Table of Contents:
FAVORITE Barbell Variations for the BIG 4 STRENGTH Movements!
Video taken from the channel: Brian Alsruhe
Ten Great Bench Press Variations
Video taken from the channel: Poliquin Group™
Doing Bench Press Daily Will Do This To Your Body
Video taken from the channel: Bestie
Elbow Pain with Bench Press? Solutions & Strategies To Reduce It!
Video taken from the channel: E3 Rehab
Bench Variations: Pin Press
Video taken from the channel: Brazos Valley Barbell
Dumbbell Bench Press — Form, Muscles Worked, and Benefits
Video taken from the channel: BarBend
Close-Grip Bench Press Guide | 3 Mistakes to AVOID
Video taken from the channel: BarBend
Variations include inclining or declining the bench to emphasize the upper or lower chest muscles. Lifting from an include emphasizes the anterior deltoids of the shoulder. Lifting from a decline emphasizes the pectoralis major. Once you are experienced with the bench press, you can vary the grip for different effects.Bench presses are an exercise that can be used to tone the muscles of the upper body, including the pectorals, arms, and shoulders.
Depending on your goals, there are different variations of bench.Variations Incline. You do this variation on an incline bench. This targets the upper pectorals and shoulders while putting less Cable.
This variation allows you to move slowly and with control. The cable chest press strengthens your core muscles, Seated. The seated chest press.
4 Bench Press Variations 1. Pin Press. The pin press (also very similar is the board press) can be done to increase strength at a specific 2. Floor Press. The floor press, which can be done with bars or dumbbells, is a bench press variation that has a lifter 3. Incline Bench Press.One variation that has assisted many lifters with their bench press is the pin press, or dead press. The set-up is simple: get to a rack, slide a bench in, and set the pins at an elevation that places the bar on or very minimally above your chest.
The pin height can be any height, depending on your intention and purpose of including the exercise.Variations of a Bench Press You might choose to change up the positions of a bench press or switch from barbells to dumbbells every now and then. Variety adds to the likelihood of getting an adaptation in the muscles, increasing either strength or hypertrophy.Once the bar has made contact with your torso, initiate the upward movement by tightening your glutes and driving your legs into the ground.
No, that’s not cheating. Using leg drive will allow you to stay tight and bench more weight. Remember, breathe out forcefully through the sticking point.
As you press up, think about throwing the bar back.Setup on the floor in the power rack similar to a bench press. I like to keep legs straight, my glutes and legs tight to remain stable. Bring the bar down until your triceps touch the floor, slight pause and press. Without any leg drive, you’re relying on your arms and upper.
Proper narrow-grip bench press technique. On how correctly you follow the technique of doing the bench press with a narrow grip and “feel” the reduction in the necessary muscle groups, your whole result depends on whether it is aimed at developing strength indicators or gaining muscle mass.How to Do a Dumbbell Bench Press A. Sit on a bench with a medium-weight dumbbell in each hand, resting on thighs. B. Squeeze elbows tight to ribs, and slowly lower torso down onto the bench to lie faceup, holding dumbbells in front of shoulders.As a weight training exercise, the bench press helps your body increase muscle mass, which can in turn lead to a reduction of fat.
Just as it strengthens the muscles, the bench press also has the.The bench press with legs up is done with the legs off the ground. The legs are usually bent and the feet are placed flat on the bench press.
When benching with your legs up, you will recruit major upper body muscle groups, such as the pectoralis major, triceps brachii, and anterior deltoid.How to Bench Press with proper form: setup on the bench, grab the bar, unrack it, lower it to your mid-chest and press it back up. Bench Press in the Power Rack for maximum safety.
Set the safety pins at the proper height so they catch the weight if you fail to lift it. You don’t need a spotterif you Bench Press inside the Power Rack as I do.The dumbbell bench press is a bench press variation that can be done to boost overall strength, enhance muscle hypertrophy, and isolate areas.The close grip bench press is a variation of the traditional press and targets the triceps.
Learn how using a narrow grip is beneficial for push and upper body workouts for added size and strength. share-sms-chat.
