Barbell Bench Press

danimalkeys

Here's an old arch pic. I'll never lift like this again, but I don't have any desire to either!

feralX

There's different styles of benching depending on your goal. Most of the posts are describing the power lifter approach. That's great if you're looking to push the heaviest weight with the aid of your entire body. But if the OP's goal is to build his pecs, he needs to isolate his chest and minimize the assistance from his triceps and delts. For that a BB style of benching is better, using higher reps and less weight. Elbows flared out wider, focussing on using your chest to push the weight up while trying to squeeze your hands together on the bar as it raises. I still keep a slight arch of the back, but nothing extreme like a PL lift which is essentially turning a flat bench into a decline press. If I was the OP I'd prioritize incline presses and DB inclines, takes much longer to build your upper chest than lower. Just my opinion based on what I've found most effective.

darreneatschicken

There's different styles of benching depending on your goal. Most of the posts are describing the power lifter approach. That's great if you're looking to push the heaviest weight with the aid of your entire body. But if the OP's goal is to build his pecs, he needs to isolate his chest and minimize the assistance from his triceps and delts. For that a BB style of benching is better, using higher reps and less weight. Elbows flared out wider, focussing on using your chest to push the weight up while trying to squeeze your hands together on the bar as it raises. I still keep a slight arch of the back, but nothing extreme like a PL lift which is essentially turning a flat bench into a decline press. If I was the OP I'd prioritize incline presses and DB inclines, takes much longer to build your upper chest than lower. Just my opinion based on what I've found most effective.

I'm trying to make the bench press a full body exercise.

I was working with my trainer the other day:

Been trying really hard to get that upper body / lat tightness that you need. I can pinch my shoulder blades back, but my trainer needed to push them down for me. That is the problem right now: I can't pinch my shoulder blades DOWN far enough (but I can pinch them BACK far enough).

To BB you need: BACK and DOWN shoulder blades.

Right now I only have: BACK, not DOWN.

darreneatschicken

Here's an old arch pic. I'll never lift like this again, but I don't have any desire to either!

Notice his feet. How he's on his tippy toes, but at the same time, pushing down with his heels.

My trainer got me to do this, but doesn't this conflict with Mehdi's advice that says you should BB with feet flat on the ground?

I did a google search, and on one forum, everyone was one or the other (either flat feet or like the guy in the picture).

What do you guys think? I'm guessing that there is no correct way, but that they each have different functions?

Anyways, I was doing what this guy in the picture is doing, and it was causing me to arch through my lower back. My trainer was telling me how I should be arching through my upper back; my jurassic extension (did I spell this right)? But I was doing it wrong, and using my lower back too much (causing unnecessary strain).

If you guys have been following my other posts, my main problem is since my body is so weak (mainly core, glutes, and jurassic extension), my lower back is compensating for everything.

This means I am deadlifting with my back, squatting with my back, and arching on BB with my back. Thanks to my trainer, I have been starting to fix this problem.

danimalkeys

That's me in the pic, my feet are flat. I know people who are on their toes, but I never felt like I had a stable enough base that way. You can do it either way in competition, but your feet can't move at all or you get a fail on the lift.

CipherZero

I know people who are on their toes, but I never felt like I had a stable enough base that way. You can do it either way in competition, but your feet can't move at all or you get a fail on the lift.

I'm up on my toes and driving my heels down as hard as I can; I've found it makes for a strong base to bench from.

JoRocka

Here's an old arch pic. I'll never lift like this again, but I don't have any desire to either!

Notice his feet. How he's on his tippy toes, but at the same time, pushing down with his heels.

feet noticed.

they are flat- he isn't on his tippy toes. not sure what picture you are looking at to be honest.

toughmudderMN

Trust me you want to get the correct form down before going really heavy. I used sloppy form and now I am rehabbing my shoulder.

You mentioned that your core is weak too. Strengthening your core helps a lot in all of your lifts. When I started out I had days were i just worked my core.

It sounds like you are on the right track though. Keep doing what you are doing!

darreneatschicken

Here's an old arch pic. I'll never lift like this again, but I don't have any desire to either!

Notice his feet. How he's on his tippy toes, but at the same time, pushing down with his heels.

feet noticed.

they are flat- he isn't on his tippy toes. not sure what picture you are looking at to be honest.

Ok. But my point is that there are two ways people BB when it comes to their feet positioning.

What are the advantages / disadvantages of both?

rogerOb1

There's different styles of benching depending on your goal. Most of the posts are describing the power lifter approach. That's great if you're looking to push the heaviest weight with the aid of your entire body. But if the OP's goal is to build his pecs, he needs to isolate his chest and minimize the assistance from his triceps and delts. For that a BB style of benching is better, using higher reps and less weight. Elbows flared out wider, focussing on using your chest to push the weight up while trying to squeeze your hands together on the bar as it raises. I still keep a slight arch of the back, but nothing extreme like a PL lift which is essentially turning a flat bench into a decline press. If I was the OP I'd prioritize incline presses and DB inclines, takes much longer to build your upper chest than lower. Just my opinion based on what I've found most effective.

