Barbell Bench Press Arch Question
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From SFL manual: "An arch shortens the stroke, pre-streches the pecs, enables a better use of the lats, and enables better shoulder mechanics."
The arch is mostly T-spine, and minimally at the lumbar spine. It is a skill that needs practice.
Personally, I feel my lats better with a good arch, and so keep my shoulders down. That alone justifies it.
The arch is mostly T-spine, and minimally at the lumbar spine. It is a skill that needs practice.
Personally, I feel my lats better with a good arch, and so keep my shoulders down. That alone justifies it.
You set both arches in the same movement, so there is no real need to differentiate them. The arch we want in a bench is mainly a T-spine extension, and chest opening, not lumbar extension. "Some lumbar hyperextension is unavoidable, it should be minimized".
The exagerated arch yo can see in competition is just this: exagerated. The purpose is to press maximum weight, but it is not desirable for general population using the bench for strength, as it usually leads to lumbar hyper-extension.
Look at the setup in this video, it is better than words:
The exagerated arch yo can see in competition is just this: exagerated. The purpose is to press maximum weight, but it is not desirable for general population using the bench for strength, as it usually leads to lumbar hyper-extension.
Look at the setup in this video, it is better than words:
@jef, my experience with arching has been that one can maximally arch everywhere, including the lumbar, if one accompanies the arch with a maximum glute contraction. Cramping your glutes will automatically take some of the arch out of your lumbar, and it will make your bench press "stance" stronger as well.
It might sound confusing to arch the lumbar _and_ cramp the glutes, but it's not. The result will be a very rigid glute and lumbar, just what you want.
-S-
It might sound confusing to arch the lumbar _and_ cramp the glutes, but it's not. The result will be a very rigid glute and lumbar, just what you want.
-S-
jca17
Level 5 Valued Member
Often when something hurts, it means there is something fundamentally wrong with the movement pattern and/or physical structures involved in your body. Lowering the weight can just reinforce the faulty pattern while avoiding pain. If you post a video, we have lots of members who love to help out with form correction (and most importantly, they are generally qualified via SFL or other high level training experience). Make sure your elbows are tucked in a bit and that you are pulling down on the barbell with your lats and upper back. A nice arch will help your shoulders for both the reasons you mentioned: less range of motion, and more favorable mechanics for the shoulders. Working on active internal and external rotation in the shoulders has worked wonders for me. I can give tips on that if that's something you're interested in.
@Steve Freides
I think we are on the same page.
You insist on cramping the glutes (and also abs, lats, grip, of course), which will effectively take some of the arch out of the lumbar. In the video, during the second setup, Pavel insists on being tight. This is achieved when cramping glutes, abs, lats, and gripping the bar hard. The setup forces more arch on the T-spine, and minimal (but not absent) in the lumbar.
I have seen too many people trying to have an arch by just hyper-extending the lower back, and I feel this should be a point of attention.
I think we are on the same page.
You insist on cramping the glutes (and also abs, lats, grip, of course), which will effectively take some of the arch out of the lumbar. In the video, during the second setup, Pavel insists on being tight. This is achieved when cramping glutes, abs, lats, and gripping the bar hard. The setup forces more arch on the T-spine, and minimal (but not absent) in the lumbar.
I have seen too many people trying to have an arch by just hyper-extending the lower back, and I feel this should be a point of attention.
@Jeff, you might get some good out of this thread: The Arch for the Bench Press
Developing the arch through bench pressing has been one of the most significant body changes I've had over the 4 years I've been strength training with kettlebells and barbells.
Funny story, I didn't know how deficient my back muscles were in this particular skill until my husband and I went to watch a Figure and Bodybuilding show. Suffice to say it wasn't my favorite thing, but it was pretty interesting. They would do this pose "from the rear" as the announcer said, arched back and flexed muscles. Attempting to imitate this I found that I had no ability whatsoever to contract my back into an arch. My back could go into an arch passively, such as a yoga cobra or upward dog, but I really couldn't actively contract those muscles to create it.
This skill is unique to the bench press, in almost all kettlebell and barbell movements. In almost everything kettlebell, we are trying to maintain the "canister" -- the diaphragm and pelvic floor parallel, the torso muscles maintaining this alignment and intra-abdominal pressure as we lift, swing, etc. Arching the back is something to be avoided, as is flexing the back. In other barbell movements like squat, deadlift, and press, we are trying to stabilize the spine as much as possible also.
What do you feel, and where? To me it was very uncomfortable at first, and I really had a hard time getting up off the bench after benching. My back was almost in a spasm from trying to so something so unfamiliar. Now, no problem. It just took time. But, maybe you have something different going on.
Developing the arch through bench pressing has been one of the most significant body changes I've had over the 4 years I've been strength training with kettlebells and barbells.
Funny story, I didn't know how deficient my back muscles were in this particular skill until my husband and I went to watch a Figure and Bodybuilding show. Suffice to say it wasn't my favorite thing, but it was pretty interesting. They would do this pose "from the rear" as the announcer said, arched back and flexed muscles. Attempting to imitate this I found that I had no ability whatsoever to contract my back into an arch. My back could go into an arch passively, such as a yoga cobra or upward dog, but I really couldn't actively contract those muscles to create it.
This skill is unique to the bench press, in almost all kettlebell and barbell movements. In almost everything kettlebell, we are trying to maintain the "canister" -- the diaphragm and pelvic floor parallel, the torso muscles maintaining this alignment and intra-abdominal pressure as we lift, swing, etc. Arching the back is something to be avoided, as is flexing the back. In other barbell movements like squat, deadlift, and press, we are trying to stabilize the spine as much as possible also.
What do you feel, and where? To me it was very uncomfortable at first, and I really had a hard time getting up off the bench after benching. My back was almost in a spasm from trying to so something so unfamiliar. Now, no problem. It just took time. But, maybe you have something different going on.
Jeff
Level 5 Valued Member
I have a pop and an ice pick in my left ac joint. I don’t bench again until next Monday. I was trying to simulate the movement while standing in front of my bathroom mirror last night and realized I wasn’t keeping my forearms vertical. Most people lower the bar too high on the chest but I was lower the bar too low, creating a moment arm to really crank my shoulders. I will play with an empty bar or maybe a very light bar after training this Friday, and see if I can get someone to video me. It’s funny how you can see in your own mind what you think you are doing when in reality you are really doing something else.
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