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How to Bench Press For Chest Growth

The king of chest exercises.

You might think you know how to bench press for chest growth, but there are simple tricks you can do to get faster gains. Check it out.

The most common advice for people looking to build a bigger chest is to do a bench press. And that is solid advice as the bench press is considered the best compound movement to get stronger.

Jeremy Ethier is a kinesiologist and fitness trainer, co-founder of Built With Science. His YouTube channel has over 4 million subscribers and he delivers clear information with sound background research.

In one of his videos, Ethier explains 2 quick fixes on how to bench press for chest growth.

How to Bench Press For Chest GrowthSource: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

While for the majority of cases a bigger bench press means bigger chest muscles, a study found that it is not always the case. “Some individuals don’t seem to respond as well as others do when it comes to growing their chest with the bench press,” Ethier says.

See his video for in-depth information on how to bench press for chest growth. Lower below you will find his main arguments.

How to Bench Press For Chest Growth

1. Open Up Your Chest

To place most of the tension on your chest during the bench press you need to be able to keep your chest up and out, and your shoulder blades retracted back pinging together. This will create an arch in your back and a space between the bench and your back, which is what you want while bench pressing.

If you round your shoulders forward while pressing, your front delts will take over the tension of the exercise and away from your chest.

A great exercise to open up your chest is to perform snow angels on a foam roller.

2. Improve Your Neuromuscular Activation

Firstly you need to understand how your chest muscle works by performing some adduction movements with one hand and feeling your pecs contract with the other. Do this by aiming to bring your biceps to the middle of your chest.

You can add some resistance band exercises mimicking the movement. You will feel your chest activate by doing these two routines.

Simply apply what you’ve learned from the previous two movements to the bench press. Bring your hands inwards to pre-activate your chest once you hold the barbell. Also aim to not only lift the barbell but to bring your bicep closer to the middle of your chest.

After that, you are ready to add weights to the barbell. And that is how to bench press for chest growth according to Jeremy Ethier.

Read More: 5 Bench Press Chest Workouts To Build Strength and Muscular Endurance

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