows at a 45-ish degree angle, and shirted may be tucked more. So, we want to do a lot of tricep work from similar angles. Just think about technique when you are doing your supplement work. You are doing it to increase your main lift, so perform it in similar positions to get the most carry-over from those exercises.
Grow Stronger!
If you fix these five mistakes it will actually help you no matter how you choose to bench press. If it is raw, single-ply, double-ply, or multi-ply, these rules all apply. Just remember, it is about growing stronger, but where do you need to grow stronger? Ask yourself, does your technique need to grow stronger? Does your CNS need to grow stronger? Does a certain muscle group or muscle need to grow stronger? Do you need to get stronger with your flexibility? Find the weak link and make it stronger!
Chad Aichs is a world-class and elite powerlifter in the SHW division. He began training seriously for powerlifting in 1999 in Sparks, Nevada, where he currently trains at American Iron Gym. In the ten years since he started, Chad has proven to be one of the strongest lifters in the world. His best lifts are an 1173 squat, 821 bench press, and a 755 pull. Aichs' best total is 2733, which makes him one of the top lifters of all time.
