10 Bench Press Mistakes to Avoid if You Want a Bigger Bench

The bench press is the most popular exercise in the world, and it is a fundamental compound lift for your chest, front deltoids, and triceps.

To reap the greatest benefits from the bench press, however, there are some mistakes that you should avoid in your training.

In this article, I’ll share ten of the most common mistakes that hold your bench press gains back.

Mistake 1: Going Too Heavy, Too Often

Don’t get me wrong: few things will increase your strength faster than practicing lifting heavy.

The thing is that very little practice at lifting heavy seems to be enough to get the benefit, and you certainly don’t need to do it all the time.

The rest of the time, you should work with weights that allow you to control the technique and engrain good form.

Don’t be the person who tries to max out every workout with their technique breaking down because they never actually took the time to learn the lift.

Mistake 2: No Warm-up Sets

You don’t have to overcomplicate the warm-up, but you should do something.

For the bench press, just gradually heavier sets are all that most people need.

Begin with lifting the empty barbell (or something even lighter if that is currently too heavy for you), and then add weighs in small jumps of 10–20% of your target weight.

If your target training weight is 60 kg (132 lb) for sets of five reps, you might do these warm-up sets:

1. 20 kg (45 lb, empty bar) x 10 reps
2. 40 kg (88 lb) x 5 reps
3. 50 kg (110 lb) x 5
4. 60 kg (132 lb) x 5 (target weight, and your first work set)

The warm-up sets prepare your mind and body for the harder sets, and they offer extra technique practice.

Don’t perform them half-assedly; take them seriously and use the reps to engrain good form.

That way, you improve your odds of maintaining your form during maximally heavy lifts in the future.

Mistake 3: Happy Feet

You can dance if you want to. (Reference)

But, during a heavy set of bench pressing, I want you to keep your feet firmly planted on the ground.

The bench press is a lift that thrives on stability, and moving your feet around is a sign that your foundation is unstable.

Place your feet down during your set-up, unrack the bar, and then don’t move them again until you’ve completed the lift.

If you’ve been a footloose bench presser for a while, it might take some time to undo this bad habit (especially on heavy weights where you have less conscious control over your body), but it can be done if you’re disciplined about it.

Mistake 4: Brazilian Butt Lift

It’s a common instinct for people to lift their butts off the bench when they’re lifting a heavy weight.

They do it because it shifts their pecs into a stronger position, and also, the momentum helps them clear the sticking region in the bench press.

The problem with lifting your butt in the bench press, much like doing half squats, is that you’re robbing yourself of a standard.

If you change how you perform a lift, how will you know if you actually got stronger or just got better at cheating it?

Perform your bench presses with the bar touching the chest and your shoulders and butt touching the bench. There is your standard, and you should stick to it.

(And don’t actually do a Brazilian butt lift. Do deep squats instead.)

Mistake 5: Bouncing the Bar on the Chest

There are several reasons for why you should avoid forcefully bouncing the barbell on the chest.

1. Like in the previous point, it robs you of a standard. How will you know if you’re getting stronger or just getting better at bouncing the bar?
2. It’s dangerous. You might damage your sternum, which can put a major break on your chest training for a really long time.
3. Less training effect. You’re skipping out on the heaviest, most stimulating part of the lift. This is the part where your pecs are stretched and working against a long moment arm. It is excellent for stimulating pec muscle growth, and a crucial position to get strong in.

If you want to increase your strength and grow a bigger chest, you want to spend time in the bottom position! Yes, it’s heavy and uncomfortable, but it’s the most rewarding part of the range of motion. You should relish it instead of avoiding it.

Now, I won’t tell you to perform all your bench press reps with a pause on your chest (even though I believe that is excellent for building strength in the bottom range of motion), but I will recommend you at least control the turning point and not bounce it.

Lower the barbell with control. Pause for a moment or gently touch your t-shirt, and then push back up hard.

Mistake 6: Not Touching the Chest with the Bar at All

What’s that? You’re so afraid of bouncing that you now don’t touch the bar to the chest at all?

