Close grip barbell press for girls. Bench press for girls

Strength exercises with a barbell and dumbbells can help girls achieve their goal in building their body - making their muscles prominent and their breasts firm. This strength movement is basic for good development of the core muscles and contributes to the formation of the pectoral muscles. Dumbbells or a barbell allow you to adjust the weight used, which is an advantage of this type of exercise for girls. When planning your workouts, remember the specifics of performing this type of training: the complex must be selected strictly individually by your trainer, based on your age, health and general level of physical fitness. And you will definitely succeed in everything else!

There are always more girls who want to get in shape than men. At least if you look at the statistics, this is true. Some are preparing for the beach season, while others are restoring their beauty after pregnancy... Everyone has their own reason. Classes for men and women differ.

For men, the training program often contains a split (splitting of individual body parts on separate days). After all, such training is focused on myofibrillar hypertrophy (in simple terms, this is tough failure training).

For women, the goals are somewhat different, so there is no split in their training. On the contrary, they need to simultaneously train the whole body comprehensively, at one time.

• Lying crunches 6 sets of the maximum number of times (rest between sets should be very short, up to 30 seconds)
• Squats on the shoulders 5 sets of 10-15 times (rest - 1 minute)
• Vertical block thrust 6 sets of 10-15 times
• Close grip bench press 6 sets of 10-15 times
• Barbell row to the chin 6 sets of 10-15 times

Exercise one. Lying crunches

Crunches help develop your abs well, as this exercise allows you to contract the rectus abdominis muscle as effectively as possible. Crunches can be performed lying on the floor, on an incline abdominal bench, or on a Roman chair. In this case, let's look at crunches while lying on the floor.

Technique: Lie on the floor, take a comfortable position. The lower back should be flat and touch the floor. To do this, you need to bend your knees, your elbows should be spread to the side, and your palms should clasp your neck or be on your chest (whichever is more convenient). After all this, we slowly twist the upper body and tilt our head towards the knees and groin. It is very important to twist (as if rounding your upper body and pulling your head towards your knees and groin); if you don’t do this (your back will seem to be arched), then the exercise becomes useless. We twist correctly, after which we return to the starting position (by the way, in the starting position, the head does not lie on the floor, but is raised). Because of this, the neck is also under constant tension.

Exercise two. Squats

Starting position – feet slightly wider than shoulders, toes slightly turned to the side, back straight, head looking straight. You begin to squat to parallel (or a little lower) depending on how you feel, and then slowly return to the starting position.

Exercise three. Vertical pull-down to the chest

This exercise trains the back muscles well and strengthens the “corset” of the spine. Take the handle and sit in the exercise machine. At the same time, your torso naturally and unobtrusively bends in the lumbar region (it should not be bent, but rather straightened), your arms should not hang straight (at the top point your arms are slightly bent, i.e. they do not straighten completely, this is necessary in order to maintain a constant load on the back muscles). As for your leg position, your hips should be well supported between the seat and the bolsters, and your feet should be firmly planted on the floor. Make sure you have done everything as described here and you can go ahead and start deadlifting. Pull the handle towards the upper chest, while at the end point you need to bring your shoulder blades together. After this, you need to return to the starting position. And then repeat it all again.

And if it is more convenient for you. You can perform vertical rows behind your head.

Exercise three. Instead of pulling to the chest or behind the head (focus on how you feel)

Exercise four. Close-grip bench press

Lie down on the bench. At the same time, the feet rest firmly on the floor, the back in the lumbar region bends slightly without effort, naturally. The bar should be at eye level. After making sure that you are in the correct position to perform the exercise, grab the bar with your hands using a close grip. Then remove the bar from the racks and begin to bend your arms until the bar touches your lower chest. When performing this exercise, do not keep your elbows parallel to each other. They should be slightly apart and make an angle of approximately 45 degrees with the body.

Exercise five. Barbell row to the chin

This exercise trains the shoulder muscles well. Approach the bar, take it with a narrow grip (so that it is comfortable for you), it can also be a medium grip - as convenient. You begin to pull the bar towards your chin and then slowly lower it down. And we repeat everything again.

