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Arched back bench setup

E

elmo

New member
Arched back bench (powerlift style) or laying flat on the bench, which is better?

used to be everyone would tell you not to arch your back cause you will hurt it and your not engaging your chest as much. Now I see alot of stuff online and people saying you should set up with an arch in the back. Whats the diff, advantages? Should you only be doing it arched back in bench suit?
 
It allows you to use your whole body to move the bar. If you want to just work the chest you can isolate it more by lying flat. Some will even lift their legs up so that they aren't driving up through there feet.

Just depends what your goals are
 
Flat-back benching is a pile of crap. Nobody should be lying on the bench with a flat back because the spine is no ram-rod straight. Powerlifters exaggerate the arch to create more intra-muscular tension which keeps the torso more stable and also to slight reduce the ROM of the bar. Any lifter should at least have some sort of arch to help maintain stability.
 
Alright gonna start benching this way. Anyone point me to a good youtube for tips. I like the dave tate vids. You guys think there good.
 
Years ago I used to put my feet on bench to keep my back flat. If I didn't, my lower back hurt like a bitch. (I also had trouble doing shoulder press. Turns out it's was all because of weak core.)

Now I have just started back with bench, following instructions from Sticky's thread. It feels a lot better. Having said that, I can now swing the 24kg kettlebell, so my PC strength is a lot better than it was.
 
When I used to do weights with an old trainer (early 20's), he used to make my whole back contact the bench before commencing a lift. Most the time my feet would be on the bench to achieve this.
 
letting your whole back contact the bench is unnatural and potentially dangerous as you are loading up your back while placing your lower back into flexion.
 
I don't see how people can say that one style of bench is better than another. If you look at bench greats they all had widely different bench techniques and routines but all had great benches. In my opinion, the technique that gets white lighted at meets and allows you to lift the most weight is the correct form.

precision-bench-tech1.jpg

Ted Arcidi- Virtually flat back, wide grip, elbows flared feet away from bench and slightly wide. Ted was the first person to officially bench 700 lbs

kennely.jpg

Ryan Kennelly- Hard arch, fairly close grip, elbows in, feet a little tucked. He benched 1074 shirted and at least 650 raw.

MarvinEderBench.jpg

Marvin Eder- Practically a snatch grip, completely flat back, and legs nearly straight.

JenniferThompson297.5-bench.jpg

Jennifer Thompson- Wide grip, elbows flared, hard arch, wide, tucked feet. She benched 297.5 at 132, fellas.

Weil1.jpg

Rick Weil- Close grip, elbows flared, back totally flat. He holds world records at 165 and 181 that have stood for over 25 years.

BBrg.JPG

The Barbarian Brothers- Ultra wide reverse grip, hard arch, wide foot placement. In this video, one of them hits 200kg for 5 bounced reps, and they both had 500+ lb benches for singles. Before you talk shit, consider the fact that none of you could get within shouting distance of that feat.
[Chaos+Pain]
 
None of them have totally flat backs though as I pointed out. The back has a natural arch. And it should be noted that most of the "flat back" lifters are from decades ago before arched benching became the norm. Just because they achieved great feats with an archaic form does not mean they coulnd't have done better with an arch.
 
Oli said:
wanting someone not to get injured is hardly analysis paralysis...
Click to expand...

All arching the back does is decrease the range of motion. This is why it is safer. If your range of motion is such that your shoulders will not be in a bad position then you will not get injured
 
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