How to do the Barbell Bench Press
Step by step
- Lie on the bench with eyes under the bar and feet planted flat on the floor.
- Grip the bar a bit wider than shoulders and pinch your shoulder blades back and down.
- Unrack the bar and hold it straight over your chest with arms locked.
- Lower the bar under control to touch your mid-chest, elbows tucked slightly.
- Press the bar back up in a smooth line to over your chest.
The thing people get wrong
Use a spotter or safety arms near your working weight. Keep your shoulder blades pinned back the whole set instead of letting them roll forward.
Coaching cue
Drive your feet into the floor and keep your wrists stacked straight over your elbows.
Stay safe
Wrap your thumbs around the bar; a thumbless grip can let it roll off onto your chest.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Use the empty bar until the path feels smooth and repeatable.
- Harder: Pause the bar on your chest for one second each rep.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Chest, Triceps
- Secondary: Front delts
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.