Yo, How Much Ya Bench?

Striving for the Big Bench

I recently had the privilege of being an assistant coach for the USAs World Bench Press Team. While I
was there I refused to sleep more than a few hours a night; I wasnt about to miss out on learning
some kick-ass tips and tricks to bench more weight!
One thing really stood out with these athletes: their impeccable approach to setting up. Whether
they used a big arch or not was irrelevant; the fact of the matter was that they were so rock-solid by
the time they took the bar, it looked as though a good lift was inevitable.
Im sure some readers will say that these athletes are just genetic freaks, that they could just look at
a loaded barbell and bench more weight. To some extent, theyd probably be right. There are always
going to be athletes in every sport who can get by on talent alone. However, the truly elite are the
ones who possess amazing natural talent, couple it with picture perfect technique, and then add in
years of hard work to build a bar-bending bench. While we cant change your natural talent level, we
can improve your set-up and technique. At that point, its up to you to put in the necessary hours in
the gym.
Finally, when were talking about strength training, everyone wants to know how much you bench.
Are you proud of your answer? If youre the trainee who just plops down and starts to bang out a
few reps, this article will teach you how improving your set-up can lead to an immediate (and
possibly significant) increase in the weight youre currently moving.
The Perfect Set-Up
Cant I just lie down and bench like everyone else? How does this help me move more weight?
If you want to bench 185 for the rest of your life, feel free to just plop down on the bench and rep
out with 135. This article is for those who want to move more weight, either to stimulate more
muscle growth or simply to wow people at your gym. However, I know its not normal to walk into a
commercial gym and see someone with a freaky arch moving massive amounts of weights, so here
are just a few reasons that improving your set-up can help you move more weight:
1) A decrease in mechanical work
In a physics sense, mechanical work is defined as: Work = Force x Distance. So the distance part is
pretty simple, but force needs to be further defined: Force = Mass x Acceleration.
Now, I dont want to bore you to death with equations, so lets keep things really simple and just say
that force is going to stay the same at a respective weight (even though I can hear my dad, the
physics professor, groaning as I type this!). Well use 185 in our example: Is it easier to move 185
pounds 1.5 feet or 3 feet? No, this isnt a trick question!
If you can decrease your range of motion, all things being equal, you should move more weight. Just
because you dont have short arms that resemble those of a hobbit doesnt mean you cant work
with what you have. In fact, Lamar Gant had one of the most deadlifting-specific body styles youll
ever see, yet he was an excellent bench presser due in no small part to his excellent arch.
2) Increased stability
Beyond decreasing your range of motion, the techniques Im going to describe will help ensure that
youre super-tight and ready to move heavy weights. One trick that every powerlifter understands is
that the heavier the weight is, the tighter you have to get your body to move it. When it comes to
moving massive amounts of weight, its no longer just a chest and triceps exercise. Big benchers use
every muscle possible to add pounds to their lifts.
3) Decreased chance of injury
The tighter you are, the less likely youre to get injured. In fact, its typically on the reps where youre
loose and sloppy with your technique that you end up getting injured. A rock-solid set-up will put you
in a perfect position to not only bench more weight, but to do so with a decreased likelihood of
injury.
Hopefully, Ive convinced you that a proper set-up is the way to go. It really doesnt make sense not
to use these techniques. You move more weight, decrease your likelihood of injury, and end up
looking like a stud every time you lay down on the bench. What else can you ask for?
Read on and Ill tell you exactly what you need to do to set-up for a flawless bench.
The Perfect Set-up: A Three-Step Program
While watching hundreds of athletes set-up for the bench, Ive come to the conclusion that there are
three significant parts that must be addressed:
1) Setting the upper back like a tightly coiled spring.
2) Setting the feet back and underneath the body to get a massive amount of leg drive.
3) Setting a tight arch in the upper and lower back (this will be more applicable to lighter body weight
lifters).
1. A spring-loaded upper back
Newtons third law states that for every action, theres a reaction of equal magnitude in the opposing
direction. So, if you just plop down on the bench and lie flat, youll get no reaction from your back.
Now, envision yourself not even lying on your back, but actually setting-up and digging your upper
traps into the bench. Once you have achieved this position, youll want to retract and depress your
scapula. This scapular position is the most biomechanically efficient, as well as helping protect your
shoulders from injury.
2. Leg drive that resembles a car-jack
The position of the feet in this set-up is definitely different if you havent experimented with it
before. The position were striving for here is to get your feet underneath your hips and out wide.
Lets take it from where we left off with the upper back super tight and resting on the upper traps.
To begin, place your feet on the floor where youd usually put them (straight down from your knees).
Now, try to wiggle your feet farther and farther back until theyre as far back as you can go without
your heels coming off the ground. (Note: Some powerlifting feds dont require your feet to be on the
floor. Start off with your heels on the floor if you dont compete in powerlifting and then you can
always change from this position in the future.)
If you get your heels back, you should feel a tightness in your quads that wasnt there before. This is
a good thing! Now, from here, think about trying to wiggle your feet out a little to the sides until you
start getting tension in your hips. Go a little wider than you think you should and then screw your
heels into the ground. You should feel super tight now in the thighs and glutes.
In an ideal set-up, your feet should be underneath your hips and out wide. This will increase your
stability and allow you to move more weight. From here, all you have to do is squeeze everything in
your lower body: butt, hamstrings, quads, all of it.
3. Developing the arch
The arch has been used in architectural designs for many centuries. In our pursuit of moving more
weight, powerlifters have adopted an arch back position when bench pressing to shorten the stroke
and improve stability. Arch style bridges have always been known for their strength, as long as
theyre constructed properly.
The arch is often the most elusive part of the bench set-up, but if you have a couple pieces of PVC
pipe and a gym ball, you have all the tools necessary. Please note that Im not describing an excessive
arch in your lower back, but actually a continual arch between your upper and lower back. This will
not only shorten the stroke of your bench, but the thoracic arch will help you set-up on your upper
traps as we discussed earlier.
In my Heal that Hunchback article, I described using a PVC pipe to help restore and improve
extensibility of the thoracic spine. If you dont currently have any PVC pipe laying around, go to your
local Lowes and have them cut you an 18 piece of both 3 and 4 thick PVC pipe. (If youre super
tight or super flexible you might need bigger or smaller sizes, but the 3 and 4 works well for most
athletes.) Total, this should only cost you two or three bucks and will be worth it when youre moving
20 or 30 more pounds than you are now!
There are two ways of using the PVC pipe. The first is on the floor as described in the article
mentioned above.

