If you want to build a big chest, you do the barbell bench press, right?

Well...not necessarily.

The barbell bench press can be a good exercise for building the chest in SOME people and a terrible exercise in others. A lot of it comes down to muscle activation...i.e. the mind-muscle connection.

THIS modification of the bench press is going to help you develop that mind-muscle connection with the pecs while also allowing you to very effectively LOAD the pecs with heavy weight at the same time.

This is a two-pronged strategy that will grow your chest very effectively...especially if you have a hard time feeling your chest working with flat barbell bench presses.

Ideally, you'll want to perform this exercise in a power rack, pressing off the rails.

If you don't have a rack, you can certainly do it in a "free" bench press station, as long as you have a good spotter and good control over the bar. The rack is definitely the more effective setup, though.

First, set the bench in the rack and test the setup with no weight on the bar. Set the rails to a position where you can move the bar in about the top 1/4 of the range of motion of the regular bench press.

Now load the bar with a weight you could normally do for about 5 reps or so (you can adjust this once you feel how the exercise works).

Take a medium-width grip on the bar...closer in than your normal bench press grip and not as close in as a close-grip press grip. Just a little outside shoulder width is what we're looking for.

At the start of this exercise, flare your elbows wide to the sides.

And yes, this is absolutely contrary to normal bench press form (where you "tuck" your elbows in about 45 degrees or so as you come down). The reason we're doing it this way is as follows...

1. It's a short range of motion, which minimizes stress on the shoulders. For full-range pressing, you do want to tuck the elbows. Not so for the goal of this exercise. That being said, if you DO feel any shoulder strain, tuck the elbows a bit. Personally, I have bad shoulders and the flared position was fine for me.

2. The flared elbow position gives the pecs a more direct line of pull for the exercise, making it more effective for targeting the pecs for their primary function, which is bringing the arm towards the mid-line of the body.

With this exercise, the medium grip is important as we want to have some angle in the elbow to give the pecs something to do, so to speak. We don't want it to be too close in as that would allows the arms to line up vertically under the weight, allowing for a joint-supported lockout.

With the arms not quite vertical at lockout, this maintains tension on the pecs at the top, which is the goal of the exercise.

Now, develop tension in the pecs and SQUEEZE the weight off the rails. DO NOT pop it off the rails.

This development of tension in the pecs is absolutely critical. This exercise is not about just moving the weight...it's about feeling the pecs moving the weight to develop tension in them.

As you come to the lockout position, visualize trying to touch the insides of your elbows together. You won't be able to, obviously...just try. Don't gloss over this part...it's critical for the mind-muscle connection.

This forces a massive squeeze on the pecs under greater load than they're accustomed to...which is what helps them grow.

Hold for a few seconds, then lower the bar back down onto the rails and relax the chest.

Then redevelop the tension in the pecs and go again.

Aim for 5-7 reps, performing 3-4 sets of this exercise. I recommend about 90 seconds rest in between sets.

Because it's a lockout, this exercise is also very effective for working the triceps, specific to lockout strength. In this case, the lateral heads of the triceps will be strongly involved (which is key for developing the horseshoe of the tricep and overall arm thickness and width).

Bottom line, this exercise is a lockout...it's not a full-range exercise.

In that respect, it's most useful when used in addition to other full-range exercises. I would suggest starting a chest workout with this one (to overload the pecs and tune up your mind-muscle connection) then moving onto other full-range exercises.

To see this exercise in action, click here to watch the video on my YouTube channel.

It may SEEM like a very simple movement, but it definitely helps to see it performed to see the proper path of the bar.

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Enjoy!