These Fixes JACKED Up My Bench Press: How to Tuck Elbows and Use Lats in the Bench Press

I've dealt with shoulder issues, pec tears, and other set backs that made bench pressing one of my least favorite activities. Not one to give up on a challenge, I recently resolved to fix my set up and approach and make benching a strong point. These are 3 tips I've used that led to healthier shoulders and more substantial growth with my bench press.
#1 - Tuck Elbows and Use Lats
#2 - Arc the Bar Back Over the Face (not straight line)
#3 - Build Your BASE!

[@Guitareben]

You should make a “Build Your Base” T shirt!

[@enantiomer2000]

I have been adding 5 lbs to my bench every week. Up 40 pounds so far. Not very impressive weight yet but I am happy about the progress.

[@watgoatse]

That was some pristine bench technique on the 365 set.

[@guerilla.dilemma]

Thanks so much for this. Some of the most useful info I've seen regarding bench so far

[@BuildYourOwn]

This is the best bench video period. You talked exactly about what I needed to hear. Keep up the good work!

[@gabegabriel9288]

Shoulder issues as a teen. Can relate.

[@doyouhavegainsonyourphone4507]

Excellent video! Thanks for that. Nice drawings too.

[@patrickvanmeter2922]

This was difficult to learn for me, but it was amazing when I got it. Excellent video.

[@TheOrionMusicNetwork]

You deserve to have a lot more subscribers than you do have. I am sure it will pay off at some point.

[@Franklin-zc2jo]

building his base

[@paulmcleod8316]

I agree

[@williamscheflo4891]

This video helped a lot! Great work

[@ToysNGourmet]

I hope your channel grows to the amount of subscribers it deserves, that is millions. Thank you!

[@samma1690]

great information. thanks for making this video.

[@chunx077]

Awesome information!

[@sonox8724]

that first clip. those reps are premium crisp sheeesh

[@stevefromchicago8277]

Recent new subscriber, your content is fantastic. I don’t catch it all on first viewing but enjoy trying it in the gym

[@HDAnalytics]

Possible questions for future videos. 1 what is “junk volume” and when is it a true issue rather then just being accessories. 2 what type of lifting student is best (what are the attributes of a good athlete in the eyes of a coach). 3 anything “I HATE” 4 what different leverages really mean in terms of impact on the main lifts.

[@JK-ru3kt]

Junk volume would really just be any extra work that isn’t helping you and is just eating into your recovery. For example, your working sets on bench press are going well but you decide to throw in additional dumbbells pressing as an accessory. This is potentially bad because it can tip your recovery over the edge when you already had a good thing going. Remember joint tissues need to heal season to session, you add in extra ambitious pressing and you risk a shoulder impingement. That’s junk conditioning, anything that’s no value added

[@tjcogger1974]

It would be hard to fit that last idea into a singular video. That could be a whole series.

[@seanmat8]

Junk volume would be alit more relevant for bodybuilders am o not correct and all bromleys content is focused on powerlifting

[@Necrofinowa]

As someone with humerus' nearly as long as my torso, I can personally vouch for everything you are saying here. I have a history of shoulder injuries and a surgery in the past, and I really stopped benching for 10 years for that reason. I've been working on perfecting this technique for only about 4 months now, and all of sudden I can bench 295 and my shoulders have never felt better.

[@jdmalm123]

I've been doing front raises as part of my bench warmup and it has been useful

[@timgood9818]

Do you just do light sets to get the blood flowing? Or do normal sets? I wouldn’t want to fatigue my shoulders before benching but adding front raises in addition to my rotator cuff work sounds like it might be useful.

[@pyrrosdimas5798]

@@timgood9818 light sets

[@jdmalm123]

@@timgood9818 i also do light sets for front raises along with int/ext band rotations

[@shex9]

Tim Good I use 2.5kg (5.5lbs) doing like a super set warm up of front raises lateral and the one where you bend over and do a motion similar to a face pull. Like 8-12 reps each once or twice then I’m good to go. I don’t fatigue my shoulders at all can’t go near my workout weights.

