Bench press technique part 5

“Pulling the bar out of the rack”

By Ian Smalley

After you’ve gotten arched and locked in, it’s time to take the bar out of the rack. The common mistake here is to Bench press the bar out of the rack. If you do this you will absolutely ruin your entire set up and derail your bench press technique up to that point. Let me explain why. As you recall you’ve painstakingly managed to get arched up onto your traps and tucked your shoulders down beneath you…now as soon as you press the weight out of the rack you shoulders slide up towards your ears and then back forward towards your feet, only now instead of being beneath you your shoulders are up and out. Your arch has probably dropped to half and you’ve flattened out and lost position. This one mistake probably leads to more “mysterious” misses than anything else. “ The weight felt light in my hands but the shirt didn’t load”. Or “I’m just not feeling it today”.

The key to holding your position is to “pull” the weight out of the rack. Have your hand off guy give you the weight so all you have to focus on is “pulling” the bar out into position instead of pressing it out. The pulling action keeps your lats engaged from the beginning, which keeps your shoulders locked underneath you and your arch up. Its nearly impossible to reset your shoulders once they're sucked out and you have 600lbs in your hands. Ta Dah! The easiest bench press technique in the world just saved your entire set up and now your almost ready to actually press some weight.

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