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Rightly or wrongly, the bench press is the king of gym exercises. Tell someone that you’re an iron pumper and their reflex question is likely to be, “How much can you bench?” Unless you come back at them with an impressive number, they’re likely to smirk knowingly regardless of how peaked your biceps are or how defined your abs happen to be.

The bench press is also the most badly performed, overused and potentially hazardous move you can do in the gym. In this article, we deconstruct the bench press to provide the essential guide to conquering this classic upper body mass builder.

How to Perfect Your Bench Press Form

The bench press is the exercise that is most often done incorrectly in the gym. The reason, ironically, is often because people think that it is simple and natural. As a result, they don’t see the need to learn proper technique the way they would with a squat or deadlift. That is a big mistake!

The first thing to understand about bench press form is that you need to pull your shoulder blades together and tuck in the latissimus dorsi. This is based on Newton’s Law that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So, when you press the bench press bar, that bar is also pressing back on you. To get the maximum force transfer, you need to get as much of your back as possible on the bench.

Ideal Setup

• Lie on the bench with a flat back, with minimal back arch.

• Place your feet flat on the floor and directly under the knees.

• Draw the shoulder blades together and down, expanding the rib cage and placing more of the lats on the bench.

• Your eyes should be directly under the bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder level.

• Before unracking the bar, take a deep breath to maximize the amount of tightness in the body. This also helps to transfer force from the feet to the hands.

• Hold the bar with a thumb over the bar grip.

Ideal Performance

• Unrack the bar and position it over your eyes.

• Draw your shoulder blades back and down.

• Tighten the lats and lower body by squeezing your glutes and legs.

• Try to pull the bar apart as you lower it to your chest. This will maintain the tightness of the upper back and lats.

• Drive your heels into the floor and press the bar up as forcefully as possible.

5 Key Hacks That Can Add Pounds to You Bench

(1) Squeezing the Shoulder Blades – try to squeeze your shoulder blades in the middle of the back when you are in the bridge position. This will help tighten the core and also engage the back to create a coiling effect when the barbell comes down. The tightness achieved helps you spring the barbell back up once it touches the chest.

(2) Elbows at 45 Degrees – you want your elbows coming down at a 45° angle from your body. One of the most common mistakes lifters make when benching is to open up their elbows. If your elbows shift out to your sides near 90° from your body, you could get injured. It will also lead to inefficient pressing and not getting the most out of the lift.

(3) Dig In your Heels – pull your feet far under your body as possible and dig your heels into the ground. This will enhance your ability to drive with your full body when pressing. With every rep, dig in your heels, flex your glutes, and your legs will help you drive the weight upward.

(4) Fill Your Lungs with Air – you want your lungs to assist in generating the power to press. Breathe only during your rest between sets and not as you press; doing so will immediately and greatly deplete your pressing power.

(5) Contact Point – touching the bar just under your pecs will allow you to keep your elbows at 45° from your body. When the bar is further up the chest, the elbows tend to come out, and once your elbows come out, your shoulder blades spread out. Once your shoulder blades spread out, your arch tends to get lost and your power will diminish.

What Not to Do On the Bench

Here are 5 common mistakes that you MUST avoid if you want to conquer the bench …

• Bringing the bar too high – Do not bench to the neck. Doing so will way overstress your shoulder joint and could lead to rotator cuff surgery!

• Unsafe grip – do not use a thumbless grip on the bench press. Not only does it raise the possibility that the bar could slip out of your grip, it also hyperextends your wrist. When you are holding a maximum weight, the last thing you need is a compromised wrist joint!

• Thrust your hips – If you’re reading this, I’m assuming that you’re benching for pec development rather than simply to hoist a number. That being the case, you want to keep the stress on your chest, delts and triceps. To do that you need to keep your hips down throughout the movement.

• Use momentum – In line with the last point, you must avoid stealing the effect of this exercise from your working muscles by allowing momentum to carry the weight up. That means that you must never bounce the bar off your chest.

• Twist your spine – You need to stay focused at all times when you are benching. It doesn’t matter if there’s a holdup at the front of the gym; resist the temptation to twist your neck to see what’s going on. Finish your set first!

Wrap-Up

The bench press is a natural but not a simple exercise. Taking the time to learn how to do it properly will pay off big time in terms of getting your poundage up and maxing out your muscle gain results. Just remember that the biggest problem that most guys have with the bench press is their ego. Be sure to leave yours at the gym door on chest day!