[@Horus-Lupercal]

I just use heaps of warmup sets, try to cut down on the fluff where you can. KZbin search "Barbell Medicine Nocebo".

[@chuckayers3775]

Great information

[@saltypatriot1768]

Love this channel

[@yamen2504]

You are the best Thank you so very much for this video You have no idea how you changed my entire life.

[@pele7208]

Good stuff. Subscribed!

[@jamesbedwell8793]

I can’t wait to get back and start working on my technique, I’ve realised lots of mistakes I’ve had

[@cainm8808]

Great vid

[@factio11]

Those reps in the beginning looked tiiiight!

[@aparthia]

Any recommendations for "building your base"? I would love to see a Bromley-made hypertrophy cycle and also a video on your view on accessories, not just the main lifts.

[@SetTheCurve]

High school freshman pushing 245x10 😖 maybe I should take up knitting.

[@abdallahalfawaqa4720]

Fr

[@dessertstorm7476]

even highschool kids are on steroids in america

[@youkii8145]

Bump. What freshman is benching 245x10? 😂

[@shycreation9418]

I to am here for this mythical freshman who benches 245 for 3 sets of 10 lol. Most cant bench there 150 pound body weight. Is the kid 400 pounds?

[@heveyweightheveyweight5399]

@@youkii8145 i managed to hit that. Wasnt the smartest thing to do but i was bench pressing almost everyday . For sets of 10 . I managed to hit 500 at 20 years old . The milatary made it hard to keep strength training consitent . Being in the infantry. Im working my way back up though . Injuries an burnouts got the best of me .

[@SculptedVersion]

Great info

[@Mylee837]

Good info.

[@murderousmayhem6362]

Cool shit man

[@mkl1464]

I've been benching without a flare for a long time, and I started hitting prs when I learned how to flare properly. Helps me recruit my pecs more to blast through the mid range because the triceps aren't leveraged as well there compared to the bottom

[@benchgod2170]

Bye bye shoulders

[@zyncarla]

What’s your pr though flair gets more and more dangerous the heavier we get.

[@jefferylord3068]

Bench press video for the win!!!!!!

[@AlexanderBromley]

Put it off long as possible... it was inevitable

[@jefferylord3068]

365 for 9 is pretty impressive for a guy who doesn’t bench much!

[@Joe-nq3bu]

Hi Bromley, good stuff I’ve watched most of it. What are some general less traditional exercises you’d recommend for home gyms? Or equipment? I think this is pretty relevant given huge surge in lifting at home. This is from a powerlifting perspective, I’m at ~1430 total if it matters.

[@JeffO-]

I love that Matrix bench press guy.

[@TheMTHSYoshi]

Might end up doing something like this in the new year. Just do a shit load of volume with lighter weight and more reps, gradually getting heavier over a long period of time. I think pushing the weight is good, but at a certain point you get a lot of diminishing returns. Thanks for the tips!

[@owen.voisey]

The bench loves a lot of volume. Singles aren’t as useful as you’d think, mainly useful during peaking. When I started using more reps my bench exploded

[@roymustang.595]

Great work coach. Keep going. You have helped a lot and I want your opinion on athleanx fake weights controversy

[@MrChrisjacksonlm]

I’ve had the same issues with my shoulders on both sides and found the same solutions.

[@sambsialia]

Hey. I would like to see you do a series on how to program for someone in real time, someone like a novice. Maybe get a volunteer. I wanna see you program implements. Hypothetically speaking, I would like to see someone program a half year for strongman and half for powerlifting. I personally want to do this split myself. Maybe I can build base, specify, and then hit a comp in both next year. Imo, Rip has the best explanation of a good method for grip, which suspiciously looks like Mendelson.

[@hangonsnoop]

This is such a good demonstration and explanation of the bench press. Despite everything, is the bench press tutorial in Starting Strength a good one? (I'm not a part of the Rippatoe cult.)

