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thoracic cavity due to the increase in pressure provided by the big, held breath. A tight rib cage allows for a more efficient transfer of power to the bar by the muscles attached to the rib cage when they contract. If the pec and delt origins on the external chest wall contract against a tight structure that does not move when they contract, then more of the force of that contraction can be transferred to the end of the kinetic chain that does move. When the rib cage is tight, less force gets absorbed, or dampened, by movement of the chest. This tightness, along with the support provided by the lower body connected to the ground, radically increases efficiency in the bench press. Also, in the extended spinal position that the arch requires on the bench, the abs cannot tighten as effectively. They cannot therefore as effectively increase intra-abdominal pressure to contribute to the needed increase in intra-thoracic pressure, thus making the big breath the primary source of support for the chest.

Figure 5-30. Inhalation at the top, with arms completely extended before the rep starts, allows for a more complete filling of the lungs, a better chest angle, and better stability.

The pattern of breathing during the bench press depends on the length of the set and the abilities of the lifter. Novices should take a breath before each rep, hold it during the rep, and exhale at lockout, using the very brief break between reps to make sure everything is positioned correctly. More experienced lifters may prefer to use one breath for the whole set. Any exhalation involves a certain amount of loosening of the chest to exhale and re-inhale, and some lifters may decide to stay tight and do the whole set in one breath if it is important and if they can hold their breath that long. Most people can manage only five reps this way before the discomfort from the hypoxia becomes too distracting. For a longer set, some quick breaths will be required.

The breath has to be taken before the rep. If the breath is taken during the rep, the lungs will incompletely fill due to the loading of the rib cage by the now-contracted pecs. If the breath is taken at the top with locked elbows, the pecs are not pulling on the rib cage and a more complete inhalation can take place. Moreover, when the bar actually starts down, everything should be tight, from the floor to your fingernails, and this tightness will prevent you from taking a really big breath. If you can breathe during a rep, you’re not tight enough.

No breath taken during the set will involve the complete exchange of the full tidal volume of your lungs. This takes too long, requires too much relaxation, and is unnecessary. Breathing during the set consists only of topping off the huge breath taken before the first rep, after a quick exhalation that might consist of only 10% of tidal volume. This short refresher of air is just enough to allow the set to be finished more comfortably. The fact that it amounts to so little air is the reason you might decide to forego it in favor of maintaining tightness, after you practice it.

Racking Errors

Taking the bar out of the rack and putting it back may seem like rather innocuous parts of the exercise, and most people give it no thought. Please be aware of the fact that any time a loaded bar is located above your face and throat, you have a potentially dangerous situation. The unracking and racking procedures must be done correctly from the beginning, because most of the danger involved in this most dangerous exercise in the weight room is associated with getting the bar in and out of the rack. So, in the interest of furthering safety in the weight room, here are The Rules:

Do not use a thumbless grip on the bench press. If the bar is not secure in your grip, it is not secure at all. A thumb around the bar by no means guarantees that you will never drop the bar, but a thumbless grip increases, by an order of magnitude, the likelihood that you will drop the bar.

Any time the bar is coming out of the rack or moving back into the rack, it will