The exercise no one is talking about that will increase your bench press!

If you're like me, I used to struggle with my bench press. My arms are long and it seemed like no matter what I tried my bench always lagged. Here's what fixed it for me!

Unilateral Strength Training

It is my belief, that if you're invested in training for strength on a barbell using 2 arms, it would also be advantageous to train each arm separately. There are MANY benefits which I'll describe to why you should add the Single Arm DB Bench Press to your training routine

Improve Imbalances

The most simple concept is the idea that we all have a dominant and non dominant side. You might even notice this on other exercises such as bicep curls and or tricep extensions. Unfortunately, the single arm db bench press is not a very common exercise so you'd never realize that when you are bench pressing one arm is significantly stronger than the other. So the first thing unilateral strength is going to do, is expose and address those imbalances. For those just starting out on this exercise I would recommend using rep ranges 6-10 on each side. Don't worry I'll link some videos for you to see exactly what this exercise looks like and when to use it, but here are some rep schemes to try just starting out. I do personally prefer to use low rep sets with this exercise, here's how I would progress to heavier sets.

On each arm:

Week 1- 4 sets of 8

Week 2- 5 sets of 6

Week 3- 5 sets of 5

Week 4- 2 sets of 8 and 4 more sets of 4

Week 5- 3 sets of 6 and 2 more sets of 3

Week 6- 4 sets of 5 and 2 more sets of 1

Week 7- 5 sets of 4

Week 8- 6 sets of 3

Week 9- 3 sets of 5 and 3 sets of 1

Improve you core strength

The unique part of the single arm db bench press is you only have a DB in one hand, and the other hand is empty. So you can image the weight making you feel like you're tipping over and the work your body is doing to prevent that ends up strengthening your core immensely. In fact, a lot of people that start using this exercise for the first time will tell me how sore their abs are a day or 2 after. Your core is more than your abs, picture a mannequin with no arms or legs, that's your core. So it includes the shoulder joint, and if you want to increase your bench press and upper body strength, strengthening your shoulders are definitely going to help!

Improve your triceps strength

Many think about the chest and pecs when talking about the bench press, but the triceps are a major component that keeps people from unlocking their potential and you need more exercises that improve your triceps. Specifically the lateral and long head of the triceps are going to be activated again for the nature of the single arm bench press. The lateral head is arguably the most important part of the tricep in the bench press, so it just makes sense to use single arm variations to help your progress.

How to incorporate unilateral training

The easiest way is to use it right after you bench press. If you're thinking "but this will take too much time" don't worry, here's the solution. Take out other exercises that you've been doing. Examples would be to replace a machine press, or spend less time on a traditional 2 arm DB Bench Press. Take a look at what you've been doing and simply find an exercise that you can replace. The other tip, use the single arm press in the flat, incline AND overhead press variations. If you're hitting shoulders and pressing overhead, add the seated single arm overhead DB press in the same way with the same reps I used above. Training in multiple planes of motion is going to strengthen the shoulder and it's a good idea to use each variation.

Here's what it looks like, click the button below to see a visual of the exercise. Many people need to learn what to do with the feet and the empty arm so here's how I do it!

See the exercise

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