[@fukashima6586]

it sucks

[@Brian-zg9ff]

Straight line for me. Pressing back over my face always causes shoulder pain

[@jerseyjim9092]

As I get into the finer details of powerlifting I'm learning that there are as many differences of opinion among great powerlifters as there are with nutrition gurus.

[@richman360]

No idea why but OHP is my favorite lift.

[@batman-sr2px]

Would you use the same principle with dumbbells? I think the path would end up in a straight line naturally.

[@mutanthorrorshow]

I remember when I first heard " use your lats " I tried flaring them at the bottom to start the lift lol anyways, does all this work for guys with longer arms? I recently tried pinky on the rings after a month of JM presses and it seemed to work well. You got me concerned with the PEC stretch issue in the long term now 🤔.. 💪 Good stuff man. One of the best channels right now

[@Itz_Elite_Gaming]

I know I'm way late but I normally have my ring finger on the rings, thought about switching to see if my pinky on the ring would help better. Maybe I'll give it a try!

[@Blizznor]

You remind me of a younger autumn Chris Duffin

[@Emresinho]

Least favorite topic, does 9 reps with 180kg 😅 would love to say that too 😂

[@AamirMir85]

Please talk about scapular positioning in bench press setup. Rtracting the scapula is counter to using the lats. How do they play together?

[@timgood9818]

Pull your scaps back AND down. Pulling back won’t engage your lats but pulling down will.

[@Biggmofo]

I think Doug Young already had the right mindset. Only the 8 sets of singles with bench is really taxing. What do you think about his chest / upper body routine?

[@dessertstorm7476]

I feel like if you have 300+ lb and are locked out in bench press, you should know if you have a moment arm or not, you can feel it. If I press straight line from the chest I can feel that I have to do more work just to hold the weight still at lockout. This is something that can be corrected just based on feel and common sense.

[@Ryan-ke3qd]

15:33 The absolute most difficult part about these strength sports

[@jl3303]

You could be building muscle and a base (not as optimally) at the same time as being specific to the 1RM and get more efficient results. This is why most natural powerlifters do heavy singles year round and have short volume phases in which they still do heavy singles. It wouldn’t make sense to train for a marathon all year if you were a 100 meter runner then just specify down right before your meet. Coming from a DUP fanboy by the way.

[@johnedward5442]

Bro, you make 365 look like 135.

[@johnberg2906]

I benched 425 four months ago (using west side) I started 531 and I have watched my max go down 10 lbs a month. Could this be an example of lack of volume or lack of base?

[@jakehanson216]

I'm guessing lack of speed, I've done the same thing, and as soon as I threw speed bench back in it jumped back up

[@stefanhaas9998]

loss of residual training effect when you stopped doing dedicated ME+DE work

[@heveyweightheveyweight5399]

You didnt use the 85 -90 percent training max for your sets thats the problem , i have hit over 500 toach an go on bench press taking 8 -9 days off between bench sessions 531 is by far my favorite program and i have all josh bryant amd alex bromleys books . If you do 531 you have to do it right stop doing it your way and after your amrap set do your first set as a last set for 3 sets of 5-10 Love alex books but hes using knee wraps on this an that defintly gives help

[@posterchild8486]

There's some common sense on this channel.

[@tommcgivern8020]

Hey Bromley how tall are you? Bromley starts with Bro

[@chuckayers3775]

What do you think about westside routine

[@wezedwards234]

Well, he does have a video titled, literally, "I Hate Westside" on his channel, so...

[@gabegabriel9288]

hes made a video on it

[@johnnyplatt7034]

Hey bro does this goes if your a legs up bencher

[@Dudeatrix]

12:31 245 is lightweight? I wish

[@richman360]

I lol'd

[@Itz_Elite_Gaming]

Lol don't worry it's definitely not lightweight by any means. If you can hit 225 once you're above a lot of people.

