Bench Press Back Arch
For your shoulders sake arch your back when you bench press.
Bench press back arch. How to increase your bench press arch. Can t arch my back during the bench press. For your shoulders sake arch your back when you bench press. Go to a powerlifting meet and you ll never see a competitor benching with their back flat on the bench there are 3 main reasons why this is the case.
You ll note in the description i outlined above i said to stick your chest out by arching your upper back and pulling your shoulder blades. Top to bottom with compressive loading i e the weight pushes the vertebrae closer together and then arch your back. Arching your back to an extreme degree while squatting or deadlifting is a bad idea. Push back up into an upright arched position and hold for 10 seconds.
Improve your arch by strengthening your mid back and performing specific drills to increase mobility. Slowly working on mobilizing that area along with doing specific bench press cues to improve your bench press arch. You take an axially loaded position i e. One way to arch your back is to get your feet behind your hips but the farther the legs go back the tougher it is to transfer leg drive into the bench without your butt leaving the bench.
However your tight bench press arch will only support the more important leg drive component of your bench press. Cue 3 push yourself away from the bar. There is a right and wrong way to arch for doing a bench press. The spine isn t axially loaded.
The bench press arch back. We could also use the word flex your upper back instead of arch. In reference to the argument of arching causing injury there are a few misconceptions that follow this logic. By thinking of the bench press more like a row you ll have an easier time keeping your chest up and maintaining a natural arch in your back.
Most of the issues stem from flexibility issues from the thoracic spine. This is the best mobility drill i ve found for improving the bench press arch because of how specific it is. Therefore arch lifters are substituting decreased rom for less leg drive but leg drive is likely to have a better transfer to other activities outside. Arching your lower back to an extreme degree while squatting or deadlifting is a bad idea.
The bench press arch is a safe technique if your shoulders and pelvis are anchored into the bench press properly and your position doesn t change while lifting the weight. Repeat this process 5 10x before benching. Your spine is not axially loaded.