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Fitness & Health

08th Feb 2016

You’ve probably been doing the bench press wrong your whole life (Video)

It's no wonder our chest never grows!

Ben Kenyon

Everyone wants a big chest.

It’s the muscle everyone trains first and it’s probably the reason you can get nowhere near the bench at the gym on a Monday.

But getting bigger pectorals isn’t just a case of pushing out a few reps.

We’ve just seen this post from one of Britain’s top personal trainers, Mark Coles, and it turns out we’ve been hitting the bench press wrong our whole lives.

We’ve been using weights that are too heavy, not going through the full range of motion and using our shoulders and triceps to do the work of our chest.

We’re not the only ones – even men’s fitness cover model Kirk Miller hasn’t got the technique nailed down after undergoing a 12-week Cover Model Chest programme at Coles’ M10 Fitness gym in Nottingham.

The champion bodybuilder is nothing but fastidious in ensuring the perfect form on the bench press.

This Instagram post gives an in-depth look at how to really nail the dumbbell press and get the maximum muscle growth from the movement.

The key is not going too heavy before you have perfected the move. Then you need to ensure you go through a full range of motion, keeping your scapula retracted and the contraction on your chest throughout.

If you’re keeping your elbows tucked in when pressing or bringing the dumbbells towards your shoulders, then you’re probably hitting your triceps and shoulders instead of your chest.

Here is the perfect technique….

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBAFM1SHT8o/