This video goes over the best bench press variations for Powerlifting broken up into categories of technique, strength, and hypertrophy. So, regardless of what your goal is for a training block, you can watch this video, see what variations I list for your goal, and then make sure you have it programmed for your training block.
When it comes to bench press technique, I’m a big fan of the tempo bench. You can choose your tempo based on how you want to scale it to your needs. For example, you can do a 3-1-3 tempo bench where you do 3 seconds down, 1 second pause on the chest, and then 3 seconds up.
When it comes to bench press strength, I’m a big fan of the pin press. You can set the safeties just above your chest, or mid-range in your weak range of motion. And if you don’t have access to safeties that you can use, then you can do the board press instead.
And when it comes to bench press hypertrophy, I like the feet up bench and close grip bench. In addition, you can do the feet up bench with a closer grip than your normal, competition grip.
If you want to hear me go more in-depth into bench press variations like the ones mentioned in the video, then you can hear our podcast episode on the topic through the link below. And if you want to learn more bench press tips and tricks, then be sure to check out my bench tips playlist.