Illustrations: Everkinetic (Greg Priday), CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped, resized & combined
Chest
Lie on the bench with your eyes directly under the bar and both feet planted flat on the floor.
Pull your shoulder blades down and together, lift your chest, and keep the natural arch in your lower back.
Grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder width with wrists stacked over your forearms, then unrack to straight arms above your chest.
Lower the bar under control for about 2 seconds to nipple line, keeping your elbows around 45-60 degrees from your torso.
Touch the chest without bouncing, then drive the bar up and slightly back toward your shoulders while pushing your feet into the floor.
Lock the elbows without slamming, breathe at the top, then start the next rep.
Bouncing the bar off the chest so the weight feels lighter; the rebound does the work, not your muscles.
Flaring the elbows to 90 degrees, which dumps the load onto the shoulder joint.
Letting the glutes lift off the bench as soon as the reps get heavy.
Lowering the bar toward the neck instead of the lower chest line.
Think about pushing yourself away from the bar rather than pushing the bar away from your chest.
If you train close to failure, use a spotter or set the safety pins in the rack.
Mark where your fingers sit on the knurling so your grip width is identical every set.
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