Bench Press
Pushing strength in contests
How to do it well
The set-up and the rep in full, then the cues the app shows on the exercise card — the short version, for the moment you are standing in front of the bar.
Set-up
Lie on the bench with your eyes under the bar. Plant the feet flat, slightly behind the knees. Pull the shoulder blades back and down into the bench and keep a slight arch in the upper back. Grip a little wider than the shoulders, wrists straight over the elbows. Use a spotter or safety arms on heavy sets.
The rep
Unrack with straight arms and settle the bar over the shoulders. Take a breath and brace, then lower the bar for two seconds to touch the lower chest, forearms vertical, elbows at about 45° from the body. Press it back up and slightly back towards the rack, driving the feet into the floor, until the arms lock. Breathe at the top.
On the exercise card
- Retract scaps
- Drive feet
- Tempo
- 2s down
What goes wrong, and the fix
| What goes wrong | The fix |
|---|---|
| The shoulder blades coming off the bench | Pull them back and down before you unrack, and keep them there for the whole set. |
| Elbows flared out to 90° | Tuck them to about 45°. Flared elbows put the front of the shoulder in a poor position. |
| Bouncing the bar off the chest | Two seconds down and a touch, not a rebound. |
| Feet loose or lifting | Drive them into the floor. Leg drive keeps the whole body tight. |
Make it easier, or harder
- Easier
- A dumbbell bench press, or a lighter bar with a pause on the chest.
- Harder
- A one-second pause on the chest, or more load once the two-second lowering holds.
How Train Smart prescribes it
The sets and reps below are the authored starting point. The actual weight you see is calculated from your own last top set and the week you are in within your four-week block.
AFL, both rugby codes and basketball all use it as the main upper-body push, four sets of five or six, at around 80% of a maximum in the football codes. Pushing strength is what wins a contest: a fend, a hand-off, holding ground in a ruck or a box-out.
| Program | Session | Sets × reps | Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFL | Upper Power | 4 × 5 | 78% 1RM |
| Rugby League | Power & Collision | 4 × 5 | 80% 1RM |
| Rugby Union | Power & Contact | 4 × 5 | 80% 1RM |
| Basketball | Upper + Trunk | 4 × 6 | Moderate–heavy |
What it trains, and who trains it
- Region
- Upper body
- Prescribed in
- AFL · rugby league · rugby union · basketball
If you cannot do this one
Rack taken, kit missing, or it does not suit you. These are the swaps the app offers, matched by movement pattern and body region — each with the reason it is a fair substitute.
| Alternative | Why it works as a swap |
|---|---|
| Incline DB Press | Upper-chest + front-delt bias |
| Floor Press | Shoulder-friendly, lockout strength |
| Spoto Press | Pause 1 inch above chest — tightness + control |
| Larsen Press | Feet up — pure upper-body pressing, no leg drive |
| Push-Up | No kit, scalable, shoulder-stable |
| Plyo Push-Up | Explosive upper-body power — strikers + handball/volleyball |
This exercise, in a program that knows why it is there
Train Smart puts this movement in the right session, at the right point in your block, at a weight calculated for you — and swaps it automatically if you do not have the kit.
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