So, the question is, “Will benching make you bigger?” The answer to that question is a resounding YES (it's not optimal though). It just depends on the areas that you’re looking to make bigger - it also depends on whether you care more about optimal muscle growth or strength gains. If your goal is to make your chest bigger the barbell bench press is likely not the best way to go. If your goal is to make your shoulders and triceps bigger then you probably want to start benching. However, you don’t want to stop there. A sure-fire way to make sure that you grow certain body parts is to add assistance exercises that will place an emphasis on the muscle group you’re focusing on.
Understanding the Bench press
Many scientists state that the bench press is essentially a power movement. It combines a variety of different muscles into a weighted press off of your chest. Since you’re pressing the weight off of your chest (your sternum more specifically) it makes sense to consider the fact that the bench press does work your chest muscles a bit. However, because of the way that we grip the bar and the need to actually press it upwards we have to say that the Bench is not the best way to grow that particular muscle (the pectoralis major or chest). Aside from the chest muscles the bench press also works the front shoulder (anterior deltoids), triceps brachii (triceps), and the latissimus dorsi (back). It’s typically used to help build explosiveness, which is why it’s used for powerlifting and for other sports (such as track, basketball, football, etc.) Yes, it will make you bigger but it’s just not optimal for muscle growth.
*On the other hand, if you're looking to increase how many reps you can do in benching, go check out this article.
So, what movements should you include as assistance work?
Listed below are movements that you should include in your workout to assist in developing the muscles (hypertrophy) used during the bench press. The idea behind adding assistance movements to your workout routine is simple - it's usually a movement that's better suited for hypertrophy of a
Chest Assistance Exercises:
Combining chest isolation movements with a heavy compound movement like the bench press is a great way to get bigger. A great way to add this into your routine is to add 1-2 of these exercises into your workout after your benching session. I personally like to do 2-3 sets of each within different rep ranges and with different weights so that I’m working on different types of gains (1 set of 8-12 reps for hypertrophy and with a relatively heavy-weight or 50-60% of my one rep max - 1 set of 12-15 for endurance with a lighter weight or something that is a bit challenging but not too challenging as to defeat the purpose of exercising).
- Dumbbell Bench Press (focus on muscular symmetry)
- Chest Fly’s (Chest Isolation movement)
- Cable Fly’s (Chest Isolation movement)
- Incline Dumbbell Press (Works on the upper chest)
- Unilateral Dumbbell Bench Press (focuses on muscular symmetry)
Shoulder Assistance Exercises:
Same as with the chest exercises you want to add 1-2 of these exercises into your workout routine so that you’re able to maximize muscle growth. Adding a few of these movements into your workout will make your front, side, and rear delts bigger which, in much of the same way as the chest exercises, helps you develop more strength and stability in the bench press.
- Standing shoulder press
- Lateral raises
- Side lateral raises
- Face
pulls - Machine shoulder press
Tricep Assistance Exercises
Our triceps are a primary mover in the bench press, which is why doing the bench press can help your tricep muscles grow. However, there are other movements that are more efficient (and optimal) for tricep growth. Adding movements like the ones below will help you develop your triceps which, in
- Single-arm tricep extension
- Tricep extension
- Skull crusher
- Tricep kickback
- Dumbbell overhead tricep extension
- Cable overhead triceps extension
Back Assistance Exercises:
A key thing to remember about the bench press is that it’s basically a pressing motion. You also want to remember that you want to make sure that you’re using your energy as efficiently as possible. If your back muscles aren’t able to stay tight under immense weight then you’ll lose energy and thus be unable to lift as much weight as you may have been able to if you’d kept your back muscles tight. According to studies, having big strong lats helps you produce more force in the pressing motion. A few assistance exercises you can do to help your back muscles grow are below:
- Lat pulldowns
- Chinups
- Shrugs
- Dumbbell shrugs
- 1 arm row
- T bar row
- Bent over row
- High bench row
*You can find out more about assistance exercises in this complete guide.
Conclusion
If you want to build a bigger bench or get bigger in general, it’s best to focus on movements that are conducive (or designed to focus) on the muscle. Since the Bench is a movement that focuses heavily on not only the triceps but also on the shoulders and on the chest muscles you want to do assistance exercises that focus on those muscle groups. Try adding a couple of sets of each movement into your workout routine (or even try an assistance movement day) and see the results that they’ll yield.
*If you're interested in finding out what else might help you build mass, you can go check out this article.
Look below for a few other great resources on building a bigger bench press
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bench_press
https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=36918&page=1
https://stronglifts.com/bigger-chest/#gref
https://www.t-nation.com/training/6-stronger-bench-exercises
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/schultz50.htm
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1475-097X.2010.00949.x