I know you said to use lighter weight, but the OP is trying to get his basic form right and the BB style of benching (elbows flared) is the style that is more likely to create shoulder issues in the long run. There are other isolations he could do for building the chest (eg high medium and low cable crossovers).

JoRocka

Here's an old arch pic. I'll never lift like this again, but I don't have any desire to either!

Notice his feet. How he's on his tippy toes, but at the same time, pushing down with his heels.

feet noticed.

they are flat- he isn't on his tippy toes. not sure what picture you are looking at to be honest.

Ok. But my point is that there are two ways people BB when it comes to their feet positioning.

What are the advantages / disadvantages of both?

pushing through the heel gives you more leverage.

getting on your toes- means you got your feet further back under your body (i.e. closer to your head) and you have a bigger arch but your flexiblity won't let you get your heels down.

Really the answer is do you want to push through the floor for more leverage- or do you want to get a bigger arch. most people can't get a their biggest arch with their feet flat- it's bigger with toes up because they can wedge their legs under neath them.

darreneatschicken

Here's an old arch pic. I'll never lift like this again, but I don't have any desire to either!

Notice his feet. How he's on his tippy toes, but at the same time, pushing down with his heels.

feet noticed.

they are flat- he isn't on his tippy toes. not sure what picture you are looking at to be honest.

Ok. But my point is that there are two ways people BB when it comes to their feet positioning.

What are the advantages / disadvantages of both?

pushing through the heel gives you more leverage.

getting on your toes- means you got your feet further back under your body (i.e. closer to your head) and you have a bigger arch but your flexiblity won't let you get your heels down.

Really the answer is do you want to push through the floor for more leverage- or do you want to get a bigger arch. most people can't get a their biggest arch with their feet flat- it's bigger with toes up because they can wedge their legs under neath them.

I want to have a good arch, but like you said, it takes lots of practice.

Right now, when if I get on my toes, I can get a bigger arch, so I know what you mean. But my trainer says I'm using my lower back to arch, when I should be using my jurassic extension instead (upper back / lats I think he means)?

Therefore, if I bench with my feet not flat (and put some weight on the barbell), I feel like I am putting stress on my back.

My trainer says to focus all your weight on your traps, and that's what I'm working on right now.

What I'm also finding is that when I BB with pinned back shoulders, I can keep them pinned back, but as I raise the bar, they tend to loosen up.

My trainer says to fix this problem, just keep focusing weight on my traps, keep shoulders pinned back (and down), and also to not go for the full range of motion. He says that at the top, your elbows should be a bit bent (is this true)?

When I BB, I go for the full range of motion, like my elbows will lock out at the top. But this causes me to lose the tightness in my shoulder blades. What should I do to have tight lats / shoulders all throughout the entire range of motion?

Once I can get and maintain this upper back tightness, I'm going to work on getting my lower body tight. Which means working on my arch.

darreneatschicken

Message from my trainer to me:

"Hey Read your post... quick comments:

Elbows bent at top? I never said that.
What I said is don't push the bar past the lockout. What you did is lock out your elbows and then push the bar even higher up by spreading your shoulderblades apart. You need to keep the shoulderblades locked under until the bar is racked.

BTW jurrasic extension = thorcacic extension, ie. the spine around your ribcage. Your Thorax!

To fix the problem you need to work on your thoracic extension. I have some drills we can do. Pushing weight in your traps is correct but won't affect whether or not you're extending through the proper part of your spine.

Might want to fix your post.

In the meanwhile, while benching, you still want to arch, but never to the point of pain!"

darreneatschicken

Quick note:

You know how your elbows shouldn't be flaring out as the bar descends?

To prevent flared elbows, I have to really focus on squeezing my elbows towards the sides of my body as the bar descends.

To practice, I BB with dumbbells and slightly slant the barbells / rotate my wrist, so that during the descending part of the lift, my elbows are naturally squeezing towards the sides of my body.

SezxyStef

RE foot position.

I have tried both...started flat...tried on toes...moved back to flat with them extended out so I can push in my heals.

This after watching a video and asking a quesiton about it on the ETP FB page.

I am much happier with flat foot...more comfortable.

darreneatschicken

RE foot position.

I have tried both...started flat...tried on toes...moved back to flat with them extended out so I can push in my heals.

This after watching a video and asking a quesiton about it on the ETP FB page.

I am much happier with flat foot...more comfortable.

But doesn't going on your toes allow for a better arch?

And bench pressing shouldn't be comfortable. You should be tight throughout your whole body.

I do understand going flat for pushing through your heels though. Seems like that's the main reason people give for benching with flat feet.

darreneatschicken

UPDATE:

My trainer gave me a cue to imagine crushing an orange against the side of my body using my elbows during the descending part of bench press.

I find this really helps me keep my elbows tucked in, and prevents them from flailing outwards (like how it looks when you DB shoulder press).

Your elbow positioning when you bench press should translate to your elbow positioning when you do pushups. I just found out that I have been doing pushups wrong my entire life (because of flailing elbows).

Ironically, my trainer laughed when I told him this. He said that I'm not the only one.

Also: jurassic extension = thoracic extension