Bench Press Technique

[Coldasice]

Is it good to arch your back when you bench?

[joey54]

Have you watched the bench videos of the guys who post on here? check them out.

[drew]

Yes.

[kornmong]

Ah I can ask something here cause it fits,

I do bench once a week, Today in fact Love it, I do bench with no arch, just straight back and feet on ground, I know arching the back allows more weight but is it needed, is arching the best way for chest development?

Should I bench with an arch?

or

Are arches more used for low rep to single lifts?

Cya

[Keith]

Yes. And use teh search!

[Dgro]

Search doesn't really help at all on this topic, or at least it didn't last time I checked. Not for anything in-depth anywho

[deeder]

My shoulders hurt if I try to bench with a flat back. I've heard many people who have similar problems. So in my case, benching with an arch is a necessity.

[Keith]

Search doesn't really help at all on this topic, or at least it didn't last time I checked. Not for anything in-depth anywho

Yes it does. Search more thoroughly. This has been covered plenty.

[joey54]

flat back, no arch, with some weight= an increased likelihood of tearing a pec.

[deeder]

flat back, no arch, with some weight= an increased likelihood of tearing a pec.

Care to elaborate?

[joey54]

like you said your shoulders hurt like hell if you don't arch. Its because of the position one is put in this way. and really letting the elbows flare out is worse than not having an arch I guess, but from my personal experience, if I do a flat back bench, which I have tried to do in the past, I can't keep my elbows in as easily if I arch. I probably am not the best authority, or even an authority on this, so here is a thread on it which elaborates bettter than I can. Interesting to hear BPM and Travis Bell's thoughts on this too. Maybe I spoke up too much.

http://www.intensemuscle.com/29462-l...nch-press.html

and another related to the topic(not so much on arching, but something to check out)

http://www.intensemuscle.com/29893-o...nch-press.html

[deeder]

like you said your shoulders hurt like hell if you don't arch. Its because of the position one is put in this way. and really letting the elbows flare out is worse than not having an arch I guess, but from my personal experience, if I do a flat back bench, which I have tried to do in the past, I can't keep my elbows in as easily if I arch. I probably am not the best authority, or even an authority on this, so here is a thread on it which elaborates bettter than I can. Interesting to hear BPM and Travis Bell's thoughts on this too. Maybe I spoke up too much.

http://www.intensemuscle.com/29462-l...nch-press.html

and another related to the topic(not so much on arching, but something to check out)

http://www.intensemuscle.com/29893-o...nch-press.html

Not at all. I've heard time and time again that benching with a flat back made you more prone to injury... I was hoping someone might actually know why that is

[Travis Bell]

you're right Joey. The idea is to pull the shoulder blades together as tight as you can. The arch should set you up on your upper back so you are more tight and stable. Most people will never achieve the extreme arch that you see in some of the light weight pro divisions so its ok. Arching your back will not effect your chest development.

Most people who've had a pec injury in my experience were flat backed yes, but the flat back made it difficult for them to tuck their elbows so they benched with their elbows flared. The flared elbows caused the injury, not directly the flat back. Some guys will bench with a flat back and do just fine so you don't have to bench with an arch, but if you can it certainly will help make you more stable

[joey54]

Yes much easier to pull the shoulder blades together when arched then when your aren't from my experience. Thanks for adding Travis, your knowledge and skill in the bench far exceeds mine.

Deeder, that was a nice arch you had in your most recent video. that would be one video to check out on how to bench, or any of travis', BPM's on KingKong.

[deeder]

Yes much easier to pull the shoulder blades together when arched then when your aren't from my experience. Thanks for adding Travis, your knowledge and skill in the bench far exceeds mine.

Deeder, that was a nice arch you had in your most recent video. that would be one video to check out on how to bench, or any of travis', BPM's on KingKong.

I find that simply pulling my shoulder blades together gives me a little bit of an arch. Once upon a time I was a flat back bencher but WBB fixed that for me real quick.

I don't know if I can be put in the same category as some of those guys, but thanks for the compliment!

[kornmong]

By the looks of it, I should arch then lol, I may start tonight, I admit when using straight back I get sore anterior deltoids and chest, which is obvious why, I also have a bigger front deltoid then the other 2 heads and this why I'm guessing because Ive only ever done straight back,

Cya