[@saltypatriot1768]

Easy sets of 10 245...be glad when I get to easy

[@binyamgebreselassie5807]

Too early that the guy who writes when the video starts is not even here...

[@xeniosgerolemou6061]

8:05

[@grinnyyyyyyyyyyy]

High Schoolers in the 80's in movies can totally do 245. Nowadays, not so sure xD

[@Itz_Elite_Gaming]

They can because they all take 10g of creatine a day and sarms 🤣🤣

[@edi6722]

I did 270 and I’m a freshman lol. I’m also 6ft 210lbs though

[@AApril261992]

About the moment arm and pressing back towards your face: If that were true, your decline bench would be weaker than flat.

[@AlexanderBromley]

The bar stays vertically over your shoulder on a decline, which is the strongest position (smallest moment arm). If you pushed it back over your face, you would dump it. We push back towards the face on a flat bench because it tends to touch the chest lower on the descent, creating a bigger horizontal distance between the shoulder and barbell that we want to minimize. The weight should be stacked over the joint towards lockout; I don't actually want the bar over your face, it's just a cue.

[@AApril261992]

@@AlexanderBromley That sounds correct if you aren't arching deeply to shorten the ROM, like a powerlifter would. I actually just started benching after 3 years of training because I fell into the same mentality you did; I don't need to train bench if I'm a strongman! It feels so awful haha.

[@nickcollins9170]

This is just one style of bench tho and suited better for closer grip less arched bench technique.

[@rickarderlandsson5906]

I missed the part when he said "this is the be all end all bench technique"

[@Fortress333]

Nice rooster! I can see he's got a well-developed chest. He skipped leg day, though.

[@incorectulpolitic]

You know what? I apologize, I am sorry. I wish you all the best from all points of views. May the Lord God Jesus Christ bless you and your loved ones.

[@lukaskuipers7791]

What are ypu apologizing for

[@Mateo-et3wl]

Can't hear you

[@fuadismayilzada1816]

hello. Are you natural?

[@neal520]

No

[@soulution24]

What tattoo is that?

[@keithbobrosky6334]

Jesus Christ! I wish I could SQUAT 365x9...

[@deadandbored]

many of the strongest benchers all use elbow tuck instead of the contortionist circus act arch bench.

[@operationtruth288]

The back arch is a bad habit Stay flat on the bench no arch

[@timgood9818]

OVERarching can be bad, but anyone who wants to actually bench any appreciable weight has to do at least a small arch, just from the very nature of retracting and depressing their scapulas. I remember starting out flat backed and always had trouble with rolling side to side from not having a stable base.

[@rickarderlandsson5906]

I say they should make crescent shaped benches, so you have to have a flexed back. R.O.M. BENCH patent pending

[@operationtruth288]

@@rickarderlandsson5906 Watch the NFL Combine. They are not allowed to arch back while doing the 225 lbs test. NFL Strength Coaches are the best in the world. If you want to build muscle in the chest stay flat.

[@rthdgbrthhrgb]

Operation Truth a flat back is a biomechanically disadvantageous position for the shoulders in the bench position. It actually increases the chance of injury. NFL combine benches also bounce the barbell off their sternum which uses entirely momentum and not necessarily pure strength. I would much rather prefer a powerlifting coach teaching me to bench, one of the three powerlifts, than an nfl strength coach.

[@user-go5hv6dg3d]

@@operationtruth288 guess who a lot of them went to to learn... West side ....

[@naturalathletescaredofneed3809]

Fake weights

[@kale4925]

What the hell are you doing with your head during the bench? Keep it on the bench.

[@AlexanderBromley]

No

[@kale4925]

Oh well, dont ever enter a powerlifting comp, red lights all the way

[@AlexanderBromley]

Most feds dont have a rule regarding head position. Anyways, I have zero interest to train around the obscure rules in any powerlifting handbook. I train to be useful.

[@666ofdoom]

Great information