Bench Press

Although I would not consider this to be the most important lift in your arsenal, the Bench Press seems to be the ultimate measure of strength to the average man (and don't get me wrong, this is probably the best exercise for increasing strength and muscle mass in your chest as well); thus, this lift is an important exercise to have in your program from the start as it is also very easy to perform.

The Muscles it Works: The main target of this exercise are the pectorals. It also targets your shoulders and triceps to a lesser extent. Also, it minorly works your deltoids.

How to Perform: Make sure you have a spotter with you for safety. Begin by lying down on the bench with bar positioned above your shoulders. Make sure your hands are positioned evenly from the center of the bar, but the width of your grip is up to you and what feels comfortable (a good rule of thumb is slightly wider than your shoulders). Keep your feet flat on the ground in front of the bench, and keep your shoulders and butt flat on the bench (but you can arch your back a bit).

Now, to begin the bench press, lift the bar off of the bench by pushing up on the bar while pressing your shoulders against the bench. Move the bar so it is directly above your chest. Carefully lower the bar so that it touches your chest, and then lift it back up (once again, by pushing up on the bar while driving your shoulder blades into the bench). Repeat for your preferred amount of reps and then place the bar back on the rack.

Tips:
1. Try increasing the amount of arch in your back to add more shoulder strength into this exercise to increase the amount of weight you can do.
2. If you are going for strength, safely bounce the bar off of your chest to be able to handle a greater amount of weight.
3. If you are training for mass, keep the motion slow and deliberate both on the way down and on the way down (and you can even pause the bar on your chest for a second to eliminate all bounce you may be getting)

Conclusion: This is one of the easiest lifts to perform, yet it is also one of the ones that you will be most judged by for the amount of weight you can perform (along with being the key exercise for developing your chest). There are many different variations you can perform (which I will be covering in posts to come), but I would recommend that you never leave the Bench Press out of your weightlifting routine as their is nothing else that can replace hardcore strength and a fundamental lift such as this.