The bench press

What works

Set up with five points of contact and a retracted, depressed shoulder position. Dr. Jordan Shallow's checklist: feet, glutes, shoulder blades, head, and grip all locked in, butt staying on the bench, head on the bench without excessive chin tuck (Dr. Jordan Shallow). Dr. Mike Israetel matches it: chest up, shoulders back and retracted, feet pinched under for stability, glutes firmly down, controlled straight-line bar path (Dr. Mike Israetel), and Dr. Bill Campbell adds grip slightly wider than shoulders, elbows tucked to about 70 degrees, and the bar lowered on a diagonal to the sternum (Dr. Bill Campbell). Mike Boyle teaches the same fundamentals to beginners: eyes under the bar at setup, knuckles up, bar touching the highest point of the chest, feet pushing through the floor (Mike Boyle).

The bench press is a full-body lift: leg drive plus lat engagement. Dr. Alyssa Olenick treats it as a whole-body exercise, tucking the legs back and pressing toward the rack for power off the chest with a tight upper back (Dr. Alyssa Olenick); Shallow drives the legs into the upper back to press the shoulder blades into the bench (Dr. Jordan Shallow); Mark Bell's most repeated non-commercial cue is the same: stack wrist, elbow, and bar, and simulate pulling the weight into you to engage the lats before pushing (Mark Bell).

Protect the shoulders with tucked elbows, scapular position, and gradual loading. Cavaliere keeps elbows at about 45 degrees to avoid internal rotation with shoulder blades retracted throughout (Jeff Cavaliere), Judd Lienhard uses the same 45-degree tuck with the bar across the palm (Judd Lienhard), and Israetel warns that pressing with the shoulders sitting low stresses the AC joint (a common injury, especially under fatigue), so retract the scapulae, push the chest up, manage fatigue, and progress from light weights (Dr. Mike Israetel). Cavaliere adds consciously unshrugging the shoulders before pressing for better chest recruitment (Jeff Cavaliere), and driving the shoulders back into the bench while lifting the sternum lets people with biceps tendon or rotator cuff irritation press pain free (Jeff Cavaliere).

Control the tempo: slow eccentric, pause in the stretch, explosive press. Israetel prescribes a slow descent with a two-second pause at the deepest stretch, shoulders back (Dr. Mike Israetel); Cavaliere presses explosively after a controlled lowering to bias type 2 fibers (Jeff Cavaliere), pauses at the bottom so the chest initiates (Jeff Cavaliere), and uses forced slowness to add joint stability for lifters with structural shoulder issues (Jeff Cavaliere).

Grip width and foot position steer the bar path; pick them by goal. A wider grip and feet pulled far back produce a straighter bar path, while narrower grips and forward feet create a J-curve (Dr. Jordan Shallow). Israetel uses a max legal wide grip to free the biceps and improve lockout for strength (Dr. Mike Israetel), a medium to wide grip with full chest touch for hypertrophy (Dr. Mike Israetel), and a very close grip with tucked elbows to add triceps (Dr. Mike Israetel). Bill Hartman notes elbows-in pressing allows more late internal rotation and force, and that specialty bars or grip variations can work around individual limitations and pain (Bill Hartman, specialty bars).

Dumbbells and the 30-degree incline are the shoulder-friendly default for general trainees. Cavaliere prefers the 30-degree incline dumbbell press for chest activation with minimal front delt, natural external rotation, and shoulder health, especially for older adults, switching from barbell to dumbbells whenever discomfort persists after technique fixes (Jeff Cavaliere, older adults, discomfort switch, preference). Boyle angles dumbbells slightly inward at 30 to 45 degrees like an arrow toward the head (Mike Boyle), and Cavaliere lifts the head 1 to 2 inches during dumbbell pressing to keep shoulders back and spare the neck (Jeff Cavaliere).

Dips are a legitimate main lift when the shoulder blades stay stable. Lienhard programs dips as a staple, not an accessory, using the shoulder blades and serratus anterior to prevent impingement (Judd Lienhard); Cavaliere controls depth to about 90 degrees of elbow flexion with shoulders back and down, adding weight once 12 clean bodyweight reps are there (Jeff Cavaliere, 20 effective reps); Shallow anchors the ribs and engages the core for lower-pec dips (Dr. Jordan Shallow); only go as low as scapular stability holds (Jeff Cavaliere).

