Danger With the Bench Press Exercise: Errors and Corrections By Benedict Smythe At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

The bench press is considered one of the primary exercises used to strengthen and build muscle mass on the upper region of the body. As such, it is being implemented by trainers of all ages and competencies.

Like all kinds of popular weight training exercises, the use of the bench press exercise is prone to error. Many of these errors can easily be remedied through the un-learning of “basic” ways of doing the bench press.

In many instances, so-called “tried and tested” methods of doing the bench press are actually quite harmful. The macho image aside for example, bouncing a barbell off your sternum is dangerous.

What is the potential effect of just this one error? The sternum might crack with the force of the barbell, and the heart and lungs might be bruised. This is how important corrections are to the form and execution of this popular bodybuilding exercise.

Common errors

The first common error with the bench press is bouncing the barbell of the sternum. The sternum is the elevated part of the chest, and is a “convenient” place to bounce the barbell.

Some trainers think that having muscles on the chest would protect the heart and the bones from cracking. This is not true. In addition, the bouncing is often done by those with excessive training velocities.

Second error is the dominant side preference. The dominant side preference adds too much strain to just one part of the body. For example, a person with a predominantly strong right side would exert more effort on that side than the left side.

The third wrong practice is bridging, or rendering rigid the back and the neck during the bench press. The neck and the back were not designed to carry loads. At most, the muscles here can act only as complementary muscles.

The fourth wrong practice is lifting the weight or load with grips that are too far apart. Having a so-called “wide” grip is also detrimental because the pectoralis major is not exercised completely.

Solutions

Corrections can be made to the four errors stated above. The importance of these corrections is emphasized by John Downing, a researcher that specializes in sports science; he enumerates just how many muscles are involved in the bench press:

“The main muscles trained in the bench press are the pectoralis major, the anterior deltoids, and the triceps, with the pectoralis major serving as the primary target of training for most lifters.”

The solution to the first problem is to implement concentric lifting or balance angular lifting. Decreasing the weight used can also be applied.

The solution to the second error is by using a spotter to develop a symmetrical lift. If you can, you can use a video recording device to tape your bench press so you can improve your figure more accurately.

The solution to the third problem is by decreasing the resistance or weight used during the bench press. Proper form is also required to correct this error.

As for the fourth error, the weight should be placed at shoulder length. If you want, you can use dumbbells instead of barbells when doing the bench press.

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