If you’re a fitness fan, you’re bound to have heard of the famous bench press. Maybe you’ve even given it a try at the gym… Take back your freedom when it comes to muscle building and try this exercise at home using a simple pair of dumbbells instead of a giant exercise machine. You’ll be just as impressed with the results, but the great thing about dumbbells is that they’re so much more convenient. Build muscle where you want and when you want with FizzUp.
The bench press is an effective muscle building exercise that strengthens the muscles in your arms and chest. Follow these instructions to get fast and lasting results and eliminate your risk of injury. Get this exercise with the FizzUp PRO program when you select the “Build Muscle with Equipment” goal.
Starting position: Lie on your back with your knees bent.
The right movement: Grasp the dumbbells with your palms facing each other. Extend your arms above your pecs. Flare out your elbows as you lower and rotate the dumbbells 90°. In the lowered position, your triceps and dumbbells should be perpendicular to your body. Push up with your arms to return to the starting position. Remember to rotate the dumbbells.
“In the lowered position, your elbows should be aligned with your shoulders”: Don’t let your elbows go past your shoulders. This can cause unnecessary pain in your shoulders and lead to injury.
“Pay attention to your breathing”: Your breathing helps you control your movements. With dumbbells, your muscles get tired more quickly than usual. Breathing steadily during exercise helps you keep your energy up. Inhale when you lower your arms and exhale when you push up the dumbbells. Doing so makes this step of the exercise easier.
“If needed, you can rotate the dumbbells 90° as you push up”: You can also rotate your hands so that the dumbbells come closer together once you’ve extended your arms. This makes it easier to push up heavier dumbbells.
“Make sure your back is positioned correctly”: The heavier your dumbbells are, the more you’ll want to arch your back. This can increase the curve in your spine and cause back pain. Start with lighter dumbbells while you’re learning the exercise and make sure to keep your back straight and on the floor.
The bench press is a demanding exercise, which means you need to follow the rules on how to do it correctly so that it’s effective and doesn’t lead to injury. Taking the time to get familiar with this exercise guarantees better results. Before you start your workout, check out the list of exercises to read its description and learn how to do it right.
When do you a bench press, it works key muscles in your torso: your pecs, delts and triceps. To a lesser extent, this strength training exercise also works your lats, traps, biceps, teres major and abs if you keep them contacted. That’s why this exercise sculpts an enviable upper body and pumps up the size of your pecs, especially if you couldn’t get bigger pecs using just your body weight.
Delts: The deltoid muscle is made up of three parts that let you rotate your arms and move your shoulders. Doing a bench press with dumbbells actively works your front delts, located in the front part of your shoulder and is attached to your collarbone. It acts like an extensor muscle for your arms, which means that you use it to lift your arms in front of you. You also use it to rotate your arms internally. Don’t forget to work your shoulders. This is one of the keys to an evenly sculpted musculature.
Triceps: Your triceps are located in the back of your arm. People tend to concentrate on the biceps, but the triceps are the muscles that give you the “big guns” look. When actively worked, no other muscles can give you a sculpted arms like your triceps can. With the bench press, you’re guaranteed to increase their size. Exercises like bench dips and one-arm rows can also build up these muscles in less time.
You’ll be surprised when you see how effective the bench press really is. Use it to get prominent pecs, sculpted arms and broad shoulders. So what are you waiting for? Start your workout now! This these tips from the trainer, you’ve got every chance of success with this exercise.
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