For specific situations

• Solo lifters and safety. Center the bench so the chest is directly under the bar, set J-hooks low enough to unrack without full arm extension, and consider skipping clips when benching alone so the bar can be dumped, though a spotter is always preferred (Dr. Alyssa Olenick). If stuck under the bar, Carpenter's escape: sit up with the weight, shoulder press it, stand carefully, place it on the shoulder blades, then sit back and rack it (Dr. Sohee Carpenter).
• Pregnancy. From the second trimester, elevate the feet during bench press for comfort while lying on the back (Dr. Sohee Carpenter).
• Post pec tear. Ease back into barbell pressing with shoulder cleanup work; pain-free milestones come before load milestones (Dr. Jordan Shallow).
• Programming templates. Israetel's specificity week for a bench goal: Monday heavier than target for strength, Wednesday near target for technique and metabolic work, Friday low-volume perfect-technique practice (3 sets of 3 to 5) (Dr. Mike Israetel). Lienhard works flat barbell pressing at 4 to 8 reps for strength and size (Judd Lienhard); a simple 2 sets of 10 works for general pushing strength (Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple).
• Weak-point chest work. Bias incline sets when the upper chest lags (3 of every 4 pressing sets), decline when the lower chest lags (Jeff Cavaliere); use cable variations, floor flies, and squeeze presses for stretch and mind-muscle connection (Jeff Cavaliere, two-exercise chest); in pec flys keep arms near 90 degrees without reaching far back (Dr. Jordan Shallow).

Open questions

• How much arch? Israetel endorses retracting the scapulae and arching to create a shelf, reducing range of motion for safety and leverage (Dr. Mike Israetel), and Mark Bell's powerlifting setup benches "off the traps" like a decline press (Mark Bell). Shallow counters for hypertrophy: use leg drive to slide tall up the bench and keep the sternum down, because excessive arching changes pec fiber targeting (Dr. Jordan Shallow). This resolves by goal: bigger arch for maximal strength, modest arch for chest building.
• Dip torso position. Cavaliere cues chest out and shoulders back (Jeff Cavaliere) while Lienhard warns that keeping the chest too high strains the shoulder capsule (Judd Lienhard). Both agree on scapular control; the safe middle is a slight forward lean with depressed shoulder blades rather than an exaggerated proud chest.

Cautions

• Cavaliere's note that Arnold's ultra-wide grip demands extreme shoulder mobility is a history piece, not a recommendation (Jeff Cavaliere).

Putting it into practice

• Teach the five-point setup as the default for every barbell press: feet planted, glutes down, shoulder blades retracted and depressed, head on bench, grip slightly wider than shoulders, bar touching the sternum area.
• Cue the bench as a full-body lift: leg drive into the upper back, lats pulling the bar in, wrist-elbow-bar stacked.
• Default elbow tuck of roughly 45 to 70 degrees from the torso; never let the shoulders roll forward or sit low under load.
• Use tempo as the built-in safety and hypertrophy tool: controlled eccentric, brief pause in the deep stretch, explosive concentric; slow everything further for lifters with shoulder issues.
• For general and older trainees, prefer the 30-degree incline dumbbell press as the primary horizontal push; reserve heavy barbell work for strength-focused lifters.
• Select grip and arch by goal: wide grip and full arch for strength, medium grip with sternum down and chest touch for hypertrophy, close grip for triceps emphasis.
• Program dips as a main lift gated on scapular stability, adding load at 12 clean bodyweight reps and capping depth near 90 degrees of elbow flexion.
• Bake in solo-lifter safety: centered bench, J-hooks set for a short unrack, no clips when alone, stuck-bar escape taught during onboarding.

Experts in this guide: 20 effective reps, Bill Hartman, Dr. Alyssa Olenick, Dr. Bill Campbell, Dr. Jordan Shallow, Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple, Dr. Mike Israetel, Dr. Pat Davidson, Dr. Sohee Carpenter, Jeff Cavaliere, Judd Lienhard, Mark Bell, Mike Boyle, discomfort switch, older adults, own-brand, preference, specialty bars, two-exercise chest.

Before you act. Entrain is a free knowledge resource. It brings together what named doctors, scientists and coaches teach publicly, with sources, so you can explore and discuss it with your own clinician. It does not diagnose, treat or prescribe, and it is not a substitute for medical care.