Check out the products from Enhanced to help with your bench press. Enhanced is the home of Big Ramy, 2020 Mr. Olympia champion, 11x Olympia competitor Dennis “the Menace” James, and hundreds of other professional bodybuilders, athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and biohackers.

The post Bench Press Boot Camp appeared first on FitnessRX for Men.

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By: Team FitRx
Title: Bench Press Boot Camp
Sourced From: www.fitnessrxformen.com/training/bench-press-boot-camp/
Published Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2021 13:29:42 +0000

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Mens Health

MACHINE GREENS + REDS

Published

3 days ago

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June 8, 2023

By

2122

Machine Greens + Reds is the most complete Greens and Reds product on the market with 1 gram of MaquiForza™, boasting the highest antioxidant levels of any fruit!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could get all the benefits of multiple servings of fruits and vegetables without the calories or bowls full of food – not to mention the added sugar in fruit and the extra chore of having to wash the dishes? What many people want is just a delicious and refreshing beverage that they enjoy once per day. Voilà, your nutritional wishes have been granted by MTS Nutrition.

Machine Greens + Reds is the most complete Greens and Reds product on the market with 1 gram of MaquiForza™, boasting the highest antioxidant levels of any fruit!

The Nutrients Your Body Needs

Machine Greens + Reds isn’t just grass shavings in a powder. Machine Greens + Reds contains the patented Greens Balance Alkalinizing Blend® (4,000 mg) and Betta Berries™ Antioxidant Blend (200 mg) to ensure you get what you need out of a greens and reds blend – validated ingredients that deliver the nutrients that your body needs.

Drink Your Fruits and Veggies

Directions: a dietary supplement, mix one scoop into 6-10 ounces of water, depending on flavor preferences and consume 1-2 times per day.

MACHINE GREENS + REDS

• 4g Green Balance®

• 1g MaquiForza™

• 200mg Betta Berries®

• FDA-Inspected Facility

• Made in a GMP Facility

• Strawberry Banana Flavor

For more information, visit tigerfitness.com

The above statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

MTS Nutrition: Quality and Performance

All MTS Nutrition products are created to be the highest possible quality. The company takes pride in the quality of its products and the results they will provide users. Quality control and truth to label are very important to CEO Marc Lobliner.

MTS Nutrition assures its customers that they are receiving the most advanced and adequately dosed ingredients with NO proprietary blends. The reason? So you know exactly what you’re putting in your body, and that each supplement is as effective as possible.

MTS Nutrition supplements have taken performance and taste to heights never seen before.

495718777 tiger nutrition mts greens and reds img 4633 1024x1024 1

The post MACHINE GREENS + REDS appeared first on FitnessRX for Men.

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By: Team FitRx
Title: MACHINE GREENS + REDS
Sourced From: www.fitnessrxformen.com/nutrition/supplements/machine-greens-reds/
Published Date: Thu, 08 Jun 2023 14:04:46 +0000

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Mens Health

Smart Carb Choices for Better Health

Published

5 days ago

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June 5, 2023

By

dreamstime m 212181259 good carbs vs bad carbs 683x1024 1

Naturally Occurring vs. Processed Carbs

I’ve always emphasized the differences between naturally occurring carbohydrates and processed carbohydrates when I created individualized meal plans for clients. Naturally occurring carbohydrates appear as they do in nature, and processed carbohydrates are ground into a flour, typically for a baking process or to be used as a filler. Our bodies are hardwired to break down naturally occurring carbohydrates efficiently. And before certain food crops such as wheat were genetically modified, our bodies were able to digest processed carbohydrates fairly well, but not as well as naturally occurring carbs. However, since the introduction of the genetic modification of foods, the majority of which are grain crops, our bodies reject the genetically modified foods due to the incompatibility of the DNA sequences in relation to our DNA’s sequences. When consumed, the resulting inflammation throughout the digestive tract is caused by the body’s rejection of the genetically modified food. When there is inflammation in the digestive tract, the body’s ability to absorb vitamins and minerals is compromised. When we do not absorb vitamins and minerals properly, disorders begin to occur over time. Simply put, our bodies were designed to break down specifically natural foods and not genetically modified, processed foods.

