The Bench Press is arguably the most popular exercise in the bodybuilding community – and for good reason. The bench press helps build a plump chest, diced triceps, and 3D shoulders, as well as a strong upper body. For many people, being strong on the bench press is a major want, but many people struggle with progressing after hitting a plateau. After attempting personal record after personal record, one’s progress is bound to stall, especially once developed into an intermediate/advanced lifter. Even with impeccable form, your body can’t always get stronger after every workout, like it did when you were a gym noob.
So, your quick beginner gains have seemingly gone away, and your bench has stalled? Let’s look at the 3 most useful exercises our Alpha Pharm Team has put together, in order to get stronger & help progression on the bench press.
- Floor Press
The floor press is an unorthodox variation of a bench press, and it is amazing at developing lockout strength at the top of the bench press. For the floor press, you can use either dumbbells, barbells, an EZ bar, or any type of weight that you’re able to grasp firmly. You’ll want to lay down on the floor with the weight (hence the name, “Floor press”) and put your elbows at a 45° angle, with your arms touching the ground and wrists ready to press. From there, you’ll simply press the weight up from your chest, and finish at full extension above your shoulder joint, with arms perpendicular to the ground. This exercise is tricep-dominant, and helps substantially with strength at the top of your bench press (which is where most people tend to lack strength).
- OHP (Overhead Press)
This movement is much more commonly seen as opposed to the floor press and despite it targeting almost entirely the front delt, it’s actually very useful for the bench press. Your shoulders are a major part to the bench press and developing intense front delt strength will mean huge gains towards your bench press. Lifting heavy may be an issue for some people, especially if you’re a hardgainer, so check out Dianabol or RAD-140 for some extra help. You’ll want to grip the bar at a 1-1.5x shoulder width grip on your upper chest while standing upright, and press upwards while keeping your core tight and squeezing your glutes. Doing so, will help prevent any lower back strain and will give your lift more stability & power. Don’t be afraid to go heavy on these, because that’s where the strength gains will come from.
- Any pull-up, row or back movement
Pull-ups?! Rows?! But the bench press is chest, right?!
Yes, the bench press is a chest, shoulder, and tricep dominant exercise, but the back does play its part in bench press strength. In the bench press, your back is a major helping hand. Having a developed and strong back will help give you a solid base against the bench for your lift. Deca Durabolin has been found to help tremendously with muscle growth so for this tip, let it be the icing on the cake. Being powerful in your back can also help in terms of stabilization – your lats are used to stabilize your arms on the eccentric of the movement, meaning you can put more force & focus towards pushing instead of stabilizing. Lastly, building muscle on the upper back will decrease the ROM that you have to bench, since your muscle growth will decrease the distance between you, and the bar.
Why these 3 exercises?
These 3 exercises are specifically chosen by Our Alpha Pharm Team to assist your bench in ways that you may not have considered. Along with these tips, our supplements like Testosterone/Test 400 or Dianabol can help boost strength gains exponentially. Check out some more of our APC blogs for more workout guidance.
