Its one of those regular questions among gym-bros, something youre almost guaranteed to get asked if you go to the gym regularly. The classic barbell bench press has always been one of the gyms glamour lifts, and its one of the finest ways to add size, strength, and power to your chest. Its a move that you inherently know, too, a more loaded version of the exercise you learned when you were younger, the pushup.

But boy, can it be frustrating. If youve been going to the gym for awhile, theres a good chance youve hit a so-called plateau, and your bench press weight isnt increasing anymore. This happened to me a few years ago, and Ill be honest: It was aggravating. I thought Id been doing everything I needed to build a big bench press but my weights just werent going up.

The problem: I thought the answer to fixing my bench press was doing more bench presses, and it wasnt. We can get lost cramming massive repetitions of bench presses into our programs, expecting that to help us bust through plateaus, but thats very rarely the key. Sometimes, the key is utilizing other exercises, strengthening supporting muscle groups to drive your bench press upwards.

So stop worrying about your plateau for the next month. Im going to crash you through the movements that pulled me out of my bench press struggles.

Things to Keep In Mind

First, A Chest Anatomy Lesson

Tapping your true pectoral potential starts with understanding the muscle itself. Your chest muscle has two heads, the sternal head and the clavicular head. The sternal head is the meaty part of the chest that we all associate with a big chest. Both heads insert at the intertubercular groove of the humerus (near the shoulder).

Things are different for each head from there. The clavicular head also connects to the medical clavicle (collarbone). The sternal head, meanwhile, connects to sternal and clavicular cartilage. Both heads combine to move the shoulder joint, flexing it (think of raising your arm overhead) and internally rotating it. The clavicular head is key in that overhead shoulder motion.

The sternal head also assists in shoulder adduction. Think of clapping your hands in front of you, elbows straight. As you bring your arm across your body, youre adducting your shoulder. This is why dumbbell fly exercises are so good at recruiting that sternal head, even though they leave the clavicular head behind.

Your Chests Support Muscles

If you want to move bigger weights on the bench, doing zounds of reps at manageable weight wont solve the problem. Instead, itll lead to shoulder joint and ligament issues, or maybe even elbow issues.

Good thing so many other muscles are involved in the bench press. Your anterior deltoids (front shoulders) and triceps are both key supporters in the move. Your delts help raise your shoulders away from your torso, essentially getting them in place to hold the bar.

Your triceps, meanwhile, are often the lagging muscle in your bench press. In order to get the weight overhead, the elbow has to unlock, a primary function of the tris. The long head of the triceps also attaches at the scapula; believe it or not, your long triceps head assists in shoulder adduction and can also help you get that weight overhead.

Energy Transfer

Have you ever finished a heavy bench day and wondered why your glutes were sore? Energy transfer matters.

When you bench press, you have five points of contact: Your two feet are planted on the ground, and your head, back and glutes are plastered to the bench. This setup makes ground contact so you can push the weight up. This setup also means youre pressing with way more than your chest. Your core is a crucial piece of transferring energy from your feet to your upper body. When the weight is heavy enough, your heels drive into the ground, creating rigid posture all the way up through your core.

Strict form will help you press the weight back up. Without that stability, the bar travels upward in an unpredictable movement pattern. You dont want that.

Your Bench Press Assist Moves

Barbell Row

Why? Building up those posterior erectors and lats can really assist your pressing moves. The lats attach through the thoracolumbar fascia and have considerable emphasis on posture. As you extend the thoracic spine to drive your upper back into the bench, youre engaging your lats. Owning this movement will help your starting position on the bench.

How to: Hold a loaded barbell with an overhand, shoulder-width grip, feet shoulder-width apart, then hinge at the hips, so your torso is at a 45-degree angle with the ground. Keep your core tight. This is the start. Squeeze your shoulder blades, then bend at the elbows and shoulders, rowing the barbell to your belly button; keep your core tight as you do this. Slowly lower the bar to the start. Thats 1 rep; do 4 sets of 10 to 12 twice a week. If you don't have regular access to a barbell, consider doing dumbbell rows instead (and check out our dumbbell row tutorial right here).

How to: Lie with only your shoulder blades on a bench, feet planted firmly on the ground. Lift your hips and squeeze your glutes, driving your torso upwards so its parallel to the ground. Hold a single dumbbell directly over your chest with both hands, elbows bent only slightly. This is the start. Now slowly lower the weight behind your head, stretching as far back as you can comfortably. Pause, tighten your core, then press back up. Thats 1 rep; do 4 sets of 8 to 10 reps.