Article: It's been said before, but it's worth repeating. Poor form and more weight won't get you lifting more; proper form and less weight will. Here is a short list of several things you should pay attention to while you bench:  Squeeze the bar tightly to activate your triceps. Activating your triceps will ultimately help you lift more. Use your legs to create a solid base. Think of yourself as driving your back and traps into the bench, giving your chest and arms a foundation to push off against. Lift the bar up and down in a straight line. If lifting causes you to wobble back and forth when you bring the bar up and down, you are probably lifting too much weight. Switch to lower weight and practice proper form. Muscles in the body are interconnected. That means that to fully tone your chest with the bench press, you need to pay attention to your triceps and back. One reason lifters often reach a plateau in weight is that they forget to work out their triceps, which help power the bench press.  To tone your triceps, make your grip smaller on the bench press. Also try to work out the triceps with dips, skull-crushers, and overhand cable extensions.  To tone your upper back, try barbell rows, which happen to be the exact opposite of the bench press. With good form, this exercise should strengthen your back significantly. . The secret to gaining muscle mass is working out and eating right. Take your body weight in pounds and multiply that number by 18.  This is the number of calories you should try to get into your body over the course of your day. Remember also to get a good balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Shoot for 25-40% calories from protein; 15-40% calories from fat; and 35-45% calories from carbohydrates. If you spend any amount of time watching others bench press, what you'll notice is that most people are a bit stronger with one arm — usually their dominant. What keeps many people at a plateau is their weak arm or side, as you can only lift as much as this arm will let you. To overcome this temporary limitation, work out your weak side more than normal. When either arms or sides are strong enough to work in tandem while bearing equal weight, watch your bench press skyrocket. If the only chest exercise that you perform is the bench press, your body will adapt quickly. To take your bench press to the next level, you are going to have to find different exercises for your chest. Try them out to see what works for you. Even slight differences in exercises can yield drastic results. Here are some additional chest exercises that you can try to max out your bench press:  Dumbbell flyes Barbell incline/decline Pushups Chest press (incline or regular) Cable extensions
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Hone your technique. Tone your back and triceps. Eat better and more to gain muscle Make sure both arms are roughly equal in strength. Switch it up around the chest.