List of related literature:
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| from Glute Lab: The Art and Science of Strength and Physique Training |
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| from Becoming a Supple Leopard 2nd Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance |
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| from Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body |
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| from Scrawny to Brawny: The Complete Guide to Building Muscle the Natural Way |
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| from Physical Fitness and Wellness: Changing the Way You Look, Feel, and Perform |
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| from Maximum Strength: Get Your Strongest Body in 16 Weeks with the Ultimate Weight-Training Program |
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| from Optimizing Strength Training: Designing Nonlinear Periodization Workouts |
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| from Laboratory Manual for Exercise Physiology |
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| from Natural Bodybuilding |
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| from Maximus Body: The Physical and Mental Training Plan That Shreds Your Body, Builds Serious Strength, and Makes You Unstoppably Fit |
131 comments
Awesome as always! You and A. Thrall are the best coaches on YouTube ��
Hey Brian, I squat in flats, do you think front squats are still a safe option if I’m not training in oly shoes? thanks for all of the great content.
Hello Brian,
I have been following you for a few years already and your last free program finally made me try it more, than just one session and then being pussy and calling it too hard and quit.:D Man, why didn’t you tell us, how good it is to do your training in giant sets? Oh wait, yeah, it’s me, you did. MAAAAN, 3 times the usual shit effort in the gym every day now and after few years I started enjoy lifting even more. Anyway, I am starting to find the first month of the program being kinda easy, except the first session, where I somehow made myself do the 10×3 with 80% by accident.:D Anyway, I have never found a better inspiration to lift, than your videos. And btw. stop licking your dog, regarding those parasites from bad water… just sayin.
Good stuff! I’ve been using close grip for a couple of months now and realized my grip was way too close. Thank you
I couldn’t find the source you quoted as saying “People who exercised with bench press increased the bone mass density of the lumbar spine”
Literally none of the studies you linked in your sources draw any such conclusions.
2 good tips i took away:
1) dont over tuck your elbows
2) press to where u started
thanks man! quick and informative!
Does the bar have to touch the chest, in heavier sets, I stop mine 2 3 inches above the chest, is it fine to do so?
Would love to see a version of this video for people that DO go to a gym that has all the specialty bars and equipment!
Brilliant I never really done pin press but with out a doubt I am going to give them a go in my next block thanks my man
WATCH ��: Do Crunches Every Day And See What Happens To Your Body https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJYU-Et5eag&list=PL_fl96m7OLQX8Ls3btXcjCcFcxQ2C1djx&index=17
Bench everyday, kill your shoulders and joints, overtrain. You are an idiot.
Bench press every day doesn’t do anything for you. Your muscles won’t recover. You might even get weaker. Also bench pressing can fuck up your joints and bones. Doing it every day is bad idea.
Yo Brian!
This is a spectacular video for all up-and-comers like myself!
I really appreciate the content that you take the time and effort to put out there.
If there’s anyone else out there who gives the same quality and quantity of content mixed with extreme likeability and great humour (love the interjecting “noir” Brian) then I don’t know them!
I’ll be looking at your programs in the future (when I’ve decided my path) but until then, how can I sling some money your way to support you and your endeavours?
Ever appreciative,
Pete.
Pin press has been valuable for a lot of my lifters as well. Do you find there is technical interference with the pin press as a sink presser and therefore ensure you have enough time spent doing comp press/long pause press before a meet?
When I first started lifting I did more rackpulls than deadlifts and I fucked my lower back, it’s still irritating during my squat and deadlift day. I always tried to keep my back flat but I didn’t think about activating my glutes could this be why my back got fucked
Those battle ropes are not sped up. That still floors me. Such an informative video too!
Brian. You are so good at covering all the bases. You basically address all complaints before whiney commenters can get to them. Literally someone would have to be just yearning to complain to find something in this video. I love that about your commentary. Straight forward & stating why something could be beneficial, not beneficial, or harmful for any certain individual. Please keep it up. You are one of my favorite strength training channels on YouTube. I mean really! You explain everything to your knowledge perfectly & disclaim any possible complaint! I love it.
