Bench form check

DrBdan

Something clever
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Hey folks, here is my bench. Comments are appreciated.

- how's my arch?
- foot position and leg drive - I don't think I'm getting much (if any) leg drive, should my feet be further back beneath me?
- just how much does my gym's music suck?

175x1, 195x1


145x5


Thanks!
 
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Nice PR!

I'm not a bench expert by any means, and I'm fine with anyone contradicting me on this, but one thing I noticed that you did that I had to work on was that your feet weren't flat on the floor. I'm not sure that there's a major disadvantage to being up on the balls of your feet like you were, but in raw competition, feet must be flat, and watching Dave Tate bench, his feet were flat to the floor.

That's my two cents.
 
I am no expert on the bench and I am currently working on trying to incorporate more leg drive. However, the other day at the gym, I was given some real time tips by a guy on my bench form. Most of these tips are mentioned by Tate, but I found that the mental cues really helped.

I used to get out onto my toes like you too because I thought it helped me more with an arch. However, it was recommended I try it flat footed and I feel like I can really feel more leg drive by slamming my heels into the floor.

I was also recommended about using a mental cue of slamming my upper back into the bench, and think less about pressing the weight off your chest (I think Tate mentions this too).

Overall, the guy really advocated to me was to really push my heels into the ground and my back into the bench even before unracking the weight. I had never been so uncomfortable on the bench before and the next couple days I had some pretty intense DOMS in my upper back (I think Tate says this is usually what a guy will experience when he starts benching correctly).

Also, that press looked pretty easy for you. I'm sure once you perfect your form with more leg drive, it'll only get easier.
 
I was about to post this in your log, but since you created a thread it's better to post it here in case there are any disagreements with my advice. I'm not a bench expect by any means either, but I have been spending quite a bit of time on my bench form to accommodate for my bad shoulder lately.


Overall the form looks very good. The bar path looks ok, the elbows are not too flared, you have good overall tightness.

For once I wouldn't go for a bench 1RM without a spotter. In any case, if you don't get a lift off, then get your head closer to the hooks so you don't lose too much of your upper back setup. A lot closer at that.

Your arch is good, no reason to try to arch more in your lumbar spine. Concentrate on creating a better arch in your thoracic spine (if possible).

As a starting point I would place my feet slightly wider apart to give you a better base. I would start playing around with narrower stances only if for some reason the medium stance didn't work for me.

Instead of driving the balls of your feet into the ground, drive your heels into the ground. If you use a stance like this, where the heels are off the ground, then you should do your best to drive your heels into the ground (even if they never touch the ground). Personally I use a setup where my heels are just an inch or two off the ground but still close enough that when I push they touch the ground.

Based on your setup for 195, it looks like you can get better upper back tightness in your setup. After getting your feet and body position in place make sure you retract your scapulae as much as possible (try pushing against the loaded bar or against the stands). At this point your scapulae should feel "stuck" on the bench, as in they are really retracted and don't move. When you engage the leg drive, your should feel your arch being reinforced and you should feel some extra tension on your scapulae (it's like as if you are pushing your body upwards in reference to the bench, but your scapulae stay stuck on the same position).
 
I think how far you have your feet back and your arch are being limited by the bench being too low (as in too close to the ground, not weight wise, just to be clear). Is there another bench you can use, or can you raise that one somehow? Like putting it on top of weight plates or something? Also, +1 on the upper back tightness.

And your gym's music is irredeemable. Have you considered moving so that you can go to a better gym?

*EDIT*
Is your gym carpeted?
 
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Thanks for the feedback guys, sounds like the biggest thing is my foot placement followed by upper back tightness. I've never been happy with the foot placement so it's definitely a work in progress. Believe it or not I used to setup even lower on the bench which made getting anything near my 1RM out of the rack pretty tough. I'll try moving up a bit more.

Tosa, that's the only bench I can use. think I'll try putting my feet further in front and pushing like Dave Tate recommends in his latest bench vid and if I can't get that to work I'll think about putting weights under the bench to make it higher. As if I don't get enough weird looks for taking video of my lifts, setting up for bench and deadlifting with chalk. And yeah the gym is carpeted but it's just carpet over concrete so it's a stable surface (there's no soft underpadding like you'd have in a house). That's why I deadlift on mats (there's a vid in my log).
 
Nice PR!

I'm not a bench expert by any means, and I'm fine with anyone contradicting me on this, but one thing I noticed that you did that I had to work on was that your feet weren't flat on the floor. I'm not sure that there's a major disadvantage to being up on the balls of your feet like you were, but in raw competition, feet must be flat, and watching Dave Tate bench, his feet were flat to the floor.

That's my two cents.

Depends on the federation, some require feet flat, some allow you to be on your toes.

I prefer my feet to be rather far back and on my toes, I can get a decent arch, everything feels tighter, and I don't have as much trouble keeping my ass on the bench.
 
I agree that it looks like you could get tighter in your upper back. The biggest challenge for me is maintaining my scapular retraction throughout my set; I need to be thinking about it pretty much the whole time or my shoulders start slipping apart by rep 3 or 4.

Also (don't know if it was mentioned before) but from what I understand you don't really need to have your heels on the ground but (in the foot tucked position you have) you should be trying to drive your heels into the ground to transfer pressure onto your retracted shoulders.

