1 Easy Hack To Bench More Weight!

Today I want to share with you a technique that’s going to help you lift more weight on CHEST DAY, when you’re doing flat OR incline dumbbell bench pressing. I will cover the technique for both versions (starting with flat), because the technique does change between the two.

The Main Problem With Dumbbell Pressing

What happens to a lot of us (especially beginners) when we’re in the gym and doing a dumbbell bench press, is we lack proper shoulder retraction to do the movement properly. In order to perform a dumbbell bench press with proper form, you have to keep your shoulders retracted. Retracting your shoulders allows you to elevate your chest a bit more, and press the weight over your chest, instead of pressing it over your shoulders. It disengages the shoulders, and reduces the risk of injury. I actually have a video called How To: Dumbbell Bench Press, 3 Golden Rules which you can check out as well.

But basically, a lot of people put the dumbbells on their thighs, roll back with the dumbbells by their sides, and then fight to get into position before pressing the weights up. This happens especially with heavy weights, and it’s bad for a couple of reasons. Firstly, all that energy you’re wasting to press those weights up for the first time is going to affect how many reps you do on your set. Number two, if you’re rolling back with the dumbbells at your sides and fighting to get them up, you’re not really keeping your shoulder blades retracted. You’re actually pressing the weight up over your shoulders, which can cause an injury because you’re not able to get them retracted tightly until you’re arms are straight and you’re able to slide your body back to keep that nice retraction.

How Does The Hack Work On A Flat Bench?

This is where my technique comes into play, and it’s actually very easy to do. All you have to do is take the dumbbells, and instead of placing them on your thighs, place them towards the end of your legs – near your kneecap, but still resting on your quads. You then just have to lean forward a little bit, and then as you roll backwards you’re going to push off your toes (which will help you throw the weights in the air), and as you get halfway, you’ll extend your arms. It should all be one smooth motion to get yourself into position, and from there you can do one tiny sliding movement to help you get an arch in your back and your shoulder blades fully retracted. This will have you in the best position possible to lift as much weight as you can without injuring your shoulders.

Now this entire movement is more about technique, not about how strong you are. If I were to grab 60lb dumbbells for example, I can do them for reps. However, it’s not a matter of strength rolling back, it’s simply push through the toes, toss the weights up, and you’re in place and ready to go. Also, it’s worth noting that the best way to get out of a dumbbell bench press, is to reverse this technique. Just turn your palms to a neutral position, bring your knees up, and return to the starting position. However, if you get stuck at the bottom, then just turn your palms to neutral, and drop the dumbbells by your sides. Never drop the weights by extending your arms directly out from your chest, because you’ll rip your shoulders off!

Now if I were to use 115lb dumbbells, again, I can rep them out, but they’re still really heavy weights and difficult to get up. With this technique though, you can get them up there a lot easier. No matter what the weight is, this technique will ALWAYS help. This is a technique that has really helped me, and it’s something I always teach to people I train in the gym. If you don’t have a spotter, but you want to continue to lift heavy without worrying about a shoulder injury, this is the way to do it.

How Does The Hack Work On An Incline Bench?

When it comes to doing it on the incline bench, it works a little different. It’s a bit harder to do, but you can still get away with it if you’re good at tossing your arms up. It works a little different on the incline because you have to kind of thrust your body backwards. However, you still put the dumbbells in the same position at the end of your leg, and you’re still going to push off your toes, but you should actually come off the bench a bit (including your butt) and then thrust yourself back.

This enables you to get into position with the dumbbells on your chest, and then press up. Sometimes if you do it fast enough, you’ll be able to get the dumbbells up to about halfway, but for the most part you will end up at the bottom position, but that’s OK because your shoulders will still be packed.

Conclusion

There you have it, my technique to get into position easier and faster, and lift more weight when doing incline or the flat bench press. I hope this helps you avoid any injuries, and start tossing up some super heavy dumbbells!