How to improve back arch in bench press?
singingflutelady
Posts: 8,736 Member
I can't get a very good back arch for bench. Are there any tricks to improving it?
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Replies
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place a foam roller or slightly deflated football under the arch of your back. Concentrate on getting up on your shoulder blades.
Keep your feet on the floor!0 -
Thanks! I definitely keep my feet on the floor just can't arch much. I will try that!0
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I try to focus on pressing my shoulder blades "upper back" hard into the bench when pressing. That seems to automatically arch my lower back.0
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i wrote some stuff on your other post about how i get into position.0
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Generally I will tuck my feet back under my glutes on the ground rather than planting them outwards from the bench. I feel tighter and more drive from that position, it also tends to pull my hips downward allowing me to create a better arch in my back. Also, really focus of keeping your shoulder blades pulled back. A forward rounded chest will immediately flatten out any arch you have.0
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A slight arch is okay.0
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I've seen people at PL meets use foam rollers while they're warming up, which supposedly helps, although I've never tried. My arch isn't huge, but it's decent enough and better than what it was.
As others have mentioned, push your shoulder blades right into the bench, feet firmly on the floor.
Remember not everyone gets on well with a prominent arch. If it feels uncomfortable or you just can't get used to it, it might be best to stay with what feels good. A lot is down to flexibility and of course you can improve in that area, but even if not, if you're lifts are going up and are executed well, arch or no arch, all is good!A slight arch is okay.
It's a common myth that anything more than a slight arch is bad for your back. In reality, it depends on the exercise. I remember seeing a video which explained really well the arch within the bench press and how it was safe because of the way the force is in the opposite direction to the spine. In contrast to having an obvious arch in overhead press or squats which will put pressure on your spine.
Also, in Powerlifting, a very obvious arch is common and seems to be encouraged to at least try. It does no harm and is done to shorten the ROM at which the bar travels.0 -
So this may sound a bit silly but I believe it to be true.
Practicing getting into an arch will improve your ability to arch.
When I first started learning how to arch you could barely see any air underneath my lower back. I still don't have a huge arch (unfortunately) but it's gotten way bigger over the past year.
In addition to the other things mentioned in this thread I'd think about pushing your chest up to the bar as you're bringing the bar down to your chest.
The setup also matters quite a bit. Too hard to explain via written text but there's a couple of different methods of getting into the proper position and most of them involve either using the barbell or the bench frame/uprights to stuff yourself into position before unracking. You're literally coiling yourself like a spring underneath the barbell to create tightness.
When I first started learning to arch I used a half-foam roller to try and arch over it and it helped tremendously.0 -
High arched backs...
The only thing a high arched back does is change the angle of the press and ROM to exactly the same as you would get from a decline press. Lifter like it because that angle is the strongest of all three bench angles so they can push more weight and don't have to do it as far. Good stats and appearances is all, but not needed for a solid flat bench press.
For a proper flat bench, only a slight arch is really needed to allow the upper back to better isolate the upward push of the bar.0 -
High arched backs...
The only thing a high arched back does is change the angle of the press and ROM to exactly the same as you would get from a decline press. Lifter like it because that angle is the strongest of all three bench angles so they can push more weight and don't have to do it as far. Good stats and appearances is all, but not needed for a solid flat bench press.
For a proper flat bench, only a slight arch is really needed to allow the upper back to better isolate the upward push of the bar.
I think you are oversimplifying things.
It does a number of things:
1) Shortens the distance the bar travels
2) REDUCES STRAIN ON THE SHOULDER JOINT
3) Improves whole body stability on the bench
4) Allows the lifter to move more weight
Whether or not this is good or bad is going to boil down to individual goals and limitations.
For MOST people I think arching the back is a smart thing to do for shoulder health and a safer and more effective bench press.
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Another important consideration that needs to be asked anytime people argue about arching is this:
Why are you bench pressing to begin with.
Typically, people who argue against arching in the bench press are doing so for one of two reasons or both:
1) They believe it's dangerous
2) They believe it's somehow cheating or depriving the lifter of some important benefit of not arching.
1) is entirely false. The effect that the load has on the barbell is minimal on the lumbar and in fact, MOST people who bench press with an arch are already squatting and deadlifting and both of these activities place way more load on the lumbar than benching does.
2) This is where context comes into play. If the goal of the bench press is to move maximal weight then arch as much as you can without pain provided you're benching within whatever set of rules you need to abide by.
And if the goal is something other than moving as much weight as possible then there MIGHT be merit to not having a huge arch but I'm still not convinced of that since arching allows you to make the best progress on the bench press and getting stronger is a great way to accumulate volume, and volume accumulation leads to growth. This is of course in exchange for ROM and so these things would need to get weighed out against each other.
For what it's worth, provided the athlete isn't in pain, I will have everyone arch to some extent on the bench, and their goals and mobility will dictate the degree to which they arch. All of my clients who compete in powerlifting arch as much as possible.
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High arched backs...
The only thing a high arched back does is change the angle of the press and ROM to exactly the same as you would get from a decline press. Lifter like it because that angle is the strongest of all three bench angles so they can push more weight and don't have to do it as far. Good stats and appearances is all, but not needed for a solid flat bench press.
For a proper flat bench, only a slight arch is really needed to allow the upper back to better isolate the upward push of the bar.
I think you are oversimplifying things.
It does a number of things:
1) Shortens the distance the bar travels
2) REDUCES STRAIN ON THE SHOULDER JOINT
3) Improves whole body stability on the bench
4) Allows the lifter to move more weight
Whether or not this is good or bad is going to boil down to individual goals and limitations.
For MOST people I think arching the back is a smart thing to do for shoulder health and a safer and more effective bench press.
All of this. Mine has improved through thousands of setups and ensuring every single one of them is identical. For me, I get the contraction in my rhomboids before I even get on the bench. Grind my shoulders into the bench, set my feet into position. My hands go onto the uprights and I try to fold my body in half - head touching the butt. I'm working on slowly getting more of a thoracic arch than a balanced arch.0 -
I agree you increase maximal weight because you move to the same form as a decline press which activates the lower pectoral muscle and that angle does shorten the distance. The ROM and shoulder strain would be the same in both at that joint though. And you exaggerate back extension which introduces other possible problems for the average lifter in physical limitation, focus, or form.
I agree for power lifters where the goal of pushing weight is to push more weight it is a good practice, but I believe functionally for most lifters using the three angles of the bench - incline, flat, and decline - is better for muscle activation as the compound exercise it is.
Sorry to derail the thread though. Carry on.0 -
High arched backs...
The only thing a high arched back does is change the angle of the press and ROM to exactly the same as you would get from a decline press. Lifter like it because that angle is the strongest of all three bench angles so they can push more weight and don't have to do it as far. Good stats and appearances is all, but not needed for a solid flat bench press.
For a proper flat bench, only a slight arch is really needed to allow the upper back to better isolate the upward push of the bar.
I think you are oversimplifying things.
It does a number of things:
1) Shortens the distance the bar travels
2) REDUCES STRAIN ON THE SHOULDER JOINT
3) Improves whole body stability on the bench
4) Allows the lifter to move more weight
Whether or not this is good or bad is going to boil down to individual goals and limitations.
For MOST people I think arching the back is a smart thing to do for shoulder health and a safer and more effective bench press.
Bingo.0
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