It's no surprise that everyone fights over the benches at the gym on Monday evenings. The bench press or variation of it should be a staple of every program. If you're one of the people scrambling for an open bench you're on the right track. When done correctly the bench press can be a full body exercise that will make you harder, thicker, stronger and more muscular in the least amount of time.

Benching is so popular it can be tough to find an open bench at times. But that's okay, and here's why.

The fact is, your bench is going to get stronger on days you're not training bench. That's right. You grow and get stronger while you're recovering. There are also other important muscle groups that need attention if you want to break your bench press rut.

While everyone is fighting over the benches we're going to make sure we're not neglecting other critical muscle groups that will help you bench press more weight.

You probably already know that when you start the lift you are primarily using your pecs, but after a few inches your triceps are going take over. Therefore we'll need to strengthen those triceps with some exercises like rolling dumbbell extensions and dumbbell floor presses.

Your back needs attention as well. You need to train this antagonist muscle group to avoid imbalances. Your lats also serve as a shelf and give you a more stable base to push from. Your back muscles help you stabilize the weight in the eccentric phase which makes up half the lift! Work your back on the same plane as your bench. Bench friendly back movements include barbell rows and close grip lat pull downs.

Since this is an article about bench pressing you won't have to concern yourself with the squat and deadlift right? WRONG! Squats and deadlifts trigger your body to release growth hormone and will temporarily raise testosterone levels in your blood. This puts you in an anabolic state and all your other muscles will benefit.

These are compound exercises that will add muscle mass and work your entire body. Besides you don't want to look like a light bulb do you? You know the type, guys with a huge upper body and tiny chicken legs. The deadlift will build your back up big time.

If you're a chest and arms type of guy here's something you'll be happy to hear. Bicep training can actually help your bench. The hammer curl significantly targets the brachioradialis which is the largest muscle in the forearm. Developing this muscle will help you at the bottom of the bench press and you can build your biceps at the same time.

Oh and if you are one of those guys that only likes to train the chest and arms, please reread this article.

Once you've got your head on straight give some of these exercises a try and before you know it you'll have first dibs on any bench you'd like to use and well on your way to that 300 or 400 pound lift that everyone is striving for.

Keep training hard!

Mike Westerdal
Author of the Critical Bench Program 2.0