Chest · Barbell
Barbell Explosive Bench Press
How to do the barbell explosive bench press, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- HorizontalPush
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Lie on a flat bench with feet planted and grip the barbell slightly wider than shoulder-width. Lower the bar to your mid-chest under control, then press it up as explosively as possible while keeping your shoulder blades retracted. Reset your brace and repeat each rep with maximum bar speed off the chest.
- 1Chest, shoulders, and triceps firing hard to accelerate the bar off your
- 2chest
- 3Feet planted and core braced for a solid base to press against
- 4A fast, powerful drive while keeping the bar path controlled
Common mistakes
- Bouncing the bar off your chest to create the speed
- Flaring the elbows out or arching the low back excessively
- Letting the wrists bend back instead of staying stacked over the bar
Muscles worked
The barbell explosive bench press mainly works the mid chest, with the triceps, upper chest, lower chest, and front delts assisting.
- Mid ChestPrimary
- TricepsSupport
- Upper ChestSupport
- Lower ChestSupport
- Front DeltsSupport
- ForearmsMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
Kovo programs the barbell explosive bench press for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More chest exercises
- How to do the archer push-up
- How to do the assisted dip
- How to do the resistance band chest flyes
- How to do the resistance band push-up
- How to do the barbell bench press
- How to do the paused bench press
Last reviewed June 2026.