I am working out in a commercial gym, so I use spoto press as a substitute
I thought a pin press was starting off with the bar on the pins, then pressing up
Paralysis by analysis. Poliquin should’ve had this much analysis of his unhealthy diet. Show me someone who can do 225 for 15-20 repsa lifetime goaland if they get there then add weight. None of these silly variations matter. Especially when you’re all doped up like Poliquin was and probably many of his Olympic clients too.
Tbh lunge and split squat variations feel suprisingly well even with 1 rep max…much better than squat 1 rep maxes:D
I’m good on variations….I wanna know more about your worms. How ya feeling buddy?
This dood called me a jerk! �� I don’t make fun of your T-Rex arms lol
I hate benchpress, i do deadlifts and squats more often with a heavy weights
Lot of people restating internet myths in the comments. Bench presses are fine to do every day your body doesn’t need 48 hours to recover it acclimates to whatever you throw at it. Nor do bench presses harm your joints if anything it strengthens your joints. Source: consistent lifter for 20 + years.
That grip is waaaay too wide for close grip �� honestly, the “too narrow” grip is what has worked for me and training partners for years and it’s how I coach it. I get INSTANT lateral head activation with a “thumb length” grip (length of both thumbs).
Most of these benefits are if you weight lift in general. Not just specifically just bench.
There is this massive guy named Jason Blaha, He is much bigger in person. Brian & Jason should do a collaboration video. Blaha would probably need permission from the FBI to go out in public. Blaha has actually stated that last part himself.
Great video as always. Keep the content coming, brother. Didn’t know you were sponsored by Rise. There clothing line runs really small on me.
If you bench press everyday, you one day will not be able to do it on any day because your shoulders will be jacked up.
what spesific chest muscles does dumbbell bench press work? Pectoralis major or minor, and are they upper or down, on the side, in the middle and so on? ��
How would one include Olympic Weightlifting movements. I currently just do CJ and Snatches on OFF days or after and keep the assistance a bit lower on those days. Any recs?
I like Zercher squats with sandbag (but I also like barbell hack squats so I might be odd).
I hurt my “front shoulder” last night when i tried this exercise. Now i realise it is because I tucked my elbow too close to my body and cause too much pressure on it. Thankyou for your videos and i will be more careful next time ������
I set pins just bellow my chin(if i go down 1 more pin its to low) for OHP. I can lift pretty much same weight. Do you thin that is because of shorter range of motion. Great video as always
Psshhh I bench and do incline bench 5 times a week for 3 years now. Only rest over the weekend.
Hey Brian, when I do the floor press my elbows touch the floor at different times. Do experienced this?
Two times a week for me and my kids 14y and 2 15 y we are getting stronger not a lot of weight
Poliquin’s Idea of a California press seems to be more similar to what Powerlifters would call a JM press. I’ve seen others describe the Cali press as a skullcrusher negative with a close grip press to get the bar back up.
You can bench every day if you maintain strict form at all times in all your lifts, if your elbows flare out, your ego is doing the lifting and not your muscles, which will cause injuries.
To avoid bad form, stop one rep short from failure, with just a bit of practice you’ll know how to determine when that is.
So I am new to lifting…. i believe i have been doing it for 2 months now. I have decided to dedicate my time to squat, deadlift, bench (no particular order). I am slowly trying to work accessory work into my routine but i continue to have issues figuring out weight for accessory work. Should i just be guessing and seeing how it feels. I log every work out, every rep and weight so if i can figure it out i will at least have a base line to remember and a base line to progress from. Thanks for any help!
You can’t do a bench press everyday. You have to let muscles recover. Doing them 2 or 3 times a week is good enough. Don’t over do it
Ive got a lot of respect for you because you’ve said in the past the programs you sell are where you make most of your money yet you still put out free variations and on top of that release these videos for people looking to learn more about programming. You seem like a great guy good luck in any comps you have coming up.
I just watched kai grenne say the closer you go it targets triceps better.
You will never grow muscle…in fact you will reduce you muscles if you listen to this crap
There are a lot of instructional videos on YT that insist you should not do exercises like bench pressing every day. Your muscles need a day to rebuild themselves after working out.
