Westside Barbell

Q. What is the single biggest bench-press mistake that people make with regard to their form?

A. The most common mistake I see people make is with their setup. They simply lie down on the bench and pay little attention as to where to place their feet or how to position the lower and upper back. Your feet should be in a wide position with the foot tucked behind the knee. This allows you to drive harder against the floor as well as creating a solid base to help with those heavier weights. Next, you want to arch your lower back as much as possible. At first this may be uncomfortable and many of you will struggle, so you will need to work on this. My suggestion is to place PVC pipe under your lower back. The last area

that you need to focus on is getting your upper back in the right position. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as much as you can to create a self to push off against. If you want to bench big, you need to make sure that you’re set up right. Once you put all of this together, expect to see some huge improvements in your bench press numbers instantly.