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Tonal Coach Tim Landicho performing a barbell bench press.

Barbell Bench Press Guide

Bust out a workout bench and pump out a proper barbell bench press: Build chest strength and power, and learn wide and alternative grip types.

The barbell bench press is a classic strength movement for a reason. It’s simple in setup, but incredibly effective when you approach it with clear form and controlled tempo.

For most, a classic barbell bench press starts by lying on a flat workout bench and gripping the bar slightly more than shoulder-width apart. You then work to exert the barbell through a smooth pressing motion that teaches both strength and precision.

This guide walks you through each step of that motion so you feel stable from the moment you unrack. You’ll learn how to set your feet, brace your core, and hold the bar with confidence.

We'll also cover alternative choices like your exact grip width, bar path, and wrist position. All of these are details that can shape how natural the barbell bench press feels. (Even a slightly past-shoulder wide grip can change the angles and the muscles you notice more during reps.)

Think of this as your barbell bench press roadmap. Whether you’ve tried things like Tonal’s Smart adaptive digital weights or have simply been eyeing more uses for that squat rack at the gym, the barbell bench press is a movement worth nailing. It pairs well with other big foundational barbell-based lifts like the squat or deadlift, and it offers plenty of alternatives if you need variety as you learn the pattern.

Contents
  1. Barbell Bench Press: Step by Step
  2. Barbell Bench Press: reps & intervals
    1. Average Duration of Barbell Bench Press
    2. Estimated Calories Burned
    3. Recommended Number of exercises Per Week
    4. Warmup & Cool Down Exercises
    3.
  3. Muscle Groups Targeted
  4. Equipment Used for Barbell Bench Press
  5. Who This Exercise is Best For
  6. Answers to FAQs about Barbell Bench Press
  7. Concluding words on Barbell Bench Press

Barbell Bench Press: Step by Step

1. Lie flat on a workout bench.
  • Position yourself so your eyes are directly under the bar.
  • Plant your feet firmly and evenly on the ground, slightly wider than shoulder-width.
2. Grip the bar slightly outside shoulder-width, and adjust your elbows.
  • This is the traditional barbell grip. It offers a good starting point for the movement.
  • Have your elbows tuck slightly inward in relation to your flat torso. (Picture your elbows pointed at a 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock position, not a 9-and-3.)
  • Avoid flaring your elbows out too horizontally with your shoulder line. This is not the strongest pressing position, nor will it fully engage those desired chest muscles.

Optional grip: Explore nudging your hands out slightly more than shoulder-width apart. For some people, this can be a more comfortable starting hold. Still keep your elbows bending at that 10-and-2 starting hold.

3. Brace your shoulders down and back.
  • This "pulling down" better engages your lats and helps support the barbell's full path.
  • Brace your core alongside your lats.

4. Unrack the bar slowly and with control.
  • Bring the bar to your chest in a steady tempo, keeping your wrists vertical, not tilting backwards toward your body.
  • Imagine gliding down a guided track rather than dropping into the first rep.
5. Guide the bar to the lower portion of your chest.
  • Your exact bench press touch point will vary slightly based on your body. That's okay!
  • Ensure your elbows aren't flaring and your core and lats are still engaged.

Tip: As you bring the bar to your chest, make sure your wrist and elbows are vertically "stacked." That means, at the bottom of the press, being able to draw an imaginary straight line from your wrists to your elbows. No "lever arm," where wrists and elbows move out of alignment.

  • To help correct lever arm, imagine trying to pull the barbell apart from its middle.
6. Press back up.
  • Drive through your hands and wrists, returning to full extension
  • Avoid locking out your elbows at the top of the press.
  • Be mindful of keeping your wrists pointed up and vertical through the entire motion.

Repeat for each rep. If your shoulders begin to lift off the bench, or your elbows flare, reset and re-focus. You may also again play around with a slightly wider starting grip, or adjusting any weighted plates in use.

Barbell Bench Press: reps & intervals
  • For muscle growth: 6-20 reps
  • For strength, performance endurance: 8-12 reps
  • Max strength: 4-8 reps

  • Beginner intervals: 2-3 working sets
  • Intermediate intervals: 2-4 working sets

Average Duration of Barbell Bench Press

  • One barbell bench press rep: ~3-4 seconds
  • One barbell bench press set: ~20-40 seconds

Note the point here isn't to rush. Like other classic strength movements using a barbell (e.g. deadlifts, squats, etc.), you shouldn't feel pressure to complete your sets as quickly as possible. Focus on a strong starting setup, body awareness, and a clean, smooth pushing movement above speed.