Lolllll I Bench twice a day ������ prolly why my shoulder click now
My favorite variations of the big 4.
Squat: front squat
Bench Press: barbell incline bench
Deadlift: deficit deadlift
Press: Seated Press
I usually speed up YouTube videos to 1.25 but I never have to do that with yours because you talk so fast! lol
What sort of rep ranges are you programming this at?
It seems to me it would be best utilized for nothing more than say 5 reps per set down to singles or doubles but would love to hear your take on it!
This video was awesome Brian ������ we love you strong bro keep up the good.
How are you doing btw?
Stay strong,
Gary.
Brian is the real deal. If you ever want to get stronger, push harder, set higher PRs and make your life positive and productive, buy one of his programs and stick to it. Its well worth the momey and he will help you with whatever you need, he always gets back to you quickly and with positive words.
pin press has helped me from my bottom position sticking point more than anything else, good stuff
I improve 20 lbs on bench press in one month and i do 3x times a week
What a coincidence, I just got my PR on the Ballvarian Squid Squap just yesterday.
Great video!! But whats your opinion of board pressing for working on the mid range of motion on the bench? I’m thinking of doing a DIY bench block thing where it takes.75 inches of the ROM.
Just a little confused can you elbows move a little outside of your wrists cuz u said earlier that the elbows need to stay under the wrist, but it looks like his elbows are outside the wrist in the last bench
I also noticed that if I go too close with my grip, my elbows flare out more which in turn takes less of the stress from my triceps (where it should be) and places it more on my chest.
What weight should I start with starting to incorporate farmers carries with the farmers carry handled axles?
I do bench press sometimes but mainly I do push-ups I they good as well?
At timestamp 1:28 -“Lower the bar slowly until it skims the middle of your CHESTICLES.”
question when you lower it to the pin, do u relax before the press up? meaning do u let the pins take the weight before pressing upwards?
I can’t train them today, I only just trained them chesterday
I need to see d face of the dude speaking. speaks so smooth and clear
Out all the scenarios,everyone was the same race except the guy with the broke down car. Stop with the inequality.
My deadlift has always sucked (450). My squat has always stagnated at about 435. Bench always plateaus at around 340-350. I’m trying the mass building program to hopefully hit some new PRs!!! Thanks Brian!!
Bench press is my favorite exercise and it has been apart of my upper body workout since I was 12 (now 53). I don’t feel right unless I have a good bench day.
@Brian Alsruhe Have you ever tried doing a cycle where the big four are all deadstop variations?
If so did you get more explosive and powerful?
But this is an incline press �� not the classic flat bench press
This video should be banned. You shouldn’t do any exercise ‘every day’. What is this BS, how many uninformed folks out there will injure themselves after watching this.
Half this information is just plain wrong or dangerous, any beginner lifter please don’t use this as a guide!
For the overhead strength, the best thing I’ve done is the bottoms-up kettlebell press. Whatever I coukd do on that I could do double with a DB, and about 4x with the barbell. So I didn’t need to train heavy as often when doing that.
isn’t the California press the JM press named after JM Blakely??
I’m happy I subbed to this channel. Initially I thought that being subscribed to AthleanX and a few other fitness channels (eg. Alan Thrall) would be sufficient enough but this bloke has a lot of valuable information to impart and comes across as a humble, passionate and honest personality. Great video!
Some strange exercises there like Bench Press with the Kettle Bell?
I tried the Poliquin Group’s 1-6 bench routine. I had big increases for the 1st month and then I started to go downhill. Any idea what to change it to?
The only consequence is that your shoulders will be destroyed and you will have a lot of shoulder problems if you do it to much
Squat:
1. Front squat or zercher squat
2. Pin squat (at height you struggle)
3. Pause squat (weak point, typically out of hole), or box squat (typically with accommodating resistance)
Bench:
1. Closer grip bench
2. Pin press
3. Floor press
Deads:
1. Pause deads
2. Elevated deads (rack pull or on blocks)
3. Deficit deads/snatch deads (but typically not as useful as previous two)
Press:
1. Push press
2. Z press
3. Pin press
GREAT content as always sir. Could you make a video on what you think of weighted calisthenics for athletes and in your opinion the best approach to go about using them in a program? Thank you so much for all the help and hope you give all of us.
