How to properly pump bench press: 6 exercises for men, women

Fitnesstrener

“Exercising on a bench press is an effective way to work all the muscles you need. Strong abdominal muscles are essential for overall health and fitness, regardless of your gender or age. Bench press workouts are designed to develop abdominal muscle strength and improve body stability, not to burn fat. Reducing belly size is achieved through a calorie deficit.”

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Why train the abs?

Training all segments of the abs and proper nutrition will help build a strong muscular corset, strengthen the spine, make the center of the body powerful and the abdomen flat and embossed.

The abdominal muscles include:

Straight – creates abs and keeps the body balanced.
Transverse – responsible for the stability of the spine and aligns posture.
Pyramidal – makes the abdomen flat.
Oblique – responsible for body mobility.

The abdominal muscles also provide a stable back position, participate in the coordination of body movements, help to cope more easily with everyday activities, maintain proper posture, improve athletic performance, allow you to improve your health, play an important role in the work of the gastrointestinal tract and help reduce the risk of household injuries and back pain.

Kontraindikasjoner

Regular movement activity has a positive effect on musculoskeletal health and mental health. Although sports significantly improve quality of life, everyone may have limitations to exercise that are important to consider.

Before exercising, it is recommended that you consult with your doctor to determine if there are any contraindications. It is important to exercise with extreme caution if you have:

diseases of the cardiovascular system;
problems with the spine and joints;
GI problems;
fedme;
certain types of neurological diseases.

Also, acute joint pain, infections, exacerbation of chronic diseases, recent surgeries and injuries, fever and exacerbation of spinal problems can be signals to limit training.

Benefits of bench workouts

Choice of difficulty. Training on a special bench allows you to choose different angles of inclination, which makes it possible to complicate the exercise and adapt it to your level of fitness.

Isolation of the abs. The design of the bench fixes the legs and body, which allows you to more accurately engage the abdominal muscles. This eliminates unnecessary strain on other muscle groups.

Range of motion. The bench allows you to perform exercises with a large amplitude, which contributes to better stretching and contraction of the abs.

Improved stability and balance. Working out on a bench press may require you to actively hold your balance. This will improve your balance and strengthen your stabilizer muscles.

Exercise variety. The bench press allows you to perform a variety of exercise variations. From classic twists to torso rotations and leg lifts.

Top 6 Bench Press exercises

Adjust the angle of the bench to your level of difficulty.

Bench press curls

Teknikk

Lie with your back on the machine and fix your legs so that one roller is in the hamstring and the second one is on the arch of the foot.
Press your lower back against the bench with a natural flexion. Avoid a strong flexion.
Place your hands on your chest or grasp your ears. This position will relieve unnecessary strain on the cervical region.
As you exhale, bend your torso, pulling your shoulder blades away from the bench. Hold in the bent position for one second.
As you inhale, smoothly straighten the body back to the starting position. Perform the movements without jerking, tensing the abdominal muscles.

Perform two approaches of 15-20 repetitions. The number depends on your fitness level and training goals. Rest between approaches – one minute.

Side twists

Teknikk

Lie with your back on the trainer and fix your legs so that one roll is in the hamstring and the second one is on the arch of the foot.
Press your lower back against the bench with a natural flexion. Avoid a strong flexion.
Place your hands on your ears with your elbows pointing out to the sides. This arm position gently supports your head and eliminates unnecessary movement in your neck.
As you exhale, bend your torso, pulling your shoulder blades away from the bench. Next, rotate the body torso so that the right elbow tends to the left knee. Hold this position for half a second or a second.
As you inhale, smoothly unfold the body torso to the starting position. Perform the movement without jerks, tensing the abdominal muscles.
Repeat on the other side.

Perform two approaches of 10-15 repetitions. Rest between approaches – one minute.

Pelvic tuck with bent legs

Teknikk

Lie with your back on the trainer and grab the roller with your hands. Raise your bent legs up so that your heels look at the ceiling.
The lower back is tense with a natural flexion. Control it throughout the exercise. Relax your neck.
As you exhale, tilt your pelvis toward your abdomen, hold for one second.
As you inhale, smoothly and under control straighten the pelvis back to the starting position. Make sure that there is no strong deflection in the lower back.

Perform two approaches of 15-20 repetitions. Rest between approaches – one minute.

Pelvic tuck with straight legs

Teknikk

Lie with your back on the simulator and grab the roller with your hands. Extend your straight legs forward.
The lower back is tense with a natural flexion. Control it throughout the exercise. The neck is relaxed.
As you exhale, twist your pelvis toward your abdomen, lifting your straight legs up. Hold in this position for one second.
As you inhale, smoothly and under control straighten the pelvis back to the starting position, lowering the straight legs down. Make sure that there is no strong deflection in the lower back.

Perform two approaches of 10 repetitions. Rest between approaches – one minute.

“Bicycle”

Teknikk

Lie with your back on the simulator and grab the roller with your hands. Raise slightly bent legs up and pull the toes away from you.
The lower back is tense, with a natural flexion. Control it throughout the exercise. Relax the neck, it does not need to be tense.
As you exhale, bring the knee of your left leg to your abdomen, keeping your right leg straight.
As you inhale, straighten the left leg, then exhale and bring the knee of the right leg to the abdomen.

Perform two approaches for 30 seconds each. Rest between approaches – one minute.

“Scissors”

Teknikk

Lie with your back on the simulator and grab the roller with your hands. Raise slightly bent legs up and pull the toes away from you.
Press your lower back firmly against the bench, controlling it throughout the exercise. Relax your neck.
As you exhale, cross your legs between each other.
As you inhale, spread your legs apart.
Do the movements alternately at a medium pace.

Do two approaches for 30 seconds each. Rest between approaches – one minute.

How to effectively pump abs?

Regularity. Perform abs exercises twice a week. Many people give up training after two to four weeks because they do not see the result in the form of cubes.

Adequacy of load. The abs should be trained using the same methods as any other muscle group. Start with simple exercises and light load, gradually increasing the complexity. Too much load or a sudden increase in load can discourage exercise and increase the risk of injury.

Pace of Exercise. Do exercises slowly and in a controlled manner. Exclude quick and sudden movements, so that the entire load falls on the abs. Also, sharp movements can violate the technique of the exercise, which increases the risk of injury.

How to remove the abdomen with abs exercises?

If you want to burn belly fat with the help of abs exercises, do not wait for the result. Performing various twists, you may feel burning in the area of the rectus abdominis muscle, but this is not related to burning fat in this place.

Spot weight loss does not exist. When you exercise, your body draws energy from your entire body, not just the part you are working on.

According to studies, exercising the abs does not reduce fat loss in the abdominal area. Another study compared two groups of people. In one, the subjects did abs exercises and followed a diet, while the other group did not do abs exercises but followed a diet. In the end, both reduced their belly fat percentage, but there was no significant difference in the results between them.

The only way to get a flat belly is to reduce your overall body fat percentage by creating a calorie deficit through diet, exercise and daily activity. However, whether you will have cubes or not depends on your genetics, age, hormones, as well as other factors.