Estimated Calories Burned

Total calories burned during strength movements like the barbell bench press vary based on load, tempo, rest time, and body differences.

Use the following as broad, educational estimates based on an average adult completing 3 sets of 8 presses:

  • Women (140-180 lbs): 25-45 calories
  • Men (170–210 lbs): 30-55 calories
  • Adults above 210 lbs: 40–60+ calories

Recommended Number of exercises Per Week

Aim to train with a barbell bench press 1x/week to start.

More experienced strength trainers may work up to doing barbell bench presses 2x/week, keeping a mind on proper recovery between heavy sessions.

It can be helpful to alternate between upper body-targeting days and lower-body ones, staying mindful of overtraining the same muscle groups over and over.

Warmup & Cool Down Exercises

A strong warm-up helps your shoulders, chest, and upper back settle into the incoming smooth press motions, while a cool down is part of practicing a solid workout recovery routine.

Warm-Up (choose 1-3):

  • Scapular retractions (30 sec)
  • Light band external rotations (30 sec)
  • Push-ups or incline push-ups (30 sec)

Cool-Down (choose 1-3, completed at the end of the session):

  • Chest stretch on wall (30 sec)
  • Upper-back stretch (30 sec)
  • Gentle pec doorway stretch (30 sec)

Muscle Groups Targeted

The barbell bench press primarily targets the chest.

  • Front deltoids help guide the bar path, while triceps assist with the final portion of each press.
  • Your upper back contributes by stabilizing your shoulders.
  • Your core helps maintain a steady foundation on the flat bench.

Because the barbell's path is consistent and controlled, its movement distributes effort across your upper body without relying on excessive load.

Equipment Used for Barbell Bench Press


At-home alternatives:

  • Dumbbells
  • Floor press if no bench is available

Who This Workout is Most Effective For
  • Beginners learning how to build everyday strength through pressing exercises.
  • Lifters transitioning from dumbbells to heavier barbell work.
  • People training for more balanced upper-body power and athleticism.
  • Athletes who rely on upper body strength, such as in football, rugby, golf, wrestling, and rowing.
  • Anyone using a strength-training program that pairs upper body-pressing and pulling (rows, curls, overhead presses) with lower-body pressing and pulling splits (e.g. squats, deadlift, Bulgarian split squats, lunges).

Answers to FAQs about Barbell Bench Press


Yes. The barbell bench press allows you to use enough load to help stimulate muscular adaptation over time. It’s a reliable strength pattern that can push and supports upper-body muscle mass development, especially when paired with a consistent program and progressive loading (the gradual increase of weighted stress placed upon the body during exercise training). 

Tonal has plenty of beginner-friendly hypertrophy and progressive overload guides and workouts to break down these useful fitness concepts.

Not when done with appropriate form and practice. Problems can sometimes arise from a poor bar path, overly flared elbows, or gripping too wide for your anatomy. Adjusting your setup for your body often helps the movement feel more stable and shoulder-friendly.


Both versions have value depending on your comfort and experience. For some lifters, using a single unified bar feels fixed and more stable, making the movement more predictable. Compare this fixed path with that of dumbbells, which tend to require more unilateral control. Easier will always be relative.



You can bring your hands closer for a moderate grip, use dumbbells, or even switch things up to just a bodyweight push-up alternative over weighted equipment.

Each of these exercises focuses on a pressing pattern. Of course, you can work each of these options into your strength-minded routine according to your goals and equipment availability. Find what works for you.

Concluding words on Barbell Bench Press

The more you practice a barbell bench press, the more you'll feel familiar with smoother bar motions and good grip widths for your body. Think of this exercise as a starting point for learning how different pressing variations and alternatives work, each one teaching slightly different mechanics.

If you’re curious to go deeper exploring related movements — like dumbbell presses, incline presses, or even push-up progressions — Tonal can help you make sense of how these patterns connect.

Tonal’s Resource Hubs are full of individual, technique-focused explanations that build on each other, letting you keep learning without feeling overwhelmed.

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