This is amazingly informative, and watching this as a beginner who hasn't lifted in 6 months, realised I was doing a bunch of things unconventionally and not getting the most out of my bench.
When you said it doesn't matter if Mike checked his theory with the top 10 physicists in the world, I picture him trekking to the McDonald Observatory and asking, "Hey guys, check out my bench?" And all the astronomers start offering helpful advice on lifting. Then they invite him to look through the giant telescope, and Silent Mike learns about the universe.
I love how Mike said actively keep that back tight from unrack to finish! This is literally what 99.9% of gym lifters do wrong on the bench which leads to injuries and loss of power/strength.
Mike and Mark, so I consider myself a decent bencher, pressing around 400. I thought I'd seen it all with "how to bench videos". However, I definitely have the "heels in the air" problem with my feet. My feet are really close to the bench (that's how I fixed the ass lifting up problem). So when I saw the part about driving my heels down to the ground (even if they don't touch, which they don't...shows how mobile I am), I saw a HUGE improvement when I benched yesterday! I was able to get into a better position, better arch, and better shoulder-blade tucking. With the better position, I was able to get the bar to come down to the top of my belly instead of my chest, and that makes the press way more powerful. Thanks guys!
Long post! I'm 6'6" and some change. Naturally, my arms are long. I advise newbies to fix imbalances before getting crazy with weights! I tore my front delt and it's kept me from advancing in bench (and probably back squat because of hindered mobility). I've been lifting seriously for just over a year, just turned 30. I've watched this video at least 15 times and every time I learn something new. More advice for new lifters; some information out there you might just not be ready for. Keep visiting sources as you advance and you'll keep picking up on things. Thanks for the content, guys!
this is great!! your past videos on bench press form and technique have increased my bench substantially there're not many videos out there that describe form for the bech press in great detail like this one.
Thank you guys for sharing your bench knowledge. I noticed that S.Mike put his wrist wraps on when the weights was increased. Can you guys make an all in one video on your wrist wraps, compression cuffs, elbow/knee sleeves and lastly the sling shot explaining how to use them and when.
I loved this. this was an excellently put together video and I loved the psa about spreading knowledge. that ruled so hard. thanks silent Mike and mark bell!
I'm 6'4 and and all limbs. Long legs and arms. I had trouble benching but as soon as I started to widen my legs stance, focusing on tucking my knees below my hips, my bench improved alot. It also felt more comfortable after I found my sweet spot. As far as grip with long arms, middle finger on the ring works for me.
james west im same height bro, im very weak however my chest is quite well developed( im 18) what do you recommend to press more should i make my legs as widest as i can ? what about feet and abs? should i flex them before lowering bar? and most important thing is bar path what does it looks when you do it, i know many questions but id love to get respond , thanks
Mautru Trezo as you already know every one is different so I can't say what I do will work for you but I'll explain the best I can. Basically everything has to tie in together for me, locking the traps and my core, leg stance and how I set my feet. Basically my feet distance from each other is just over a 12 inches apart. I lay back and set my traps up on the bench. From there I nudge my feet back so that my knees are just below my hips. Sometimes my feet are flat but I'm starting to perfer a slight lift in the heel so that I can press more from the front my foot. At this point is where i find my leg width. I keep pushing back my body onto my traps, while i open my legs and changing the angle of my feet(without lifting my heels from the starting position). Basically you're looking for the point at which everything feels nice and tight together and your traps are dug tight into the bench. For me the knee distance from each other is just under 3 feet. Any further and I loose tension and my lower back starts to hurt. As far as abs, of course I tighten my core when I perform the bench movement. Finally for bar path, Mark and Mike explained it the same way I would. Basically my nipples are my guide lol. it's just finding the right hand position to make it flow right.
Awesome video guys you guys did an awesome awesome awesome video demonstrating proper technique using the bench and options- I will definitely incorporate this into my benchpress I really appreciated!
Great informational teaching...just in time for bench day workout for me! Your videos truly have amazing information if people would just take the time to watch and listen
Mark, have you ever done a collaboration with Kelly Starrett on bench or squat? I think you did one with him on deadlifting but would love to see you two talk/work through the other two big lifts. Thanks!
Once again what a great video from you guys! Hey if you take suggestions for the Powercast, what about inviting Jeremy Hoornstra over? Talking about bench pressing....
