Bench Press - Home Gym Exercises
The bench press in considered by many serious body builders to be the best exercise for building the chest and upper arms. It is most commonly performed on a bench with a barbell. Alternatively many weight machines have this functionality to them.
You should perform the exercise by lying on you back on the bench with your feet on the ground. Allow there to be a little natural arch to the lowers back. Put your hands on the bar shoulder width apart and lift the weight until your elbows are almost extended. Then lower the bar before your elbows are straight. This keeps the weight on the muscles and reduces stress on the elbow joint. Lower the bar to point between your chin and nipples.
One of the big mistakes that people make is to put too much weight on the bar. It is far better to perform the exercise correctly using smaller weights, even if this means performing more reps.
For added safely it is a good idea if you have a friend act as a spotter. They can make sure you don't drop the bar by overbalancing or due to fatigue. This is not always possible in a home gym. In this case a good alternative to a bench and barbell is a Smith machine. This equipment has hooks on it that will catch the bar if you accidentally drop it.
An alternative to carrying out the bench press with a bar is to use dumbbells. This will add some additional variety to your routines. It will also mean that both arms are worked out evenly as you dominant arm cannot take most of the weight.
Using the bench press will help build up your pec's (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles). Take time to focus on performing this popular exercise correctly.