3 Exercises That Build More Muscle Than The Bench Press
About 2 years ago I did something that would be considered heresy.
I stopped Bench Pressing.
I feel like some trainers would like to burn me at the stake for saying this.
But the Bench Press is kind of...overrated.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic for building strength and for getting better at….Bench Pressing.
But it’s not great for building muscle, and it’s definitely not great for maintaining healthy shoulders and elbows as you get older.
A lot of guys have an emotional attachment to it.
They think they HAVE to Bench Press to be big and strong when in reality they don’t.
They’re just conditioned to think so.
If you’re like me and as you get older, you only care about looking good and staying injury free so you can pick your daughters up over your head then here are 3 better alternatives to the bench press.
DB Bench Press
The DB Bench Press is better for one simple reason: convergence.
That means “coming together” and in this case we mean that your arms will come together as you press the weights up.
Your pecs job is to squeeze your arms together as you straighten them. So to target the pecs most effectively your arms should be coming together during an exercise. That doesn’t happen with the Bench Press- your arms stay locked in the same position. With DBs you can actively focus on driving your hands together, putting an increased emphasis on your chest.
There’s also more freedom for your elbows to find their healthier position. With DBs you are able to manipulate the angle of your hands to better suit your specific anatomical set up. Basically you can change hand positions to make your shoulder and elbow feel happier and freer as you're pressing.
2. Cable Chest Press
The Cable Chest Press provides tension throughout the entire movement so it’s a better choice for building muscle.
Muscles grow in response to mechanical tension. There are many complicated ways to create tension, but the easiest is to simply choose a movement that’s challenging throughout its entire range of motion.
The Cable Chest Press keeps tension on your pecs throughout the entire range of motion- from the bottom to the top. It also has the same converging advantage of the DB Bench Press.
3. Push Ups/ Banded Push Ups
Push ups are probably the most underrated upper body exercise. The main benefit of push ups is the amount of freedom you have with your shoulders, upper back and shoulder blades.
When you’re pressing anything from a bench your upper back and shoulder blades are kind of pinned in one position- which restricts their ability to move properly.
With a push up without any anchor point your shoulder blades are completely free to move the way they should.
The one drawback in using a push up to build muscle is the lack of load, but that can be remedied by adding a band across your back.
A lot of people would benefit from ditching the Bench Press and opting for smarter choices like these instead.
They’ll help you pack on size, keep your shoulders happy and help you avoid any elbow problems.
Don’t continue to perform an exercise because you think you “have to”. There are no rules in the gym, there are no required movements. If something doesn’t feel good, stop doing it. There are always better, more intelligent movement choices.