Explanation of the training program:

1. Before you start doing the exercises, it is very, very important to do a good warm-up. This is the basis of any workout! And this is necessary in order to warm up the body, prepare all the muscles, ligaments and joints for stress. If you don’t do this, you can get injured, which is not very pleasant and unnecessary in principle.
2. This training program should last no more than approximately 45 minutes, but no more than an hour. Rest between approaches should be no more than 1 minute, and if you reduce the time between approaches, this will increase your effectiveness in terms of energy expenditure.
3. The program described uses a large number of working sets (about 5-6) per exercise and a lot of repetitions (about 10-15). All this was invented for a reason, but in order to stimulate glycogen accumulation in female muscles, which occurs much more easily than in male ones.
4. Also in this complex only one exercise for the lower body is described. Why? It’s simple – the bottom is growing just fine (in terms of muscle mass).
5. Also in this complex there are no exercises for the chest muscles (bench press). Everything is thought out so that the size of a woman’s breast does not lose volume. Yes, yes, bench press will only make your chest smaller. For this reason, do not perform this exercise. The pectoral muscles will be toned by the close-grip bench press exercise, which also develops the triceps and anterior deltoids.

The complex described above is very effective, since it uses exercises that involve several muscle groups at once during execution (basic movements). Thus, the whole body works in one workout, which is what was required to be achieved.

In the future, when your body is already trained, you can add a few more additional exercises and you can try to do them without pausing. This is called supersets.

For example, after performing a crunch, you immediately perform leg raises, and then rest for 30 seconds and continue.

The training program is based on the following principle:

• Crunches lying on the floor and leg raises 6 sets and maximum number of times.
• Barbell squats plus straight-legged deadlifts 5 sets of 10-15
• Vertical pull-down plus horizontal pull-down 5 sets of 10-15 reps
• Close-grip bench press in a lying position plus dumbbell curls for biceps 5 sets of 10-15
• Barbell rows to the chin plus dumbbell swings to the sides 5 sets of 10-15 reps

Remember that physical activity alone is not enough to lose weight. It is also important to reconsider your diet. As well as vice versa - without sports, it is impossible to achieve good results on a diet alone. One cannot exist without the other.

Based on materials from: steelsports.ru

Correct WORKOUTS for WOMEN - Video

Any perfection in the gym is impossible without intensive training of the pectoral muscles. Chest training is equally important for both men and women, so the latter should never avoid it.

According to statistics, upon entering the gym, women ask trainers to create an effective program that would allow them to get beautiful buttocks and hips, six-pack abs, but very rarely mention firm breasts. The fact is that the majority of women believe that their breasts do not need to be trained, and their appearance and shape depend only on nature.

Women are afraid to look masculine and believe that the barbell is the reason for this. In fact, this is complete nonsense, and a completely incorrect statement. If your goal is to be proud of your body in a short time, then you need to follow a complete workout program, including chest exercises.

The debunked myths will help you understand this issue and get rid of your previous wrong opinion.

A similar myth was developed through a misperception of the type of women who are professionally involved in bodybuilding. On TV and other sources you often see competitions among the fair sex for the title of the most sculpted body. Female bodybuilders, as a rule, do not have breasts as such, instead they have solid muscle mass. Understand that the loss of feminine breasts is not the result of intense training on the corresponding muscle group, but a consequence of the strict diet that athletes go on before competitions.

The level of body fat in female athletes is much different from that of a healthy woman. As you know, the main part of the breast consists of adipose tissue, and under the influence of physical activity and diet it can be burned. As a result, the amount of fat is reduced and is similarly reflected in breast size. Representatives of professional bodybuilding simply do not have enough fat to maintain natural breast volume. But this situation cannot apply to ordinary women who simply want to get their figure in order through traditional training for all muscle groups.

Girls should not exclude working with weights in the bench press exercise. If you maintain the level of body fat at the accepted level, then no problems with the previous size will arise. The American Council on Exercise found out an interesting thing in the course of research: it turned out that the minimum level of fat in the human body should be 10-13 percent. This is simply necessary for the normal functioning of the body, maintaining its physical and mental health. Otherwise, if the amount of fat falls below the minimum level, a person risks serious consequences for the body.

Bench press. Execution technique

Listening to this myth, it becomes very funny how people could come to this conclusion. Let's refute this myth by contradiction. Let's say that this is a true feeling, and after training on the bench press, the soft and pleasant to the touch chest turns into stone. Then a completely fair question arises: who buys sports bras, maybe men?

The bench press and other chest exercises work those muscles that are located under the fat layer. If your regime does not include a strict diet, then the previous volume will not go away. In this case, the breasts are more likely to enlarge and tighten due to increased muscle volume and tone.