That’s no good.

For one, like I’ve been harping on about for a while now: it robs you of a standard; did you get stronger, or did you just reverse the movement higher than before?

Secondly (again), you’re missing out on the best part! You want to spend time in the bottom position, where your pecs are stretched, and you are the weakest.

Get stronger in the bottom position, and you’ll get stronger in the bench press.

Half bench pressing is like half squatting: less strength, less muscle growth.

Mistake 7: Risking Your Life With a Suicide Grip

I want you to grip the bar with your thumb on the opposing side of your other fingers.

The alternative, gripping with the thumb on the same side as the other fingers, is called a “suicide grip”, and I think you can figure out why.

Sure, the suicide grip might feel more comfortable on your wrists, but you’re playing with fire.

One slip-up and the barbell come racing down on your face or throat. It doesn’t take a lot of weight for it to seriously injure your face or teeth or even kill you. If you’re planning on doing thousands of bench press reps in your life, assume you’ll make a mistake or just have plain bad luck in at least one of them.

You should always use safety racks or a spotter when available, but even when doing so, I strongly recommend against the thumbless grip. You never know when you forget to set the racks up, or they break, or something else weird happens.

Grasp the bar with your thumb around the bar, and greatly reduce your risk of serious injury in the bench press.

Mistake 8: Not Arching at All

Don’t lie flat as a pancake on the bench.

Puff your chest up like a buff cartoon character on the beach. Pull your shoulders back and down a bit.

Arching your back brings it a little closer to the barbell, increases stability in your upper body, and puts your pecs in a stronger pressing position.

A study of trained powerlifters showed they could lift 4.2 kg or 9 pounds (3.5%) more in a one-rep max with an arched back than a flat back.¹

You don’t have to exaggerate it as some powerlifters do, but just puffing your chest up a bit and tensing your back can do wonders for your stability and pressing base.

Mistake 9: Too Much Arch

What’s that, you already arch in your bench press?

And to extreme extents, every workout?

Excessive arching can severely limit your range of motion. While that can be good for performance in the acute time frame, it might harm your long-term muscle and strength gains.²

If you’re a competitive powerlifter or you just like arching a lot in your bench press, consider performing some portion of your bench press training with a more flat position.

Alternatively, sub in some bench press alternatives that allow for a longer range of motion.

Mistake 10: Too Far Away from the Rack

One thing many beginner bench pressers do that instantly sets them up for a bad set is that they position themselves too low on the bench. Meaning that they are far away from the rack.

What this does is that it sharply increases the lever arm against which you have to lift the barbell out to get it into position.

Not only is this awkward and can hurt your shoulders, but it also saps you of strength before the set has even started and can mess up your pressing position.

Your goal should be to lie as close to the rack as possible to make unracking the bar easier without risking slamming the bar into the rack when you’re lifting.

Most people should place themselves on the bench so that the racked barbell is over their nose. It depends a bit on how tall you are (because that will influence the distance between your shoulders and your face); some people might want to keep the barbell above their eyes, some above their mouths.

Note that this applies when using a proper power rack. Some rack designs have unnecessarily long hooks, which force you to lie further away from the racked barbell.

Increase Your Bench Press Strength

Now you know ten things to avoid doing if you want a bigger bench press.

But what should you do?

Check out the articles below:

• How to Increase Your Bench Press
• 10+ Bench Press Programs
• Bench Press Strength Standards
• How to Bench Press: Muscles Worked & Proper Form

Make sure to track your bench press training in our workout tracker to make sure you’re regularly progressing.

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References

1. J Strength Cond Res. 2024 Mar 29. Flat-Back vs. Arched-Back Bench Press: Examining the Different Techniques Performed by Power Athletes.
2. J Strength Cond Res. 2022 Jan 1;36(1):10-15. Bench Press at Full Range of Motion Produces Greater Neuromuscular Adaptations Than Partial Executions After Prolonged Resistance Training.