Bench Press - A closer look.

I want to talk to you about one of the main powerlifting movements; the bench press.

There are many form variations and variations of the movement, and at times it can seem like no two people follow the same guidelines when performing it, so let's strip it down to the basics, the competition rules.

To begin your press your bum, head and shoulders must be in full contact with the bench in question, and your feet must be on the ground. Different federations vary on foot requirements, but at the very least you need to keep your toes on the ground throughout the entire movement.

After unracking the bar - either by yourself or with assistance, you need to lock your arms out and bracing before beginning the downward motion. This means bringing your elbows to full extension and locking out the joints, as well as taking a deep breath and engaging your core to create as much tightness and intra-abdominal pressure as possible.. Once you are fully locked out and ready to begin, you will be given the "start" command, at which point you can commence your lift.

From here, you'll break at the elbows, keeping your scapulae retracted and maintaining tightness in your upper back, while focusing on keeping tension in your glutes and legs - this will help create leg drive on the ascending portion of the movement. You must bring the bar into contact with your torso, failure to do so means you have not achieved the rep.

Once the bar is touching, you will be given the "press" command, at which point you will use all of the tension created in your body to drive the bar back to full extension - again, fully locking out the elbows- keeping bum, head and shoulders in contact with the bench the entire time while avoiding any downward movement of the barbell (which would result in a no-lift), and there you stay until given the "rack" command, at which point you may return the bar to the rack.

There, you have completed a full rep and a good lift.

You may have noticed I specified keeping your bum and shoulders on the bench, but not your back, and this is for a very simple reason; you should take advantage of the arch position during the press.

So, what is arching and why should we do it?

To keep it short and sweet, arching is the term used for the technique often used during a bench press. It involves putting the lumbar and thoracic vertebrae in a lordotic (arched) position.

This technique is employed by many people of many training backgrounds, and is especially common in powerlifting.

It allows you to decrease your range of movement as well as more effectively implementing leg drive and aids in better utilizing scapula retraction.

As well as being complimentary to your ROM, it's a safer movement for your shoulders - greatly reducing the risk of injury due to being a far more stable position.

These things combined will assist you in being able to press more weight off your chest than a conventional "flat back" bench with a much larger ROM.

*Please note; this doesn’t mean that by using an arch your bench will double; it will still take hard work and consistency to build strength.

And there you have it, a quick run down of the bench press. Have fun, lift heavy.

Coach Megan.