Misleading and shit video also didn’t mention ANYTHING about the title regarding benching everyday
Thx for the tips! I love this lift, but am always scared because I once hurt my shoulder. I think I must have kept my elbows too tucked in. Gonna try it today with some light weight.
If you want to get technical the stretch reflex lasts for 3-5 seconds for the average lifter and can be even longer for more advanced individuals. It remains even when tension is released, so in the pin movements you aren’t losing the stretch reflex, just momentum (however it’s fair to assume just about everyone knew what you meant)
I just 115 on ohp all thanks to you!!! Thank you for all the help✌✌
Everyday. This is r he stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. You’d have zero rotator cuff left. Please
Imagine someone ripping the bar off the ground only to hold it 1 inch above said ground. That’d be hilarious
I recently set up my own home gym and I’m kinda worried about playing around with push presses because I’m not very good at pressing overhead and I only have a half rack and cast iron plates. So if I mess up the catch and lose balance I get thrown back and it’s kinda bad news for the plates, the floor and more importantly my skeletal integrity. Am I just chickening out or is it a legitimate concern?
“Women can ALSO benefit from weightlifting!!!!!” WoW who would have thought 6:14
i like glute bridge floor press, puts you in decline lets you move a lot of weight overloads triceps
I legit had a dream about you last night. You picked me up in your truck and we went to the gym and trained together. Awesome day and very interesting considering we’ve never met
Just finished my garage gym and started the Mass Program today. The intervals and cardio almost killed me but it was awesome! I really loved it!
My Z press was ONLY 275… Poor Brian you’re just 3 time stronger than average gym bro.
I do Bench Presses every day. But I don’t go heavy. 5 sets of 25 reps @ 60% of 5 rep max.
70 years old … exercise is my hobby now.
I know one thing daily bench presses will do…it will have your elbow joints screaming…”give us a break”.
Love your videos Brian, hope you are feeling better and getting healthier. Got to see one of your gym members this past weekend, John, at the Land Rover Kentucky 3 Day event. He was repping Neversate every day.
Pin squat/deadstop squat is usually called the Anderson squat, since it was named after Paul Anderson the American weightlifter/powerlifter/strongman competitor. Great video Brian!
I’m 16 and I bench about 4 5 times a week. I also lift very heavy. Will my shoulders not work when I’m 35?
“If you’re new to this lifting thing, within 5 years”. I’m glad to hear that. I started about 5 years ago and until now, I was convinced that if I weren’t really good by now, I just suck. Although I could progress much faster with some actual coaching.
Really? Use a black guy demonstrating pushing a car to start? WTF?
Nice and slow I do it,time over tension,that is the best way,you get results after a time,but I bench press all the time,I make sure of that.
Do you think the spoto press is more beneficial for a soft touch benchpresser in general?
Ive got way more real life benefits from standing overhead presses
Benching everyday is an excellent way to over develop your chest relative to your back and develop severe problems with your rotator cuff that will prevent you from lifting chest entirely. This is fucking horrible advice.
Well I bench press all the time,but I love my biscuits to much,but I do keep extremely fit.
If you bench everyday you’re going to have overworked tendons, joints, ligaments and muscles and see no gains. You will actually see losses. Especially if you plan on going heavy.
I bench every second day and my chest is responding good not perfect but good any advice
I love the zercher squat better than any other variation. It forces me to have a more natural squatting pattern.
You can also make a copy of a spreadsheet for the program. Make sure to adjust to YOUR needs. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m5cp-DfPzFcPSfB4dOwk_J2OKTxRcuEpYgV7XQzd8_Q/copy
if you bench pressed everyday, you would injure your shoulders, elbow, and pecs. If you used such light weights, as not to stress your muscles or joints, even benching daily would do you not much good.
