Coaching the Bench Press 101, 491, 601

When we're teaching others how to perform the bench press exercise (or ourselves, this all goes for us as lifters too!), a problem many coaches and trainers have is trying to teach too much, too soon. We know all the things, so we want to teach all the things and achieve perfect technique!
The problem is that people don't learn well that way. When we give too many instructions or too many coaching cues at once, the new lifter can't focus on so many things and it slows down progress immensely.
What we should be doing is focusing on the movements and cues in the bench press exercise that will create the greatest basic mastery early, and are the most important to press correctly.
As the lifter improves in the bench press and their technique becomes more of an automatic habit (less specific thought going into doing the exercise correctly), we can begin adding or modifying cues to create greater mastery of the bench; what we teach beginners so they can understand and perform the movement well is not necessarily the same technique that will help a high level lifter continue to improve.
What I've done in this video, originally created specifically for our Viking Performance Training interns' educational development, is broken up teaching the bench press exercise into 3 phases - similar to a college having a Bachelor's (101), Master's (491), and Doctorate (601) levels.
Coaching the beginning lifter should just focus on the 101 techniques - mastering the basics, which will take you far!
Once your lifters have mastered the basics and made good bench press progress, you can start to think about introducing some of the coaching techniques from the 491 level, and after significant progress there the possibility of 601.
Just like college, there's no need for lifters to even worry about the most advanced, pickiest techniques! The basics of 101 are the foundation of the lift.
*** I hope this videos helps any of you watching this out with either coaching or your own training!
I live for coaching others to succeed, and teaching is another passion of mine - if you'd like to know about hiring me for training and coaching, or are a trainer looking for a professional mentor in improving coaching techniques, leave me a comment below or email me at [e-mail] !