Anything to say about my benching technique? Tried to arch but failed lol. Should I touch lower on the chest? Everyone says that the bar has to travel towards the face but on my lifts it just seems to go up and down in a straight line. Also that video is from my 7th set but I think the technique is the same as in the first set
Edit: I dont know why the video doesnt show up but here is the link
The bar is travelling in a mostly straight line because you don’t bring it down very low on your chest. If you bring it down to your sternum, you’ll end up with the curved path that you’re referring to. If you’re actually touching anywhere on your pec, the curve is naturally minimized. Touching lower may become more useful as you start pressing heavier weights.
I mostly pressed like you until I developed pec strains when I got to the point where I was benching in the mid 300’s. I eventually had a minor tear, which forced me to change my benching style dramatically. I now touch about 2 inches below my pec to minimize pec strain. I’ve never felt better.
Have you tried pulling your feet farther back, and maybe just having your toes on the ground? A lot of federations don’t require a flat foot bench, so this may help you with arching better. It may feel incredibly uncomfortable at first, but you get used to it. The things you did in you setup did absolutely nothing for your arch.
You maintain adequate tightness throughout the set, so that’s good. You don’t have happy feet, your arch doesn’t change, your ass stays on the bench. A lot of good things, but plenty to improve upon as well. Just keep working at it, you’re on the right track!
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
The bar is travelling in a mostly straight line because you don’t bring it down very low on your chest. If you bring it down to your sternum, you’ll end up with the curved path that you’re referring to. If you’re actually touching anywhere on your pec, the curve is naturally minimized. Touching lower may become more useful as you start pressing heavier weights.
I mostly pressed like you until I developed pec strains when I got to the point where I was benching in the mid 300’s. I eventually had a minor tear, which forced me to change my benching style dramatically. I now touch about 2 inches below my pec to minimize pec strain. I’ve never felt better.
Have you tried pulling your feet farther back, and maybe just having your toes on the ground? A lot of federations don’t require a flat foot bench, so this may help you with arching better. It may feel incredibly uncomfortable at first, but you get used to it. The things you did in you setup did absolutely nothing for your arch.
You maintain adequate tightness throughout the set, so that’s good. You don’t have happy feet, your arch doesn’t change, your ass stays on the bench. A lot of good things, but plenty to improve upon as well. Just keep working at it, you’re on the right track![/quote]
X2 on everything he said.
I think finding your foot position would help you alot right now, maybe you just aren’t built to arch too much. I just keep a slight arch in my mid to upper back nothing dramatic. Try a variety of foot positions, wider and out in front of you, on your toes etc. And touching lower is going to have alot of benefit for you, it will allow you to use your lats more in the bench and keep your shoulders and pecs safer.
Thanks for tips. Just recently started benching flat feeted and its much better for me cause i feel million times more stable this way. (and its an ipf rule) Have to try put my feet further to get more arch I assume