Increase in Blood Sugar, Body Fat Storage

Another adverse effect of the consumption of genetically modified, processed carbohydrates is the sudden increase in blood sugar as opposed to the slower, gradual increase of blood sugar for energy that naturally occurring carbs provide. When sugar spikes suddenly, or becomes erratic, the body recognizes the sugar as a primary fuel source, which results in body fat storage. The slower, gradual increase in blood sugar which occurs with naturally occurring carbohydrates can provide energy while maintaining the body’s ability to use or “burn” body fat, as a result of the stabilization of the blood sugar.

I strongly encourage the selection of naturally occurring carbohydrates rather than processed carbs to maximize the body’s potential for energy and proper digestion and absorption of nutrients. Alter your diet for a month and witness the results firsthand. Here are two lists displaying the differences:

Naturally Occurring Carbohydrates

• Organic Sweet Potato

• Organic Yam

• Organic Red Skin Potato

• Organic Oats

• Organic Brown Rice

• Organic Quinoa

• Organic Chickpeas

dreamstime m 212181259 good carbs vs bad carbs 683x1024 2

Processed Carbohydrates

• Bread

• Cereal

• Wheat Flour

• Pasta

• Bagels

• Muffins/Pastries

 

Helpful Tip: Limit your carbohydrate intake to your first three meals of the day, or a timing of 9:00 a.m., 12 noon, and 3:00 p.m. (or morning through the afternoon). Our bodies utilize carbohydrates more efficiently earlier in the day. Set a rule to have no starchy carbohydrates with dinner or later, and keep those meals limited to protein, vegetable, and a salad.

The post Smart Carb Choices for Better Health appeared first on FitnessRX for Men.

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By: John M. DiFazio II
Title: Smart Carb Choices for Better Health
Sourced From: www.fitnessrxformen.com/nutrition/smart-carb-choices-for-better-health/
Published Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2023 20:30:33 +0000

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Mens Health

MRE PROTEIN MUFFIN

Published

5 days ago

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June 5, 2023

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495718521 wb 1024x1024 1

MRE PROTEIN MUFFIN is a whole-food protein snack that packs 15 grams of protein and is baked to perfection.

We’ve all been there: you grab some coffee after hitting the gym and you see tempting muffins available for purchase at checkout. The muffins would go great with your coffee and really hit the spot, but you pass because muffins aren’t on your diet. Well, the days of muffins being off-limits are over thanks to Redcon1, which has launched the delicious MRE PROTEIN MUFFIN, a whole-food protein snack that packs 15 grams of protein and is baked to perfection.

Whole Food Protein

MRE PROTEIN MUFFINs are freshly baked with real food ingredients and have a mouthwatering, homemade taste that makes it easy to boost your daily protein intake as well as your calories. Available in Double Chocolate Chip (230 calories) and Wild Blueberry (210 calories) flavors, each bite of a MRE PROTEIN MUFFIN is a flavor sensation and protein boost that will satisfy your nutritional needs and overwhelm your taste buds. The Double Chocolate Chip MRE PROTEIN MUFFIN is made with real chocolate chips, and the Wild Blueberry muffins will transport you to blueberry muffin paradise with their authentic flavor sensation.

Satisfying and Tempting

Redcon1 has really outdone themselves with the advent of the MRE PROTEIN MUFFIN. Now you can have your muffin and eat it too. Not only are the muffins satisfying, moist and tempting, but they are low in sugar too. And they are a convenient, on-the-go source of extra calories. Make Redcon1’s MRE PROTEIN MUFFIN part of your meal plan and rediscover the joy of eating a good muffin without any of the guilt.

MRE PROTEIN MUFFIN

• Whole Food Protein Snack

• Baked With Real Food Ingredients

• 15g Protein

• 5g Collagen

• No Whey Protein

• Freshly Baked

• Homemade Taste

• Boosts Daily Protein Intake

• 230 Calories (Double Chocolate Chip)

• 210 Calories (Wild Blueberry)

For more information, visit redcon1.com

Use MRE PROTEIN MUFFINs as a food supplement only. Do not use for weight reduction. Not a low-calorie food.495718521 wb 1024x1024 2

The post MRE PROTEIN MUFFIN appeared first on FitnessRX for Men.

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By: Team FitRx
Title: MRE PROTEIN MUFFIN
Sourced From: www.fitnessrxformen.com/nutrition/mre-protein-muffin/
Published Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2023 19:48:13 +0000

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