Find out what the military barbell bench press is, what types of it exist and how to do the exercise correctly so as not to injure the muscles.

The inflated and embossed V-shaped male figure excites the hearts of girls and commands respect from men. Physical exercises with large weights “sculpt” reference figures.

Regularly using the military press in your workouts, the athlete will pump the entire upper body, become more resilient, stronger and increase muscle mass gain.

Without any equipment, lifting weights over your head is a good indicator of fitness. Bench exercises have long been held in high esteem by strength athletes.

The deltoid muscles are the most commonly used muscles in the human body. They have a wide range of motion and participate in many exercises. Muscles have a certain level of hardening without a special load, which means that you will have to sweat during an upper body workout. The task is further complicated by the structure of the muscles of the shoulder girdle, which is quite complex, so the delta area is easy to overload, pull or injure.

What muscles are pumped by an army bench press?

The military bench press from the chest is a compound exercise for the development of the entire array of muscles of the upper body. With its help, the strength and size of the triceps are built, the muscle growth of all bundles of the deltoid muscles increases, and the back muscles are also worked out. This is one of the main exercises for pumping the shoulder girdle, although a huge number of auxiliary muscles are involved in it. The military press also engages the upper thighs, glutes, and abdominal muscles, which must be strong to stabilize the body during movement.

Standing Army Press Technique

With the exact observance of technical predictions, the military press becomes one of the most valuable exercises in any training complex for creating a powerful shoulder girdle.

You should never neglect your warm-up. This rule applies to all exercises with weight, and when working out the shoulders, it is even more important. A good warm-up of the rotators of the shoulders and stretching of the whole body is necessary to ensure safety and prevent many unpleasant situations (cramps, sprains, dislocations, fractures).

Before starting the approach, double-check the reliability of fixing the pancakes on the bar. fallen on head pancake will not deliver positive emotions to anyone. It is also worth noting the secondary importance of the number of extra pounds on the neck, the main thing is the correct technique. If it is exactly observed, even small weights will respond with pleasant pain and hypertrophy of muscle fibers.

The technique for performing the exercise is as follows:

Remove the bar from the racks, tensing the muscles of the whole body, and take a small step back.

Place your feet shoulder-width apart, parallel to each other. Leave a slight bend in the knee joints.

Keep your back straight with a slight arch in the lower back and do not lean back. Fix your head and look straight ahead.

Throw the barbell over your chest so that the bar lightly touches the upper part of the pectoral muscles.

Before you start doing the military bench press, take a deep breath, tighten your abs and buttocks, and with a breath-holding jerk, squeeze the barbell up over your head. The arms should remain slightly bent at the elbows. Squeezing the bar, you see it near the chin and nose.

As you exhale, straighten your arms completely and spread your shoulders as wide as possible with a slight forward tilt. At the top point, linger for a second, and feel the maximum tension in the muscles of the shoulders.

Return to the starting position: slowly and under control lower the projectile to the chest, but without touching the neck of the shoulders and chest.

Do the planned number of repetitions. If deviations from the technique begin, the approach must be completed earlier.

Lower the bar to your chest and gently return to the racks.

Do not push the bar with sharp jerks and allow it to easily pass the distance from the top to the bottom. During the bench press, the movements should be clear, without jerks and chaos, this will allow you to feel tension in all the muscles being worked out even with small weights.

To provide additional support for the lumbar spine and avoid a large load on the spinal column when working with weights, it is advisable to use a weightlifting belt. It will rigidly fix the spine and greatly increase intra-abdominal pressure.

It is not recommended to perform a military press if there are problems with the spine or shoulder joints.
It is advisable to perform the military bench press while standing at the beginning of a hard workout, while strength has not yet been wasted and you can work with big weights. However, the weight of the weight should be evaluated according to real forces: it is better to take a little less and perform the exercises technically correctly without cheating. The working weight should be such that the athlete can perform 5-10 repetitions for 3-4 sets.

Types of army bench press

In the world of iron sports, there are two additional variations of the military bench press:

the bar should be alternately lowered behind the head and behind the chest;

the trajectory of the movement of the bar decreases by half, drops to the level of the crown and returns up (principle of partial repetitions);

The barbell military bench press can also be done while sitting, as shown in the photo above, but more muscles are involved while standing. Although this option focuses more on the shoulders.

Such execution options “feed” the nervous system more, which gets tired of the monotonous work of the same exercises. There is no special need for them, because the classic army bench press with other basic exercises can transform any shoulders.

The main thing is to train correctly, in compliance with all the rules and concentration on the loaded muscles. Then the athlete will be happy: promoted metabolism and spectacular growth of muscle mass.

Army bench press can be performed not only with a barbell, but also with dumbbells. Which projectile is better? It’s a matter of individual preference. In both options, the accentuated load goes to the shoulders, excluding the work of other muscle groups. Most often, beginners, whose shoulders are almost even, achieve great success with dumbbells, athletes with sloping shoulders will benefit more from a barbell. But this statement does not work for everyone, there may be exceptions. It is worth constantly experimenting and finding the right one for yourself.

Everyone is different, what works for one person may not work for another, and vice versa. That is why all successful athletes, bodybuilders and bodybuilders do not work out according to template programs, but according to individual ones compiled just for them.