Barbell Bench Press

Prescription — 4 × 5–8, 2–3 RIR

Day — Monday — Upper (Strength)

What & why

• The main horizontal press — chest, front delts, triceps. Your strength anchor on the upper day and a benchmark lift to progress over months.

Bench press

Cues

• Shoulder blades pinned down and back, slight arch, feet driving into the floor.
• Bar to lower chest, elbows ~45° (not flared to 90°), wrists stacked over elbows.
• Touch-and-go or paused — paused reps are a great way to progress when load stalls. → Progression

Programming

• 4 × 5–8, stop 2–3 reps shy of failure. Use a spotter/safety pins if you do test failure.
• The book has a flat-bench strength goal mindset: chase it, then shift push focus to shoulders.

How to progress

• Double progression 5 → 8, then add load. Stalled? Switch to paused reps at lighter load and rebuild. → Progression

📺 Watch

• Bench press technique — YouTube
• Recommended: Jeff Nippard, Alex Leonidas.

References

• References · The Program