Here’s a quick test of your lower trap strength.
Do a full chin-up.
Most will assume that if the chin clears the bar that they are successful. Test passed. Next exercise please.
Not so fast.
At the top of the chin-up, the scapula should be depressed (pulled down) and retracted (pulled back). Most of the people will initially allow the scapula to elevate as they usually aren’t aware of correct chin-up performance or they’re just not strong enough in their scapular muscles…especially the lower trapezius which is an important depressor.
The fix?
Isometric holds in the proper scapular position at the top of the chin-up. Question is…can you even perform the isometric hold correctly.
If not, reduce the load of your body weight with jump stretch bands until you are able to perform the ISOs correctly.
How does this assure a bigger bench press?
The scapula need to be in a depressed and retracted position to be stable and thus, stabilize the shoulder joint to allow maximal effort to be generated by the prime movers in the bench press.
By increasing lower trap strength via a proper chin-up, you get a carryover to your bench press.
The additional incentive is that it will also improve shoulder health by improving scapular stabilization in other activities.
Bill
P.S. don’t forget your Inside-Out warm-up before your upper body training.