Ray's Take

Bench press is the best upper body exercise. It's the exercise I do the most. It's my favorite.

- Compound movement
- Works chest, shoulders, triceps, forearms, hands, core
- The best exercise for upper body
- An exercise you can do for a long time and keep improving (and see benefits from improving)
- Not hard to learn
- Can do with bar or dumbbells

Recommendation:
- Start with 5-10 sets of 8 per week. (Can be all on one day or on two or three days).
- Beginners should start with weight that seems pretty easy.
- Everyone must track their workouts and progress.

Stupid Ideas

Stupid idea: I lift whatever I feel like
Cmon man. You have to plan for progress. Write down what you lift today, and then beat it the next time you lift. I recommend increasing by 5 lbs every session until you fail. After you fail, try the same weight again. If you fail 2x, then lower by 10% and try the process again. If that fails, then you should shift to a new rep range and restart the process (IE if you were doing sets of 10 reps, do sets of 5 reps or vice versa). Just start with a weight that is doable.

Stupid idea: Do bench every day
You should not do this. Muscles grow as they recover. This won't kill you but its pointless bc you won't be able to improve your numbers without letting your muscles recover. And you have to improve your numbers to build strength (and build muscle).

Technique

Start:
- Choose a weight that will be easy. I suggest 45 lb bar only.

Steps:
- Lay on bench
- Put your hands directly over shoulder - start with this grip width (or just slightly wider)
---> I usually use the bar rings to make sure my hands are the right distance apart
- Make sure the bar is at the right height which means your arms are not fully extended when you reach up, so you can lift the bar off the rack and put it overhead
- Tighten your body, especially squeeze your butt muscle
- Lift the bar off the rack
- Slowly bring down to your chest, at the level of your nipples
- Touch the bar to your chest
- Push up to overhead

Pro tip:
RECORD IT WITH VIDEO FROM SIDE AND FRONT ANGLE

More advanced techniqu

Three tips to lift more:
- Press lats (upper back / shoulders) as hard as you can into the bench
- Squeeze butt as hard as you can
- Squeze bar as hard as you can