Conquer the Bench

Welcome to Conquer the Bench, the site devoted to helping you getting the most amazing results from your bench press routine! What is the one machine that is being used nearly all the time? It’s the bench press.

What is the one thing that most people ask you when you tell them that you have been working out at the gym? It’s not how much do you squat, or how many curls you can do? Nope, it’s how much can you bench! Reputations are made and lost on the bench press. And it’s one of the three lifts in the sport of powerlifting. It’s arguably the main workout used in weight training workout and bodybuilding to develop the chest muscles (Pectoralis Major and Pectoralis Minor)

Apart from the biceps, the size of a bodybuilders chest muscles is a good sign of their efforts in the gym and most likely, their success with the bench press. A well rounded, shapely set of pectorals tells everyone that the person is serious about their workouts, their health and their physique

Image courtesy of Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectoralis_major_muscle)

The thing that makes the bench press the real star of the gym and so beneficial is the fact that it’s both functional and visually appealing. A strong chest is a fundamental component that is needed in a whole range of sports such as boxing, basketball, football, wrestling, swimming, baseball, rowing and many others. Almost anything that you throw a ball, swing a bat, or exert force on an object, or an opponent requires a strong well built upper body, and the centrepiece of the upper torso is of course, the chest.

Unfortunately, being one of the most popular workouts, is it also one that is consistently performed wrong. People injure themselves all the time on the bench press for many reasons including trying to lift too much weight, using bad form when lifting, trying to impress their friends in the gym, and many others. Tearing ligaments or tendons in shoulders, back injuries and elbow/wrist strains are common and even cracked or broken ribs from bouncing the heavy bar off of the chest to provide momentum. No one wants to see these injuries occur, so it is important that you train the right muscles and get the right information.

If you prepare yourself mentally with the right knowledge about how to lift correctly before even stepping in the gym then half the battle has already been won, and you will perform your bench press routines better then 80% of the people out there who lie down on the bench, lift a weight far too heavy for them, injure themselves then walk away, cursing and wondering what went wrong.

Here at Conquer the Bench we aim to get you benching the right way with proper form and correct technique. You will also find information on related exercises and routines that compliment and enhance your bench press workouts. If it’s related to the bench press, we will be writing about it here at Conquer the Bench.

Lift hard, lift strong

Conquer the Bench