The Push: How To Progress In The Movement Part 2

When I first got into lifting, training chest was one of my least favourite body parts to train. As I wanted to have a balanced physique and be strong overall, I included it into my training programme. I know that women used to be turned off from training chest. Luckily, that has changed significantly in the last ten years. Fast forward to my powerlifting journey, having dedicated push days and training bench has become a new favourite for me. I believe it’s due to struggling to get the techniques of that lift right for a few years.

Anyone that trains as a powerlifter knows that the best push workout cannot only consist of exercises for the chest. It needs to include exercises for the triceps and the shoulders. There isn’t one exercise that is pertinent to make it into a great workout, but it should include at least two exercises per muscle group. The stronger the chest muscles are, the stronger your entire body is. Don’t deny yourself the opportunity to see what your best physique could look like by neglecting this muscle group.

What Are The Seven Functional Movements?

There are seven functional movements that your body performs on a daily basis. You may not even realise the connection between pushing a door closed to a push up. It mimics the action of the horizontal push movement. Altogether, these movements target all the muscle groups and optimises your body to perform and function at its best. These movements include the : squat, hip hinge, lunge, push, pull, gait, rotation and the bonus, the hip thrust. Everything that you do in the gym mimics all seven movement patterns that you do outside of the gym. In sum, change your perspective. Once you start viewing your exercises as movement patterns, you can start to build a solid workout programme tailored to your goals. By incorporating progressive overload, dynamic stretches and deload weeks, you will see continuous progress over time.

Check Out Pinterest Functional Movements Series

What Is The Push Movement

The push movement is one of the most effective ways to building upper body strength. It is one of the most over- and under utilised movement patterns in most gyms. For example, when you are getting up from the ground from a stomach-facing position that counts as the push movement. The push movement can be broken down into two parts: vertical pushing and horizontal pushing. If you want to understand more about the anatomy and the basics of the push movement, check out part 1 of this instalment.

For this post, we will be focusing on horizontal pushing. Horizontal pushing targets the upper and central muscle fibres in your chest, shoulders and tricep muscles. As a result, this encourages the development of the upper chest muscles and all three heads of the tricep muscles. In addition, using the horizontal push, also activates and targets the front and sides of your shoulders. Moreover, if you want to hit the triceps more with this type of pushing, all you need to do is change your grip position.

How To Efficiently Progress In The Horizontal Push

In my opinion, this type of pushing is something that is over utilised in most gyms. You will see a lot of people doing multiple variations of the push including bench press, incline bench press, dumbbell bench press, machine chest press etc. I think you get the picture. It is a very good movement pattern to develop upper body strength and muscle mass in the upper chest muscles and triceps. The vertical push, which is the topic of part 3, is under utilised in most gyms. What I love about these exercises is that you can perform them multiple times a week depending on what your goals are. You don’t need a lot of days for recovery, like you do for legs. In short, you do these exercises more frequently and on lighter training days to help build more strength.

Push Ups

Push ups are one of the first exercises that most people perform. Although it is deemed as a beginner’s exercise, it is so much more than that. It is a bodyweight compound exercise that is a staple in calisthenics to build muscle in your chest, shoulders and arms. In addition, it is a fantastic exercise to build up to other push up variations and adding more calisthenics skills into your training.

To perform the push up, make sure that you are on a stable surface in a rigid plank position with your hands pressed against the floor. Ensure that your joints are aligned from your neck to your ankles, your head is in a neutral position looking at the floor slightly ahead from your hands. Next, your shoulders need to be stacked directly above your wrists to reduce the risk of injury and increase force output. Brace your core and tightly ‘squeeze’ the floor with your hands. Take a deep breath in and slowly lower your torso by maintaining that rigid position and bending at the elbows. Then, once your chest has lightly touched the floor, press the ground with your hands as you get back into the starting position. You want to maintain that rigid positioning throughout the movement.

Dips

Dips are another bodyweight compound exercise that most people perform first when they start in the gym. Although deemed as a beginner’s exercise, it is pretty difficult to perform a dip. If you are looking to improve your lockout performance in the bench press, develop serious upper body strength and muscle growth, this should be a staple in your routine. All you need is a dip bar to perform this exercise.

To begin, grab the parallel bars and start with your arms straightened. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and the parallel bars hard. Brace your core and glutes. You may find crossing your legs together helpful. Next, lean forward at a 45 degree angle and keep your neck in a neutral position. Flex your elbows and lower your body until your arms are parallel to the ground and your elbows are at a 90 degree angle. Then, pause for one second and drive through your palms until you are back in the starting position. The key to dips is slow and controlled movements and maximising grip strength.

Incline Bench Press

Incline Bench Press is a compound exercise that I have started to include in my push days earlier this year and it targets more of the upper chest fibres and shoulders. As a powerlifter or anyone in a strength sport, adding this variation of the bench press will help build those weaknesses that you have in the pushing movements into a strength.

To perform this exercise, you need a barbell, an incline bench and some weights. If you have a set incline bench press station this is good. If not, you can set this up in a power rack or squat rack as well.

Set up the incline bench at a 30 to 45 degree angle. Load the bar and lie back on the bench. Place your feet vertical to your shins and press your knees out. Place your hands where they comfortably sit on the bar (this position is different for everyone), slightly wider than shoulder width. Next, unrack the barbell by squeezing and retracting your shoulder blades and squeezing the barbell. Stabilise the bar above your upper chest and your shoulders. As you lower the bar to your chest, actively stretch your chest muscles and keep your shoulders on the bench. Pause for a second. Then, push the bar back to the starting position by extending your elbows in a slow and controlled manner.

Barbell Bench Press

Lastly we have the barbell bench press, which is the most recognised and performed exercise in all spheres of fitness. It is one of the most versatile exercises that you do to build upper body strength and build more muscle. Although this exercise is performed by everyone, certain athletes such as powerlifters take a different approach. As this is a powerlifting blog, I will be sharing the powerlifting approach to the bench press.

To begin, grip the bar slightly outside of shoulder width apart and squeeze the bar tight. Arch your back to protect your shoulders and recruit the other muscles in the lift. Next, pinch your shoulder blades on the bench and tuck your bum back. For foot placement, you want your feet to be vertical to your shins. This will help generate leg drive. Your key cues to remember are: drive down and forward. Then for your wrist placement, stack your wrists to be vertical to the elbow. This will keep the bar tight and prevent wrist injuries.

To unrack the bar without a spotter, lift your body up (by keeping your shoulders down on the bench) and unrack the bar. Tuck your bum back on the bench as you stabilise the bar over your chest. Take a deep breath, brace your core and start your descent. Pause for a second and then drive the bar back to the starting position. One of my favourite cues for the bar path is to move the bar in a J. The curve is where it meets your chest. In powerlifting, you don’t want the bar path to be up and down as the main goal is to move as much weight as possible.

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I hope that this post has provided you with everything that you need to progress to the barbell bench press and more insight into the horizontal push. I also hope that it has given you the confidence to efficiently continue building strength and muscle over time. Stay tuned for part 3 of the push movement. Make sure to hit that subscribe button to join the community and never miss out on a post. Find me on Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok for more powerlifting and wellness content.

Until next time,

Folakemi