Video Transcript

Hi, I'm Wendy Russo with Coach Wendy Fitness 4U. And today I'm going to show you how to determine how much weight to use on a barbell chest press. One of the first things in safety is being sure that you have clips on the end of the bar. The other thing would be of course having a spotter which I don't have. So I am going to use lighter weight today for demonstration purposes. When you lie on the bench your feet should be flat on the floor. Keeping your feet flat on the floor keeps you from using leverage from your feet and your legs. Keeping your rear end attached to the bench pushed against the bench also keeps you from using leverage. And keeping your shoulders back and your shoulder blades against the bench also keeps you from leverage. You'll grab the bar with your thumbs over the top. And this is a safety mechanism to keep the bar from rolling forward onto your chest. You'll have your spotter take the bar off the bench for you. Holding the bar keeping all your contact points intact. You are going to lower the bar right below your chest. Hold it there for a second. And then push-up. Now you should be able to do this for a few times. Once you have determined that, if that was very light then you can go up in weight. I would say do it two or three times each time to come up with your maximal amount of your bench press that you can do without assistance.