Liftworthy
ExploreTrainFeed
Liftworthy

Every exercise ranked by research, by lifters and by results. Find what’s S-tier for your goal, then train it.

Rankings
  • All rankings
  • Add an exercise
  • Build a workout
About
  • How scores work
  • The app
  • Your tiers
Legal
  • Privacy
  • Terms & community rules
General training information, not medical advice. If something hurts, stop and see a professional.
  • Explore
  • Train
  • Feed
  • You
Explore/Chest

Barbell Bench Press

Also called Bench press, Flat bench

BarbellCompoundTakes some practice
Front
Back
Primary Secondary

Works

Chest

Also delts, triceps

You need

Bench press station

How to do itPictures · 3 steps
1Start
2Bottom
Main musclesAlso working
  1. 1Pin shoulder blades back and down
  2. 2Touch the bar to your lower chest
  3. 3Drive through your feet as you press

Most common mistake

Flaring elbows to 90° and bouncing the bar off the chest.

Watch a demo

Good for

  • Easy to keep adding weight

Compare with

vs Dumbbell Bench Pressvs Machine Chest Pressvs Single-Arm Cable Chest Press
B
For american football
#20 of 35
See the full list →
Research
66
Scored by hand
Results
Soon
From the app
How lifters rate itBe the first
S
A
B
C
D
F
Why research scores it 66
TransferStrong
Injury protectionFair
PracticalityExcellent

Upper-body pushing strength for blocking and shedding blocks. The Combine tests it with reps at 225 lb.

Research behind these criteria

  • Transfer: Seitz et al., 2014 · Markovic, 2007 · Blagrove et al., 2018 · Rønnestad & Mujika, 2014
  • Injury protection: Lauersen et al., 2014 · van Dyk et al., 2019 · Harøy et al., 2019 · Webster & Hewett, 2018
How scores work

Machine taken? Swap to

  • SNordic CurlBodyweight
  • ANeck Curl & ExtensionOther
  • ABroad JumpBodyweight
  • ABarbell Back SquatBarbell

Takes

None yet
needed to post
280