I'm not bench expert either though, but that's my two cents
 
As if I don't get enough weird looks for taking video of my lifts, setting up for bench and deadlifting with chalk.

If your not getting weird looks at that sort of gym, you're doing it wrong. Add glute bridges to really make people think "wtf fuck is that matter with him?".
 
Your set-up is terrible, read this... It's the holy grail of how to set up for the bench press, from the best benchers in the game

Competition Bench Setup

By Sebastian Burns


When most people set up for the bench they usually don't think that what they are doing is the most important part of the lift. They are focused on the weight and maybe the excitement of the meet or training session. What they don't know is that the game is won or lost in the setup. I don't think that many local gym rats even think about it at all. Judging by most of what I have seen working in the gym business for 15 odd years most people just lay down and push the bar up in whatever way possible. This is fine if you are a flat back benchin gym rat, but when you are looking to do some damage to the state, national, or world record books you will need to pay more attention to your setup. I have personally seen lifters add 50 to 100lbs to their bench in one or two training sessions just by improving their setup. That's right, 50 to 100lbs!! Most lifters would say only a bench shirt could cause an increase like that. Well I will try to convey in writing the proper way to set up your bench press so you to can enjoy an increase like that.

Lets start with feet position your feet should be spread wide. A good rule of thumb here is to always spread your feet a little wider than you think they should be. If you keep that in your head over time you will be able to get them pretty wide if you are not flexible enough to do so in the beginning .Now lets look at foot placement. The way we will do this is to look at the foot in relation to the knee. The feet should be tucked behind your knee more towards your head and the angle of your leg from a side view should look like this (<). There is a few reasons for this foot placement the first being the ability to drive hard from your legs without your ass coming up off the bench. The second is stability. The wide stance will provide the base needed to steer heavy weight with a bench shirt on. The actual way you place your feet is also important. We have found that it is best to put the full force of your push onto the balls of your feet but at the same time pressing the heel to the floor. Pushing the heel to the floor can be used as a fine adjustment knob for getting weight to touch your chest with your shirt on. When you push your heel down this will cause your stomach to rise and will allow the bar to touch.

Now lets move beyond the feet to the hip joint. It is here that we create the angle of the upper leg (<) we are looking for to get the feet in the proper position. This is accomplished by flexing your gluteus as much as possible and rotating your crotch towards the bench (Balls to the bench if you will). If you follow all the steps up till here we have solved the problems of getting max stability with max leg drive without raising your ass off the bench. For most lifters this would seem impossible but with some time and a lot of effort you will get the position right. If your ass is still coming off the bench then your feet will have to go wider or farther back or both.

Next is the lower back, obviously this will determine most of your arch and you will need to really push yourself to get your arch up if you are not flexible enough to do so already. I cannot say enough how important it is that you try really hard to get better at arching it is almost the biggest piece of the shirt bench puzzle. There is a few ways I have seen over the years to try to help you arch, everything from placing various balls and boards under your back to crazy stretching exercises. My opinion here is that if you think it works then try it. I personally have never used anything except trying to arch higher and higher every single set and I have been told that my arch is one of the best save for a few girls who can just bend in half.

Now lets move to arching the upper back. Most people think that only the lower back arches but this is not so and this is very important if you want to get the most out of your shirt, this is accomplished by putting your upper trap on the bench and pushing your chest out as far as possible. To see what I am saying sit up straight in a chair and place your finger on the highest point on your trap you will see that this is not behind you but rather on top. This is what you are trying to get on the bench.

Now that we have made it this far lets talk about the final piece and perhaps the most important. Shoulder blade retraction the best way to explain this is to stand straight up and put your arms up like you are about to bench. Now have someone put his or her finger in the middle of your upper back on your spine. Pull your shoulders together and try to squeeze that persons finger notice your bench stroke will shorten a few inches from doing this. This will also aid in touching weight with a tight shirt on. The reason for it in the setup will be to hold your shirt in place while you are arching.

Now that we have broken down each area of the proper setup lets put it all together into one motion because it must become one fluid motion that does not require lots of valuable energy needed for the lift.

Start by sitting on the end of the bench retracting your shoulder blades keeping your shirt where you have placed it for the lift. Lying back on the bench and grabbing the bar with an underhand grip, next move your head and upper body thru the bench towards your handoff spotter while holding yourself up with your underhand grip. Shoulders still retracted, pull your feet back farther than where you would normally place them, almost where they are touching the cross member of the bench. Keep them there and start moving your body back toward the front of the bench without moving your feet. Once you feel a great stretch in your hipflexors. Anchor your hips to the bench and start rotating your crotch downward toward the bench. Your feet still remain in the extremely flexed position at this time. Shoulders still together chest and stomach pushed up real high, this is where you must focus on the upper back arch. You can also use your head to hold your upper back off the bench while you are trying to get the upper trap on the bench. When you feel you have enough of an arch to put your traps down, slam them down hard and dig in. All the time be aware of your shirt and arm position. Keep pushing your ass and your traps closer together using your feet at one end and pushing into the arch with your hands on the bar with the other. The whole time you are doing this you will need to be aware of your bench shirt and the position of your arms, I cannot stress this enough. Now that you are in position slide your feet forward (not too far) until you can get a solid base on the balls of your feet now push your heels to the floor. If you can do so easily you went too far. It should be hard to get them to touch the floor .Now without moving your shirt turn your hands around push together a little more take a deep breath and take the weight.
 
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