The bench press is an effective exercise that develops your triceps, anterior and medial deltoids, and pectorals. A typical bench press involves a barbell, which you press upward while lying on your back to exercise the muscles in your arms, chest and shoulders. Overtraining or performing the bench presses incorrectly decreases the effectiveness of the exercise and can lead to performance declines or injuries.
Overtraining
A willingness to exercise vigorously is a good attitude to have, but if you overdo it, you can hurt yourself and undermine your strength-training program. Some symptoms of overtraining are impaired physical performance, chronic joint or muscle soreness, and increased incidence of injuries. You also might experience reduced appetite, disturbed sleep patterns, moodiness or an elevated resting heart rate. If you experience any of these symptoms, consult a doctor to determine if overtraining is the cause.
Effect
Specific to bench presses, you might notice that you can't lift as much as you normally do, or that you can't perform as many bench presses as you have before. The key to getting back on course is to analyze your current strength-training program to identify where the problem lies. An effective approach is to hire a personal trainer, who can help you determine what flaws exist in your current program and who can design an effective regimen that takes into account your capabilities and fitness goals.
Insufficient Rest
A potential cause of overtraining is not allowing your muscles to rest fully between workouts. For example, if you perform bench presses on one day and then perform pushups on the next, you haven't allowed your body enough time to repair the muscles in your chest, arms and shoulders. Therefore, neither the bench presses nor the pushups will lead to muscle growth, and your results will plateau or even decrease. The safest approach is to allow any muscle groups you exercise to rest for a full day before exercising them again.
Overuse
Another potential cause is exercising your chest, arms and shoulder muscles too much in a single session. You might do this by performing too many exercises that target these muscle groups, or you could even be performing too many bench presses. The safest approach is to perform a single set of 12 repetitions using a weight that fatigues you by the end of the exercise. For most people, this should be sufficient to build muscle, according to MayoClinic.com.
Technique
You also might be using incorrect technique. When you perform a bench press, you should use slow and consistent movements. If, instead, you use jerky movements, you might pull a muscle or damage your joints. Also, your feet should remain flat on the ground, and your shoulders and head should lie flat on the bench. In other words, only your arms and shoulders should contribute to the bench press. If you're not sure whether your technique is to blame, ask a personal trainer to watch you perform a few repetitions.
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