Brian, as always awesome content! Thank you for all the free programmes I am on 2nd run of the 4 horsemen currently and still finding prs. One day, when funds allow I am 100% getting a personalised programme from you. Can only imagine how much I’ll get out of that.
In terms of lower body assistance work what are your thoughts on machine based exercise? Leg press etc. I appreciate your gym doesn’t have them, but would you consider them useful additions to training? I train in commercial gym so have access but to date have avoided them during the assistance portion of the session.
Might be a dumb question but do axle deadlifts carry over very well?
I love you man. Nice video.
Brian, you take note of every 1RM of your exercises? Like floor press or z press.
What confuses me at put % in that variations is that. What % to use?
Thanks for doing that brilliant work up here man.
@Brian Alsruhe I’m struggling with grip on the deadlift. I feel the pull off the floor is good and my legs are there but mid pull I feel my grip giving out. Any recommendations? I’ve added axel pulls and don’t want to rely on straps. Thank you
Bench press everyday everyone. Do it. Changed my life completely, now I have only 1 arm instead of 3.
Hey! A little bit about my medical history, I’ve had two kidney transplants. I’ve been lifting seriously for only the past two years. I’m 19 at a body weight of 155, my squat is 365, my deadlift is 335, and my overhead press is 185. In relation to your recent video about assistances lifts, whenever I do front squats, I get a sharp piercing pain where my surgical incision was for one of my kidney transplants. I was wondering if it could possibly be do to a weak core or something else. I know you’re not a medical professional, but I really look up to you and was wondering if you have any input on my situation. Thank you for putting out great videos! And I hope your own health is getting a lot better!
If my sticking point is in the middle, what variation to use?
What the hell i watched some of ur old vids and wow youve lost weight
I love that Mass Builder program! I’ve been using all of these in my routines.
Everyday it might become repetitive motion and that’s not good
For every push exercise you do, do twice as many pull exercises
it beats up my elbows doing them off pins as the bar smashes back onto the pins and i don’t want to do a super slow negative. i’d rather do boards.
Yes I’m enjoying bench press I like this exercise routine. It’s give me more mascle in my chest and make me stronger to.
Variation of workout is the best, bench press, chest dips, cable pull and push ups, dumbbell chest press.
Thanks for the pointers as always! Need to shed off my happily married weight ����
I’d love to see more variations of main movers with specific functions, especially like the pause squat idea by getting rid of that rebound effect due to elastic engergy
The best variation is to rotate ALL VARIATIONS! Just got a idea. Squat thrusters WITH BANDS!!! Could be the strongman equivalent to burpees. You may be using your shoulders less going up on the push press, but most of the benefits in lifting come from the negative/ eccentric phase. This is why many lifters swear by negatives and are argued to be the best way to break plateaus by dropping weight and doing negatives up to your breakthrough. The muscle can produce the most force during the eccentric phase, followed by isometric, and finally concentric. Therefore, to neglect the eccentric phase of lifting makes as much sense as living off fast food if you want to get ripped.
Using a more strategic range of motion will prevent you from over working the smaller muscles like the front delt and rotator cuff. Don’t lower the bar all the way to the chest and don’t lockout and rest up at the top, just find that sweet spot where the chest keeps constant tensions and pump reps within that zone. And don’t do one rep maxes…. Vary up the rep ranges: any where from about 6 reps to reps of 30.
Let’s just say I cant front squat, ever, for arguments sake. Are ssb squats a good substitute? should I break my collar bone so it’ll be in the correct place so I can front squat?
Your voice seems to sound better. I hope that means less daily puking!
Be strong and courageous.
Been avoiding your videos for the last 6 weeks since I’ve been staying out of the gym due to a back issue. Started mass builder yesterday and now im binging the videos I’ve missed. Feels like a hole in my heart has been filled again. Thanks for all your work man. Keep kickin some wormy ass
I have done this before my chest got massive and shredded and my triceps got big too
Wrist issues disallow me to front squat. To work around this I wrap lifting straps around the bar and then grip the straps. Axle figure 8 straps work great for this.
This also works great for good mornings and back squats. It acts like a diy/ poor boys ssb. It’s humbling too, the loss of stability requires more stabilizer control.