There are many women in the gym who use regular push-ups instead of the dreaded bench press. And after some time they cannot find a place, since the upper part remains unshakable, its appearance does not change at all. The chest, like any other muscle group, requires complex action with different weights, different equipment, different positions. For effective results, the classic press should be combined with an incline press, push-ups, dumbbell crunches, etc.

Without dispute, push-ups bring their benefits, but only up to a certain point, when after the habit the previous load is not felt. Once this limit is reached, push-ups cannot help increase strength. Unless you try to complicate the task by putting additional weight on your back. Push-ups are a good way to work the muscles at the end of a workout with the bench press; this is a useful finishing exercise for “hammering” muscle tissue.

"Consequences" of working in the gym

Perhaps these are all the myths that stand as a barrier to women training with barbells. It will be useful for anyone who has changed their mind to know about certain nuances of muscle training.

Many people may think that doing a lot of repetitions with a light weight is better than doing fewer repetitions with a heavy weight. Yes, this is true, but not always. and not as a primary chest workout. In this way, you can stretch and warm up your muscles as a mandatory warm-up. In all other cases, remember that the more weight you use, the more significant stimulus your muscles receive to develop. The first method, frequent and quantitative repetitions, will only lead to rapid burning of calories.

A low-calorie diet and the process of building muscle mass do not go together at all. If your goal is to increase volume, then accordingly, you need to eat well. Lifting heavy weights while dieting will allow you to focus on strength and endurance rather than volume. This information should take away your fear of heavy weights. For classic and incline presses, the weight is selected in such a way that you can squeeze no more than 8-10 times. For flattening dumbbells, this figure is 10-12 repetitions. You won't be able to increase strength if you do less than 2-3 sets of each exercise.

The interval between approaches should not exceed one minute. The bench press is classified as a group of heavy exercises that must be performed at the beginning of training. When using dumbbells, the interval is reduced to 45 seconds, with push-ups to 30 seconds.

Inclined Dumbbell Bench Press

The pectoral muscles can be trained no more than twice a week. By doing more, the muscles simply do not have time to recover. In any case, a full day of rest after classes should take place. If your workout is based on splits, separately for the upper and lower body, then you should make sure that working the chest is included in the list of exercises.

Women's bodybuilding is young - only recently have beautiful ladies begun to build ideal bodies with iron in their hands, rather than fussing around the house. It is logical that the principles of women's training have been studied to a lesser extent, and therefore beauties are often trained like men - they are forced to do the base, squat, pull and press. And if the buttocks proudly rising from the squat leave few questions about the appropriateness of this exercise, then for the bench press not everything is so clear. Does a woman need him or not?

Classic bench press - forget it if you want beautiful breasts

Girls with small breasts are especially zealous with bench presses, hoping to enlarge them in this way. And they succeed; the exercise is very effective. However, few people are happy with the result - instead of rising, the breasts, on the contrary, hang down.

Does the bench press make your breasts smaller?

The fact is that the attachment of the mammary gland is such that the developed pectoral muscle “pushes” it lower. As long as the pectorals (the scientific name for the pectoral muscles) are flat, everything is fine; pumped up, their lower part became convex - the chest went down. Particularly contraindicated in this regard are incline presses, where the head is lower than the body, and powerlifting presses with a bridge, since they most strongly affect the lower pecs.

The second danger is breast reduction. A significant portion of it is fat, and with a lot of repeated training with a calorie deficit, it will go away. First of all, just from the chest, especially if the bench press workouts last an hour or longer.

The press that helps

Don't run away from the bench after reading everything written above! Only the classic horizontal press is contraindicated for women, but there are its varieties and techniques that will only bring benefits:

You just need to remember that while pumping the pectoral muscles, a similar load should be given to the back. Otherwise, the pectoral muscles will “pull” the shoulders forward, worsening posture, because they are stronger than the rhomboid muscles of the abductors of the scapulae.

Main characteristics of the exercise:

• Bench press -
• Uses multiple joints
• Pushing movement
• Closed
• Using weights
• For intermediate and advanced levels

According to Wikipedia, the world record for women in the bench press belongs to Becca Swanson. At a competition in Daytona Beach, USA, on August 26, 2006, she managed to lift 250 kilograms.

Description

Remove the bar from the racks. Bend your elbows and lower the bar to your upper chest. Return to the starting position with your arms fully extended. Repeat the exercise.

