The bench press is a weight‑training exercise where you lie on a bench and press a weight up and down to strengthen your upper body, mainly your chest, shoulders, and triceps.

What is bench press?

  • You lie on a flat bench with your feet on the floor.
  • You hold a barbell (or dumbbells) above your chest with straight arms.
  • You lower the weight to about mid‑chest.
  • You press it back up until your arms are extended again.

This movement is a compound exercise, meaning it works several muscles at once, especially the pectoralis major (chest), front deltoids (front shoulders), and triceps, with help from your back and core for stability.

Why people do it

  • Builds upper‑body strength and power.
  • Helps add muscle size to chest, shoulders, and arms.
  • Carries over to movements like push‑ups and many sports actions that involve pushing.
  • Often used as a basic test of upper‑body strength in gyms and sports.

Basic variations

  • Flat barbell bench press (the classic version most people mean by “bench press”).
  • Dumbbell bench press (same motion, but each hand holds a dumbbell).
  • Incline or decline bench press, which slightly shift emphasis to upper or lower chest.
  • Close‑grip bench press, which targets triceps more.

If you’d like, I can next walk you through step‑by‑step form and common mistakes to avoid.