Another recommendation is the mm2k bench program, but when you're calculating your 1rm, I would lower your idea of 1rm by 10lbs and work off the chart at a slightly lower weight. The more ambitious doesn't always equat to the most gains. It's a marathon not a race.
I broke my humerus in December, had an IM pin put in to heal the fracture, had some rotator cuff issues due to the surgery. Struggling to bench now 7 months later, no going heavy but still getting some shoulder pain on the affected arm. Considering mabe getting a sling shot to keep my shoulder from harm's way.
as always solid video. i just have one little tip for people who want an elevated heel shoe but maybe don't want to or can't afford a pair of lifting shoes is if they already have a pair of shox or are planning on getting new shoes in the future to check them out and they can have a universal everyday as well as lifting shoe. normally i wear air maxes but they aren't as good at the gym so i put on my r4 shox and while probably not quite as good of a lifting shoe, provide a whole lot of extra balance and drive off the heels being slightly more elevated with less squish or give. honestly shox are hard as a rock and even total fatasses don't make them compress at all so they're great for squating, deadlifting, and they definitely help a little driving in bench press. worth a shot if you are just wanting to spend money on 1 pair for all activities vs having workout and non workout shoes.
Thanks Guys for going into more detail about how to bench. The stuff that you have put up in the past has been very helpful to me and the more that I can learn I am truly thankful for. One day when I'm not living on such a tight budget and not such a pussy when it comes to flying I'd love to flyover to the US of A and train at your gym. Thanks again for the videos.
coverfire32 BRO! You just keep making my day! I really appreciate that especially right now cause my days are full of school and applying for physical therapy grad school. Hopefully if i get in, my video content will be even better and possibly useful for once haha. You still running Candito?
Ok this makes more sense Thing is it depends are you trying simply press a maximal weight or actually isolate the pectoral muscles . For me I have trained flat bench only for 20 years I am only just hitting a weight that I think I might need to use this but I'd rather use the decline bench to achieve it and then try again on flat after a few months. But now I think I get the idea. It is the direction of tension in the body not how it appears
Not like this is a competition, because the only real winners are us, the subs, but Mark is shitting in all kindz of ways on Mike/Omar/Bart's program lol. I paid 13 bucks for that shit, the how to bench vid was 38 seconds long and even the free version had more text explaining shit
Riding Japan no, the 13 dollars were for the program, which is still pretty disappointing. I feel like I pretty much donated those 13 bucks, which is fine I guess...
awesome video would like to go to seminar you give. I live in Hawaii I'm 53 years old that I have a world record bench press 435lbs at 198lb body weight, and I'm going to Germany in October for the IPL worlds
Mark or Mike, if you could answer a quick question. Do you intend for people to run through the 30 day program multiple times? Set a new PR and adjust the values, then go through it again? Or look for a different long term program?
I like the saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it" when it comes to lifting. If youre making progress and not stalling, why switch it up? If however you do start to not make progress, it could be time to try something new.
shiet I always find that the first couple reps are relatively "easy" and then I just crush into flames and struggle so much. Could be that I'm losing tightness in my upper back? I never get a liftoff usually, will solve that from the next time.
I couldn't find the bench program anywhere... registered, subscriubed, checked my accounts, downloads, it's nowhere... could we just get a link or something please? thanks :)
Lol Mark....just saw you got over 200k subs now !? Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it like 90k a couple of month ago?! Did you have a huge boost? Great video like always btw
I wish I had a video like this when I was 13 learning how to lift, awesome coaches
I had no clue back when I started lifting back in the 80s. I've only this year started lifting powerlifting style.
better late than never!
This is amazingly informative, and watching this as a beginner who hasn't lifted in 6 months, realised I was doing a bunch of things unconventionally and not getting the most out of my bench.
When you said it doesn't matter if Mike checked his theory with the top 10 physicists in the world, I picture him trekking to the McDonald Observatory and asking, "Hey guys, check out my bench?" And all the astronomers start offering helpful advice on lifting. Then they invite him to look through the giant telescope, and Silent Mike learns about the universe.
this dude benched that weight so quick i thought my video fast forwarded at 14:07 😅
I love how Mike said actively keep that back tight from unrack to finish! This is literally what 99.9% of gym lifters do wrong on the bench which leads to injuries and loss of power/strength.
