Using a Weight Bench as part of your Weight Training at Home
A weight bench is a great accessory to have to help guide you with your posture, technique and breathing whilst working out with your weights. A weight bench can help teach you the basic principles of weight training without the worry of falling over it will also help to prevent you from using the momentum of the body when performing exercise such as bicep curls.
How to get the most from your weight bench?
By using a weight bench to help you with your weight training you can target different muscles depending on the degree of the bench. By inclining the weight bench by just a few degrees will help you to focus on the muscle fibres of your upper chest. Be careful not to use too high an angle as this could put your shoulder in jeopardy.
Declining the bench will emphasise your lower chest. You can use a slightly different angle for each work out so that you vary the focus on the muscles. You can use the bench to support your overhead lifts or bicep curls by using the bench with the seat in an upright position.
By placing your body snugly into the back of the chair you will be protecting back as this will prevent you from rocking your body to create momentum to lift the weights above your head and instead you will be purely relying on muscle power. Try not to arch your back off the bench when the weight starts to get heavy as this will add undue stress to your lower back and over time could cause pain.
What are the benefits of using a weight bench?
As previously mentioned a weight bench can offer support for heavy lifters as the bench will not break or buckle under the strain. It will give you more confidence to focus on your muscles without having to stress about losing balance or control during the movement. You can use the different angles of the weight bench to focus your work out on different muscles and you are able to perform a hyperextension which is a difficult move.
A hyperextension will help to strengthen the lower back muscles and improve core stability and posture.
You can also target areas like the Deltoid which are hard to reach and cannot be done from a standing position. The stability created when sitting will target this muscle. A weight bench can be a space saving piece of equipment that can be easily stored away when not in use, they also come with inbuilt wheels so moving them from a cupboard to a free space in the house is easy to do.
Put your safety and your body first!
When using a weight bench always keep your feet flat either on the floor or on the weight bench whichever feels more comfortable. Don’t put your feet in the air especially if you are a beginner as this creates an unstable position to work out from. Be sensible with your weight bench as lifting weights incorrectly can result in you putting undue stress onto other parts of your body.
What to look for when buying a weight bench?
Think about how much weight you intend to lift on your bench. There should be two maximum weights one for when it is flat and the second for when it is on an incline. You should also look for something that has a padded fabric for the seat and back rest as this will make it more comfortable when you are using it. You also want one with varying angles both incline and decline as this will offer you a varied work out.
Finally you should check to see if the weight bench is foldable and can be transported easily from storage to where you intend to use it.
Sarah Fisher
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