How Not To Kill Yourself Benchpressing

When doing bench presses at home many people make a big safety mistake, turning the entire exercise into something much more dangerous than it needs to be.

Clamps, Collars, Locks

Whatever you call the little things keeping plates in place on a barbell, you have to know when and how to use them.

When doing barbell biceps curls, put them on. If you do deadlifts, yes, please, put them on. But leave them off when you do bench presses without safety equipment, especially when you train at home:

Important At Home And The Gym!

This is of very much importance for those of you training at home, but in my opinion it won’t hurt to do the same at a gym. Even if you have a spotter, rare is the one that can catch a 200 lbs barbell without it impacting on your chest or neck.

Don’t worry if leaving them off for benchpresses will sometimes garner you a belittling “dude, you didn’t put the locks on” from someone thinking of himself as a “pro”. The misuse of locks and collars is so very much widespread, that someone using them correctly is the exception and not the norm.