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What is the world record bench press? 1,010 pounds! Gene Rychlak performed the unbelievable feat of pushing half a ton off of his chest.

If there's any one exercise that everyone seems to use as a show of pure strength and power, it is definitely the bench press. "How much ya' bench?" is a popular question thrown around weight rooms, and the answers are almost always inflated so as to match the ego of the responder.

But, throwing around as much weight as possible may not exactly be the best way to see and feel results from this exercise. That's why I am highlighting the proper form, execution, and target muscles of this classic muscle builder.

Proper Bench Press Technique

The bench press targets the development of the pectoral muscles, but also calls upon help from your triceps and front deltoids, so good form is absolutely essential to maximize results:

1. Lie flat on your back on the bench.
2. Grasp the bar with a shoulder-width, or slightly wider, grip.
3. Lift the bar out of the supports, holding it with your arms fully extended (but not locked out!) above your sternum.
4. Slowly lower the bar until it touches the chest or stops only an inch from it (this is up to you), but be sure to not let the weight "bounce" off of you.
5. Once you've reached the bottom of the movement, hold for one second and then press the weight back up to the starting position.

Tip: when you raise the bar, be sure to exhale the air you took in while you were lowering it. Also, when you press the weight upward, try to avoid completely locking your elbows to full extension. This will ensure that there is constant tension and also help avoid elbow injury.

So, while you may never make Gene Rychlak nervous about his bench press world record, you can still set your own personal bench press record every time you step into the gym!

On your journey to the world record bench press, stop by http://www.fitbuff.com for more tips and information on getting there!

Legs are one of the most ignored portions by new bodybuilders. A part of it is due to the fact that legs don't get prominently displayed as your chest or biceps. The second big reason is that its really hard to develop leg muscles. This is because of the fact that legs are able to take a great amount of stress. So, if you really want to put on any extra muscle mass on your legs the amount of effort required will be multiple times. A successful thigh workout requires a poundage overload that not only will force them to work harder but will also tax the entire adrenal system.

However, if you think smartly then there are combinations of exercises that can really put the required stress on the leg muscles without consuming too much of your time. One such tactic is to try the following superset.

The Superset combination of Stiff Leg Dead Lifts with Leg Curls.

This combination can really set your hamstrings on fire. Leg Dead lifts work in a completely opposite manner to leg curls. While leg dead lifts stretch your muscles, leg curls work by contracting them. So if you push this combination together in a serial you can look forward to some real tough stress on your hamstrings. One way to work it out is to first do stiff leg dead lifts for max 10 reps, then follow this through with 10 reps set of leg curls. Repeat the process without any additional rest. Remember the weight that you use should be large enough, so that the number of max reps is limited to ten.

Once you have performed this superset you are bound to feel that soreness and pain that otherwise is totally missing in leg workouts, but that means that your leg muscles have some work done today.

Remember leg muscles are hard to train and the results are slow to come. If you don't train yourself properly and hard then the gains may hardly be visible. What you need to do is to use your brains. This is where bodybuilding techniques come into play, and this is what separates a bodybuilder from a person just throwing around the weight in gym. There are a lot of such techniques and superset that can boost your muscle gain for the entire body.

Nick K

Remember, just working out the upper portion of your body is not going to do you good. You need to do whole body workouts Fitness expert authors like Vince Delmonte stress a lot of body symmetry and muscular fitness. You can read this review of his no nonsense muscle building program.

Additionally, here you can find reviews of bodybuilding programs.