I like the info about sinking the weight into the chest. That would never have occurred to me before. Makes sense (elastic recoil)
So do i
My favorite tip was keeping your elbows under the bar
@@dannytymus1652 best tip I learned for overhead pressing was flexing your quads and glutes. Added 20 lbs immediately
Thanks for the free advice guys. By far the best informative bench video I've seen. Appreciate it
Hows the progress on getting Eddie hall at Super training?
Gazza H Not happening he likes our shit weather too much
Thanks for the great Info. My bench has always sucked but thanks to all of your videos I have reached my year end bench goal!
Mike and Mark, so I consider myself a decent bencher, pressing around 400. I thought I'd seen it all with "how to bench videos". However, I definitely have the "heels in the air" problem with my feet. My feet are really close to the bench (that's how I fixed the ass lifting up problem). So when I saw the part about driving my heels down to the ground (even if they don't touch, which they don't...shows how mobile I am), I saw a HUGE improvement when I benched yesterday! I was able to get into a better position, better arch, and better shoulder-blade tucking. With the better position, I was able to get the bar to come down to the top of my belly instead of my chest, and that makes the press way more powerful. Thanks guys!
Thank you guys for passing this on and making the world a better place!
Sooo how many sets/rep scheme of bench press do I perform to grow my calves
42
69
if you do all the bench presses your calves will get bigger. srs
all of them
Long post! I'm 6'6" and some change. Naturally, my arms are long. I advise newbies to fix imbalances before getting crazy with weights! I tore my front delt and it's kept me from advancing in bench (and probably back squat because of hindered mobility). I've been lifting seriously for just over a year, just turned 30. I've watched this video at least 15 times and every time I learn something new. More advice for new lifters; some information out there you might just not be ready for. Keep visiting sources as you advance and you'll keep picking up on things. Thanks for the content, guys!
this is great!! your past videos on bench press form and technique have increased my bench substantially there're not many videos out there that describe form for the bech press in great detail like this one.
2 years ago today. Proud of u mark
The best video about bench press that I've seen so far (and I've seen a lot lol) :D. Great. Thanks a lot guys one again. Now lets get to lifting!
Thank you guys for sharing your bench knowledge. I noticed that S.Mike put his wrist wraps on when the weights was increased. Can you guys make an all in one video on your wrist wraps, compression cuffs, elbow/knee sleeves and lastly the sling shot explaining how to use them and when.
9:53 Pecker stability is very important, and not to be overlooked.
We Are Golden to have You, Thanks
I have no friends so I have to do my own lift-offs :(
rusty rosas are you the only one in your gym? stop being a weirdo and ask someone
Solo friendless home gym lifter for life. I just raise my ass off the bench to lift off and then put it back on the bench before I press.
damn that's sounds shitty and really nice at the same time
Dukelax 420
LOL
I workout in my own garage
so yes I am the only one at my gym ;)
you could probably use the mono lift attachment? it's pretty cool when you're solo. just gotta get under it in a Good spot
awesome video. these videos get better and better mark nd mike
I loved this. this was an excellently put together video and I loved the psa about spreading knowledge. that ruled so hard.
thanks silent Mike and mark bell!
Professionals. Nicely done guys
Cheers guys, appreciate you pointing out the little details.
i agree about the sharing advice . i don't know but i like to tell other people that i see at the gym what i just learned from any vid
I'm 6'4 and and all limbs. Long legs and arms. I had trouble benching but as soon as I started to widen my legs stance, focusing on tucking my knees below my hips, my bench improved alot. It also felt more comfortable after I found my sweet spot. As far as grip with long arms, middle finger on the ring works for me.
james west im same height bro, im very weak however my chest is quite well developed( im 18) what do you recommend to press more should i make my legs as widest as i can ? what about feet and abs? should i flex them before lowering bar? and most important thing is bar path what does it looks when you do it, i know many questions but id love to get respond , thanks
Mautru Trezo as you already know every one is different so I can't say what I do will work for you but I'll explain the best I can. Basically everything has to tie in together for me, locking the traps and my core, leg stance and how I set my feet. Basically my feet distance from each other is just over a 12 inches apart. I lay back and set my traps up on the bench. From there I nudge my feet back so that my knees are just below my hips. Sometimes my feet are flat but I'm starting to perfer a slight lift in the heel so that I can press more from the front my foot. At this point is where i find my leg width. I keep pushing back my body onto my traps, while i open my legs and changing the angle of my feet(without lifting my heels from the starting position). Basically you're looking for the point at which everything feels nice and tight together and your traps are dug tight into the bench. For me the knee distance from each other is just under 3 feet. Any further and I loose tension and my lower back starts to hurt.
