Bench Form/Leg Position Question for Short Armed Benchers

UrbanSavage**

Pepe Silvia
Joined
Apr 17, 2006
Messages
9,148
Reaction score
0
Just re-watched Dave Tate's 'So You Think You Can Bench?' series, and at the end of the 6th video and beginning of the 7th he shows a second style of benching where your feet are extended further out in front of you so that your knees are lower than your hips. He explains that this is actually a better technique for benchers with short arms (like I have) looking to press in a straight line and that, for the leverages short-armed benchers have, this style actually shortens the range of motion, despite having a smaller arch. He also said this style is great for using more leg drive in your bench.

I usually bench on my toes with my feet as far underneath me as I can get them, while keeping as big of an arch as I can with my ass still touching. I thought this style was best to shorten the ROM for the bench. I'm now planning on trying this 2nd style that Tate shows. He even said he benched with that 2nd style for many years and only changed it up because of a shoulder issue. I was under the impression that these days, the 1st style that he spends 95% of the SYTYCB instructional showing, was king for almost all benchers. Is this not true for short armed benchers?

I wanted to know if anyone, particularly benchers with shorter arms, have any experience with this style and could give any advice on it. Any comments on the difference in the set-ups, arches, leg drive, etc. would be appreciated. Also, any advice on the primary differences for any of the big 3 for shorter limbed lifters would be great, but I'm mainly looking for bench advice. I remember reading posts from Travis Bell about being short armed, so I've watched a ton of his youtube vids to work on form. Any other good benchers to watch?

In case you haven't seen it. So You Think You Can Bench? Get the Whole Series Here!
 
Last edited:
I don't see how benching flat footed reduces the range of motion for people who have short arms. The Metal Militia set-up (see below) should give you the best leverages both raw and shirted, regardless of the length of your arms. It should be noted however, that this kind of arching setup works best for 1-3RM attempts, not 10+ reps. If you are following a program that has you doing a lot of reps (say 5+) on the bench, your feet need to be down and in front of you for stability.

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.
 
Tate also mentioned that this style may not be optimal for shoulder joint health so perhaps all in all it's not a great idea. Shorter arms already give you a big advantage in bench so just focus on the fundamentals (tight upper back, digging traps in, flaring/pinching shoulders, tucking elbows, big arch, digging feet in, widest grip, etc).

Your biggest disadvantage will be in DL in that you'll have to get lower to the bar, either by starting lower with the hips or bending lower with the upper body. Some guys also choose to do sumo DLs.
 
I don't see how benching flat footed reduces the range of motion for people who have short arms. The Metal Militia set-up (see below) should give you the best leverages both raw and shirted, regardless of the length of your arms. It should be noted however, that this kind of arching setup works best for 1-3RM attempts, not 10+ reps. If you are following a program that has you doing a lot of reps (say 5+) on the bench, your feet need to be down and in front of you for stability.

Yeah, I've read a lot of stuff on Metal Militia and watched a ton of Sebastian's benches on youtube. I've been reading about how they bench twice a week, I've started benching twice a week with one day focused on top end strength and the other focused on the bottom end. I've already put a lot of time into my bench set up and technique, but watching SYTYCB and Dave mentioning the other style was the first I'd ever heard of a style having a shorter ROM and being superior to the standard feet tucked under/huge arch style.

Dave said that the only reason benching with this other style would give shoulder problems would be for missing attempts and that you have poor leverage when you try to bench more towards your head and push with your shoulders. I bench in a straight line and start low. I wouldn't be interested in it so much, it's just that all the things Dave said would be indicators that you should bench in this style apply to me 100%.
 
Tate also mentioned that this style may not be optimal for shoulder joint health so perhaps all in all it's not a great idea. Shorter arms already give you a big advantage in bench so just focus on the fundamentals (tight upper back, digging traps in, flaring/pinching shoulders, tucking elbows, big arch, digging feet in, widest grip, etc).

Your biggest disadvantage will be in DL in that you'll have to get lower to the bar, either by starting lower with the hips or bending lower with the upper body. Some guys also choose to do sumo DLs.

I'm hoping to get some advice from Tate himself, I asked him about it on elitefts.com so hopefully he responds.

The weird thing is that I truly do have short limbs and I'm really stocky, but the deadlift has always by far been my best lift. That's been changing as of late, I'd guess primarily due to reading and practicing a ton on my bench and squat because I've learned those are the lifts I really have the most potential to ever do big numbers in.

Is sumo better than conventional for short limbed lifters or something? I've never been interested in sumo style dead lifting at all.
 
Yeah, I've read a lot of stuff on Metal Militia and watched a ton of Sebastian's benches on youtube. I've been reading about how they bench twice a week, I've started benching twice a week with one day focused on top end strength and the other focused on the bottom end. I've already put a lot of time into my bench set up and technique, but watching SYTYCB and Dave mentioning the other style was the first I'd ever heard of a style having a shorter ROM and being superior to the standard feet tucked under/huge arch style.

Dave said that the only reason benching with this other style would give shoulder problems would be for missing attempts and that you have poor leverage when you try to bench more towards your head and push with your shoulders. I bench in a straight line and start low. I wouldn't be interested in it so much, it's just that all the things Dave said would be indicators that you should bench in this style apply to me 100%.

You don't flare back towards your head metal militia style unless you are in a bench shirt.
 
Back
Top