Starting position at bench press

Bench press for girls

• Lie down on the bench.
• Grasp the barbell with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
• Straighten your back. If possible, place your feet on a bench to prevent your lower back from arching.

• By doing bench press Before increasing the load, learn to confidently perform the exercise.
• Do not use springy hand movements and inertia. Movements should be slow and controlled.
• Exhale as you lift the barbell.
• Lower and spread your shoulder blades, activating the serratus anterior and lower trapezius muscles.

Bench press for girls

Note. With a wider grip, the load shifts to the lateral bundles of the pectoral muscles, and with a narrower grip, the load shifts to the triceps, anterior deltoid and medial bundles of the pectoral muscles.

Motion Analysis

Main muscles involved

• Shoulder blade: , lower beam.
• Shoulder joint: rotator cuff, .
• Torso: , .

Mastering the exercise

• Generate the required starting force using .
• Continue to build strength on a machine that allows you to master pressing technique while maintaining safety.
• Next, you can move on to the barbell, placing a low weight on it. At first, until you gain complete confidence, the exercise should be performed under the supervision of an instructor.

Bench press

Bench press belongs to the category because the shoulder and elbow joints are set in motion here. As a result, not only the pectoral muscles are worked, but also the anterior deltoids, triceps and upper back muscles.

The bench press is considered a good exercise to start a workout because it stimulates several muscle groups in the upper body at once. Because there is a significant amount of muscle involved, you can work with a lot of weight.

Performance

• Lie with your back on the bench. Take a barbell, dumbbells or a machine handle. If you are using dumbbells, bring them to your shoulders using an overhand grip. Straighten your arms using your pectoral muscles. At the top of the movement, the dumbbells should touch. Then lower the dumbbells by bending your arms.

Advantage

• Because this exercise stimulates a significant number of muscles at once, it is a fundamental exercise for training the muscles of the upper body.

Flaw

• It's quite easy to lose control of a weight, especially a free one. If a weight falls on you, you may be injured. Therefore, it is better to learn how to perform this exercise on a machine and only after several weeks of training, if desired, move on to exercises with free weights.

You should be especially careful when performing the bench press with dumbbells. To protect your back from injury, when lifting dumbbells from the floor to the starting position, first place them on your thighs with your arms bent. As you lower the dumbbells to the floor, be careful not to straighten your arms and drop the dumbbells, as this will tear your biceps.

Free weights or machines?

The bench press can be performed with free weights (dumbbells or barbells) or on a machine. Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each option and choose the one that suits you best.

Benefits of the Barbell Bench Press

• You can perform the bench press either in the gym or at home, since all you need is a simple barbell and bench. However, despite the availability of sports equipment, using a barbell has more disadvantages than advantages.

Disadvantages of the Barbell Bench Press

• Keeping a long barbell in balance can be difficult. For beginners, this can not only create a problem, but also pose a danger.
• Removing the barbell from the rack and putting it back in place can damage your joints. In addition, these movements do not develop the pectoral muscles in any way.
• The barbell may fall on you when, towards the end of the set, you become tired and cannot return it to the rack.
• Taking all these circumstances into account, the bench press with a barbell should only be performed with a spotter.

Bench press with dumbbells

Bench press with dumbbells

Advantages bench press with dumbbells

• The degree of muscle contraction here is much higher than when performing a bench press with a barbell, since the arms are brought closer together in a tense position.
• You can choose any position for your palms and elbows. The barbell provides much less freedom in this regard.

Flaw bench press with dumbbells

• Keeping dumbbells balanced can be difficult. For beginners, this can not only create a problem, but also pose a danger. The dumbbell may fall on you when your strength is exhausted towards the end of the set. This often happens to newbies.

Smith machine bench press

Smith machine bench press

Advantages bench press

• The Smith machine can be a good compromise between a barbell and a dedicated machine. For beginners, it is safer than free weights. The good thing about the Smith machine is that you don't have to keep the weight in balance. Accordingly, an insurance partner is not needed.

• The Smith machine has special hooks that provide safety. If you get tired, the weight will fall on them, not you. Just don't forget to install them!

Flaw Smith machine bench press

• This movement is performed partly not in a circular arc, as in the case of free weights or on many good exercise machines, but along a potentially dangerous (for the morphology of some women) unnatural rectilinear trajectory.

Bench press on a special machine

Advantages

• Beginners may find it difficult to perform the bench press on a bench. It may seem unnatural to them to try to mobilize all their strength in this situation. In this case, exercise machines that allow you to perform bench presses in a sitting position will help you out.

