Basic Barbell Bench

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If you’re completely new to this, start with a very light weight.  You’re learning the setup and movement before pushing heavy weight.  Plus you should warm up anyway.

1)     Lay down on bench and plant feet firmly on the ground.
2)     Walk your shoulders down towards your feet/hips.
3)     Pull your shoulder blades together and down, towards your lumbar spine (nothing extreme, just get them in place)
4)     Grip the bar with your hands wider than shoulder width apart (you’ll figure out what works best for you with time)
5)     Guide the bar off the rack, and get the weight stable directly above your shoulders.
6)     Slowly bring the bar down to your sternum, pause for half a second, then strongly press the bar back to the starting position.
7)     Don’t overextend your shoulders.
8)     Get the bar stable before beginning the next repetition (rep).
9)     Repeat for 10 reps.
10)  Rerack the weight.
11)  High-five whoever is nearby.

Quick note on breathing:
You should be breathing deep into your body.  When you breathe in, your chest and shoulders shouldn’t move much and the air should expand your whole lower abdomen. In general, breath in as the bar descends (or before) and exhale some as you press back up.  Whatever you do, don’t stop breathing.

If you’re brand new, do two or three more sets with a couple minutes of break between sets.  Adjust the weight so that the last reps are about a 6 on a scale of 1-10 for exertion (they shouldn’t be hard, and you should be able to do plenty more).  It’s important to focus on the technique at the start more than the actual exertion.

Details on each above point to come!

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