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Step 1
Stretch the shoulders. While bench pressing is primarily targeting the pectoral muscles, your shoulders and more specifically rotator cuffs are the parts of your arm that need to be tended to when warming up. This is due to the fact the muscles in your chest are quite large in comparison to those in your shoulders. Therefore it stands to reason that the smaller muscles that will be supporting a large amount of weight need more of a warm-up. To do this, perform shoulder lateral raises at a low weight. Stand, facing forward, take two dumbbells, usually no more than 10 pounds, and slowly raise your arms to the side for 10 to 15 reps. Complete two sets of this exercise.
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Step 2
Perform incline presses. Sitting on an incline bench (one that supports your back at about a 45 degree angle), take two dumbbells, probably in the vicinity of 20 pounds and slowly raise them up over your chest until the dumbbells are touching. Perform two sets of this exercise.
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Step 3
Begin bench press. Lay on the bench press, and simply raise and lower the bar without any additional weight. You should be able to perform twenty reps easily. Complete two sets.
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Step 4
Increase weight. On the bench press, begin to slowly add weight to each set of reps. If you completed twenty reps on the bar without weight, add enough weight so that you can complete fifteen reps, then twelve reps and then ultimately eight reps. Congratulations, you have now successfully learned how to warm-up for the bench press.