• The trainers are very stable. They do not have to keep the weight in balance.

• No manipulation of dumbbells or barbells is required here. Everything you need is already in place. All you have to do is perform the press, focusing exclusively on the pectoral muscles.

• In general, exercising on a quality machine is much safer than using free weights, especially for beginners.

Flaw bench presses on a special machine

• Poorly designed machines are more common than quality machines. Beginners will find it difficult to distinguish a good trainer from a bad one. Use a rule of thumb: When exercising on a quality machine, the arms are closer together in the upper phase and divergent in the lower phase. A high-quality machine reproduces the range of motion of dumbbells, but there is no need to maintain the balance of the weight.

Bench angle options

Incline Bench Press

There are three variations of the bench press:

1. On a horizontal bench, all pectoral muscles are fully involved.
2. On a bench with a positive inclination angle, mainly the upper parts of the pectoral muscles are used.
3. On a bench with a negative incline angle, the lower parts of the pectoral muscles are primarily used.

Machines offer these options as well, but since you're doing the bench press in a seated position, it may not be as obvious. The direction of movement of the press on the machine can be one of the following:

1. The straight up press replicates the movement performed on a bench with a positive incline angle.
2. The push press replicates the movement performed on a flat bench and engages the entire pectoral muscles.
3. The down press replicates the movement performed on a negative incline bench.

Women may benefit from performing the bench press on a positive incline bench or on a machine that replicates this movement, as this option engages the upper pectoral muscles as well as the anterior deltoids. As mentioned above, it is wiser for women to work on the most visible part of the breast. Moreover, since the anterior deltoid muscles receive indirect stimulation during this exercise, you do not have to train them separately. Therefore, exercising on a bench with a positive inclination angle not only gives greater effect, but also saves time. Note that since the effort here is focused primarily on the upper chest area, you cannot lift as much weight as you can when performing this exercise on a flat or negative incline bench.

The negative incline bench position is only beneficial for men who are looking to strengthen the line of separation between their pecs and upper abdominal muscles. It is useless for women.

Options for the position to which the bar is lowered

The end point of the movement is determined depending on your goals:

• When you lower the barbell to your upper chest, it primarily works the upper pectoral muscles. This is the ideal position if you are training on a positive incline bench.

• When you lower the barbell to your lower chest, you work primarily the lower pectoral muscles. This is the ideal position if you are training on a negative incline bench.

Variations in palm and elbow positions

When performing the exercise with dumbbells and on some machines, you can vary the position of your palms and elbows. The following options will allow you to work your pectoral muscles in a variety of ways:

• To stretch your pectoralis major muscles less and engage your shoulder muscles more, tuck your elbows toward your torso and keep your arms in a neutral position.

• To stretch the pectoral muscles at the bottom of the movement and work the pectoralis major muscles more intensely, move your elbows as far away from your body as possible and use an overhand grip. However, keep in mind that in this position there is an increased risk of tearing the pectoral muscle tendons.

Grip options

Close grip bench press

• Wide (wide hand placement). The further apart the arms are located at the bottom of the movement, the more the pectoral muscles are stretched. Not all tendons tolerate this stretch, especially if you have long forearms. Moreover, when you straighten your arms, your pectoral muscles shorten less.

• Narrow (narrow hand position). The closer the hands are to each other in the lower phase of the press, the less the pectoral muscles are stretched. This reduces the risk of injury to the pectoral tendons. When you straighten your arms, your pectoral muscles shorten more. The only drawback is that the triceps, which are more actively involved when the arms are positioned narrowly, take on part of the load falling on the pectoral muscles.

In general, it is wise to avoid the wide arm position that competitive weightlifters use to reduce range of motion and lift more weight. To avoid injuring the elbow joints, it is recommended to use a hand position that is slightly narrower than normal.

• When you arch your lower back, your range of motion decreases, allowing you to lift more weight. However, this position increases the risk of back injuries and transfers muscle tension from the upper to the lower chest, making the exercise less effective. This technique can be recommended for men, but not for women.
• When performing a bench press, do not turn your head from side to side, up or down. She should lie on the bench. Avoid any movement of your neck.
• The bench press can be called a reverse push-up. But here you are making movements with your arms, not your torso. If you don't have weightlifting equipment, push-ups can be a good alternative to the bench press.