Powerlifting Basics: The Bench Press

Whether a powerlifter or not, everyone wants a big bench press don’t they? In powerlifting, although a big bench is not going to win the meet on its own, it can keep you in the running. Although I am not a bench press specialist, my own bench is very strong compared to my squat and deadlift. I’d like to share some of the powerlifting techniques that have helped me build a bigger, more powerful bench press.

Competitive powerlifting is different than other forms of strength training or body building. The focus is not on working the muscle as hard as you can during every repetition of every set. Your goal is to lift the most weight you can with as little effort possible. The key is to complete your lift as efficiently as possible. You are likely to see significant gains in the amount of weight you can lift simply by improving your lifting technique, even if your strength remains constant. Powerlifting bench press technique can be summarized in three points:

• Conserve your energy
• Reduce the range of motion (ROM) of your bench press
• Involve many muscle groups in the lift

For a video demonstration of the powerlifting bench press, I’ve included a link at the end of this article.

The Lift

You should train just as you will compete from your first warm-up set to your last working set. To help you with this mindset, I’ve interjected the competition commands into the lifting sequence below. Treat each rep of every set as if it were a competition lift. Keep your form correct and pause briefly between each repetition. This will train your mind and your body to complete lifts that will get white lights from the judges in competition.

Setup: You want to make your setup as efficient as possible. Your goal is to get the bar into position to begin your bench press as quickly and with as little effort as possible. The judge is not going to give you the “start” command until you have the bar under control, locked out, and motionless. A clean setup, therefore, is a crucial part of your powerlifting bench press.

• If your weight bench has an adjustable rack height, make sure you have it set for the proper height. You don’t want to have to lift the bar too far, but you want enough clearance so you don’t get caught on the pegs of the weight bench. Take into account that as the weight increases the bar will begin to bow reducing the clearance. You may think this point is insignificant, but improper rack height cost me my opening bench press at a national championship competition.
• Make sure you can plant your feet flat on the floor for a strong leg drive. If the bench is too high, you may want to place plates or blocks under your feet, this is legal in competition.
• Get into a comfortable position on the bench so that your traps and shoulders, head, and buttocks are in contact with the bench, and your feet are flat on the floor. Once you begin your bench press with the judges “start” command, you cannot change your elected position.
• Find the proper placement for your hands on the bar. By International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) rules, your hands cannot extend wider than 81cm. On a competition bar, this means your thumb and index finger cannot be outside the ring on the knurling. In the gym, you should be cautious as different bars have this mark at different positions. Narrowing your grip shifts emphasis away from your chest and lats, to your triceps. It will also increase the range of motion of your lift.
• Arching your back will reduce the range of motion of your lift, will allow you to use your lats more effectively in your lift, and will help you keep your entire body tight providing a stable platform to perform your bench press. If you’d like more information on using a back arch during the bench press, you might check out this article specifically on the technique: “Powerlifting Basics: Arching Your Back to Increase Your Bench Press“
• Squeeze your shoulder blades together. This will reduce the range of motion of the lift; it also helps you keep your upper body tight and ready to explode.
• Always take a liftoff from your spotter. You don’t want to waste precious strength taking the bar out of the rack. The handoff should be quick-the longer you hold the bar, the more energy that drains from your body. Your spotter should give you the weight quickly but smoothly. You don’t want your spotter dropping hundreds of pounds suddenly on you, but also don’t want the handoff to take excessive time. If you can, it’s wise to have someone you trust give you a liftoff so you know you will get the handoff cleanly.
• Take a deep breath into your chest and hold it as you take the bar out of the rack. Once locked out and waiting to begin the lift take short quick breaths.

Eccentric: Once the judge sees that you have the bar locked out and motionless, she will give you the “start” command. You want to control the weight, but use as little energy on the eccentric portion of the lift as possible.