As far as abs, of course I tighten my core when I perform the bench movement.
Finally for bar path, Mark and Mike explained it the same way I would. Basically my nipples are my guide lol. it's just finding the right hand position to make it flow right.
Thank you for answer, What is your PR on flat by the way?
Mautru Trezo just over 300. Once I fixed my benching my working sets went up consistently. I don't really check prs though. I'm not a power lifter.
Alright , thanks for your help !
thank you mark and mike for this awesome video
Thanks, this was by far the most informative video you've done on this subject. Learned a lot of things I didn't consider.
You guys are the best
Love the cues
Thx guys helped my bench go up
But I forget most time not to push 75-90% every work out
dips is a very good exercise, making your triceps stronger or bench with your weight, that works too
Awesome video guys you guys did an awesome awesome awesome video demonstrating proper technique using the bench and options- I will definitely incorporate this into my benchpress I really appreciated!
Great Video thank you Mark and Silent Mike.
Great video guys, really appreciate your straight forward approach to explaining this sometimes confusing lift.
Great informational teaching...just in time for bench day workout for me! Your videos truly have amazing information if people would just take the time to watch and listen
I'm only a couple weeks away from hitting 400 and hoping this will send me over the top.
Excellent video
Mark, have you ever done a collaboration with Kelly Starrett on bench or squat? I think you did one with him on deadlifting but would love to see you two talk/work through the other two big lifts. Thanks!
Jordan Hess agreed! I'd love to see James smith in the mix as well. that would be a cool conversation.
My God, this was great for me. Coming back from RC surgery and haven't benched in years. Tried this style and felt nothing on my rc
Great video man
Once again what a great video from you guys! Hey if you take suggestions for the Powercast, what about inviting Jeremy Hoornstra over? Talking about bench pressing....
Another recommendation is the mm2k bench program, but when you're calculating your 1rm, I would lower your idea of 1rm by 10lbs and work off the chart at a slightly lower weight. The more ambitious doesn't always equat to the most gains. It's a marathon not a race.
Great tips Mark Bell! I can't wait to improve my bench press!💪👊👏
"if you don't get lift offs at over 80% to me it means you just don't have any friends"
lol quote of the century by the best in the buiz
Great video guys, one of your best learnt a lot from it
Good shit brah
I broke my humerus in December, had an IM pin put in to heal the fracture, had some rotator cuff issues due to the surgery. Struggling to bench now 7 months later, no going heavy but still getting some shoulder pain on the affected arm. Considering mabe getting a sling shot to keep my shoulder from harm's way.
as always solid video. i just have one little tip for people who want an elevated heel shoe but maybe don't want to or can't afford a pair of lifting shoes is if they already have a pair of shox or are planning on getting new shoes in the future to check them out and they can have a universal everyday as well as lifting shoe. normally i wear air maxes but they aren't as good at the gym so i put on my r4 shox and while probably not quite as good of a lifting shoe, provide a whole lot of extra balance and drive off the heels being slightly more elevated with less squish or give. honestly shox are hard as a rock and even total fatasses don't make them compress at all so they're great for squating, deadlifting, and they definitely help a little driving in bench press. worth a shot if you are just wanting to spend money on 1 pair for all activities vs having workout and non workout shoes.
I've seen Mike and Mark do so many videos over the past two years together that I see Mark as like a father figure to Mike... ;-;
Thank you guys! That you share your knowledge with us :)
It's bulking season baby haha
Great video!
Can you do this with squats and deadlifts? I'm prepping for a competition in February.
I like the idea of imagining pulling the weight down to your chest instead of feeling a heavy weight falling onto you.
Would love one of these for incline bench.
Thanks Guys for going into more detail about how to bench. The stuff that you have put up in the past has been very helpful to me and the more that I can learn I am truly thankful for. One day when I'm not living on such a tight budget and not such a pussy when it comes to flying I'd love to flyover to the US of A and train at your gym. Thanks again for the videos.
Awesome content!
Great video!
enjoyed the back door comment waaay more than I should've...
AM Training oh shit it's AM training the beast among men
coverfire32 Bahaha, your humoring me, but I'm taking this compliment! This made my day even if it was sarcastic haha!
AM Training nope I watch all your vids you da man. Ran that candito program and found your channel a few months ago
coverfire32 BRO! You just keep making my day! I really appreciate that especially right now cause my days are full of school and applying for physical therapy grad school. Hopefully if i get in, my video content will be even better and possibly useful for once haha. You still running Candito?
it's crazy how beastly Mike has become!