• When the judge gives you the “start” command take a deep breath into your chest and hold it. You will want to hold the air in your chest throughout the eccentric phase of the lift.
• Lower the bar to your chest quickly, but controlled. Your goal should be to use as little energy and strength during the eccentric phase of the lift as possible, but control the weight so it comes to rest lightly on the chest–do not bounce the bar off your chest!
• As you lower the bar you should feel your muscles contracting, tightening like a spring, preparing to explode during the concentric phase of the lift
• Bring the bar down low on your chest. The bar should come down to the bottom of your pecs, but no lower than the base of your sternum (per IPF rules). If you are using a back arch, the lower you bring the bar down, the greater you will reduce the range of motion of the bar. It will also allow you to thrust more explosively with your lats to force the bar off your chest.
• Tuck your elbows in towards your body. Tucking your elbows will allow you to bring the bar lower on the chest. It also will place less strain on your shoulders than if they are flared out.
• You want to quickly bring the bar to a stop on your chest and control it there. Your entire body should remain tight, like a rubber band ready to snap thrusting the bar up. The judge will not give you the “press” command until the bar is motionless on your chest.

Concentric: When the judge gives you the “press” command you want to explode, driving the bar off your chest with great force.

Author Bench Pressing 405lbs

• After you get the “press” command, thrust the bar with your lats and pectoral muscles driving it off your chest explosively. The momentum you build driving the bar from your chest will help you pass the sticking point and lock the bar out.
• Once the bar passes the sticking point, lock the bar out with your triceps. Concentrate simply on locking out your elbows, not on raising the bar. Focusing on raising the bar could cause you to raise your shoulders, increasing the range of motion of your lift and reducing the total weight you can bench press.
• Throughout the concentric phase of the lift continue squeezing your shoulder blades together
• Give a strong leg drive through the balls of your feet, pushing toward the head of the bench
• Continue holding the air in your lungs until you pass your sticking point, and then begin breathing out as you complete the lockout
• Once locked out, hold the bar steady until given the “rack” command by the judge before moving the bar towards the rack

Basic Bench Press Training

• Always train as you’ll lift in a competition, make sure you have the bar under control before beginning each rep and pause briefly at the chest before pressing
• Although primarily a chest exercise, the importance of your triceps, lats, and shoulders cannot be emphasized strongly enough. Make sure these supporting muscles are not neglected in your strength training program.
• Focus on peaking in strength at your competition. Although there are a lot of articles you can find describing complex training routines, mine has been effective yet relatively simple. I’ve stuck with roughly the same program since I began powerlifting.

I begin my training cycle with a conditioning phase. With weight roughly 60% of my last one rep max (1RM) I perform sets of at least eight repetitions. After the conditioning phase, my core strength building phase consists of sets of four to six repetitions at 70-80% of my max. During the final phase as the competition nears, I’m performing sets at near or just above my 1RM for one or two reps. As the weight on the bar increases, I reduce the number of exercises I perform as well as the number of repetitions.

Each phase lasts at least two, but no longer than four weeks so that my body doesn’t adjust to the training and I continue to make strength gains. As I enter the final phase of training, I drop most supporting exercises, performing only the bench press the last one or two training sessions before a meet.

• Rest and recuperate before your competition. It’s important that you don’t perform any heavy lifting the week prior to your meet-let your body recover from the abuse of the heavy weights so you go into the meet rested and strong. I typically do not perform any weight lifting activities but do include some very light cardio the week prior to a meet, such as walking (not running) on a treadmill. The light cardio prevents me from feeling sluggish on the day of the competition.

Putting it All Together

As you may gather from this article, a big bench press has a more to do with technique than with raw strength. You want to master your technique to allow you to lift the most weight possible using as little strength as required. Incorporating concepts presented here could give you the edge you need to take your bench press to the next level.

Video demonstration of the powerlifting bench press:

• ‘Powerlifting Bench Press – 405lbs Raw’

You can find the introduction to this article series, providing an overview to powerlifting.

For additional bench press tips and techniques try the following links:

• Powerlifting Basics: Tips to Increase Your Bench Press
• ‘Powerlifting Basics: Arching Your Back to Increase Your Bench Press’

About the Author:

If you’d like to know more about my strength training background and an index of other related articles I’ve written, please visit the following link.

• Author’s Profile

“Life’s too short to be small!” (original author unknown)