John Markus all that juice
you are the best... thank you for all this information
moonfaced mark was something else fsfs
Another useful video, thanks fellas!
Home gym lifter working out alone. Is there some kind of self unracking attachment for a power rack that would work for bench?
Goldmine here! -Marreta
after watching this, i might try a slightly closer grip. Right now I have ring finger on the rings. My arms are fairly long.
good tip guys. just wondering if this technique is good for bodybuilding?
Ok this makes more sense Thing is it depends are you trying simply press a maximal weight or actually isolate the pectoral muscles . For me I have trained flat bench only for 20 years I am only just hitting a weight that I think I might need to use this but I'd rather use the decline bench to achieve it and then try again on flat after a few months.
But now I think I get the idea. It is the direction of tension in the body not how it appears
mark bell bench Tutorial part 346 :D
BIG MARK
Through the back door...Silent Mike 😂🏋️♂️
whats the difference between Mark's strong in 30 days program and yiur free 6 week program you omar an the other guy jus put out?
So do you work bench twice a week? Do 1 heavy low reps and 1 high reps ?
Thanks guys this video helped
you guys are great
Hmm weirdly when I am benching one of my arms keep on moving from time to time I do have long arms I'm 6.5... any way to fix this? thank you...
Thank you guys for the ifo your awesome
I used to see what Mark looked like here and think he looked kinda normal... Insane to see how he looks now though, only 1 year and 9 months later
Solid info!
Do you guys before the proloc collars over everything else?
Not sure if I want the proloc or the OSO elites.
Speaking of definitive bench guides, when are you going to get Greg Nuckols on this channel?
Not like this is a competition, because the only real winners are us, the subs, but Mark is shitting in all kindz of ways on Mike/Omar/Bart's program lol. I paid 13 bucks for that shit, the how to bench vid was 38 seconds long and even the free version had more text explaining shit
you paid 13 dollars for a how to video?
Riding Japan no, the 13 dollars were for the program, which is still pretty disappointing. I feel like I pretty much donated those 13 bucks, which is fine I guess...
awesome video would like to go to seminar you give.
I live in Hawaii I'm 53 years old that I have a world record bench press 435lbs at 198lb body weight, and I'm going to Germany in October for the IPL worlds
Love mark bell videos!! Very informational!
Thanks for the tips
I don't have any friends..... that hurts. secondly doesn't Bryce Lewis always unrack his own lifts
He does, doesn't mean it's optimal.
wylfwylfwylf i prefer it, can't trust handoffs now a days, plus you get quicker commands in comp unracking solo
Mark or Mike, if you could answer a quick question. Do you intend for people to run through the 30 day program multiple times? Set a new PR and adjust the values, then go through it again? Or look for a different long term program?
I like the saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it" when it comes to lifting. If youre making progress and not stalling, why switch it up? If however you do start to not make progress, it could be time to try something new.
webster's dictionary defines benchpress as a lift you do to impress people
Definition of bench press
: a lift or exercise in which a weight is raised by extending the arms upward while lying on a bench
u are a fucking liar fuck u omfg how dare u HOW DARE U LIE TO ME OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you are terrible at trolling oml
New ChannelSameName Omg* lol
New ChannelSameName You're terrible at spelling, friend.
That hit hard if u don’t have a lift off person u have no friends damn near had a heart attack!
shiet I always find that the first couple reps are relatively "easy" and then I just crush into flames and struggle so much.
Could be that I'm losing tightness in my upper back?
I never get a liftoff usually, will solve that from the next time.
Should I warm up with incline bench or go straight to flat bench?
hey guys i used the yellow slingshot and it felt just right im 6ft 235 and i was wondering if over time it will get to lose
great video subscribed
Yes
I couldn't find the bench program anywhere... registered, subscriubed, checked my accounts, downloads, it's nowhere... could we just get a link or something please? thanks :)
what shoes is Mark wearing? I want to get a pair!
Lol Mark....just saw you got over 200k subs now !? Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it like 90k a couple of month ago?! Did you have a huge boost? Great video like always btw
never heard the elbows out cue while pressing. almost don't want to try that.
How do you get you hips loose for the benchpress so your feet is flat on the ground?
nice video great content
Can anybody tell me the brand and model of the bench he's using?