The second is the way several of the Japanese lifters warmed-up their arch prior to pressing. While
lying on the bench, youre going to start out with the smaller pipe and place it in the small of your
back. For most, this should be simple. Slowly try to work it up into your upper back because this is
usually the tighter and more restricted area. I tend to hold for 30-60 seconds before moving up to
the bigger pipe.
The second is usually much tougher and you probably wont get your butt and upper traps on the
bench at the same time. Again, hold for 30-60 seconds and youll be ready to start your warm-up. (It
helps to have the bar already racked as you can use it to pull yourself off the PVC pipe.)
For some people, the PVC pipe is going to be uncomfortable and/or simply contraindicated if you
have a history of back issues. This is where the gym ball or Swiss ball can come in handy. We can get
a similar training effect in a much more comfortable fashion.
The ball extension is very similar to the PVC pipe. Lay down with the middle of your back on the ball
and your hands either behind your head or with your arms extended above the body. From this
position, think about wrapping your upper back over the ball and then rolling back and forth. No
matter what position youre in, your upper back needs to stay in contact with the ball. Since the
Swiss ball is much wider and more comfortable, a lot of trainees actually prefer this method,
especially in the beginning.
Putting It All Together
So now that we have all the pieces of the set-up puzzle laid out, we need to put them together.
Remember, Im just describing one way to go about this; the key is to use as many of these pieces as
you can and then put it into a set-up that works for you.
When I lie down on the bench, I grab the supports and place my feet up on the bench. I now walk
my body up the bench so that my torso is at an angle almost perpendicular to the ground and I try to
dig my upper traps into the bench. As much as possible, I want to keep the weight on my uppers
traps.

1. Walking the feet up the bench
While still holding on to the supports, I let my legs come down and start to wiggle them back as far as
possible.

2. Feet down
I really want to get that tension in my quads first and foremost. Wiggle them back as far as you can
but still keep your heels on the ground.

3. Feet back as far as possible

4. Same as 3, but a top view (crotch shot!)
At this point, start to move the feet out/away from the bench so you can get that tension in the
glutes. You should get a little tension immediately, but keep going just a little bit farther! At this point
your legs should be very tight and you just need to set your arch before blowing up the weight.

5. Feet spread out wide
By this point, you should already have a decent arch in your lower back. Be patient, as this part is the
most labor intensive. You have to keep working on the exercises described above to improve the
flexibility in the upper back. So you have your mini arch, and now were going to turn it into a super
arch.
From this position, you need to think about forcing your upper traps and butt closer together. I dont
like messing with my legs once theyre set, so I put my hands back on the supports and think about
pushing my upper back towards my legs. This not only improves my arch to shorten the stroke, but it
also gets me as high on my upper traps as possible.

6. Pushing the upper back towards the butt
Your arch is now set; you just need to do a few more things. Retract and depress the scapula. Dont
let this position go! This is where youll start to value the benefits of a great hand-off. Now, squeeze
everything as tight as possible: lower body, glutes, upper back, bar. Just get so tight youre about to
pop and youre ready to move some serious weight!
The Little Things
Little things can often be the difference between a PR bench and getting crushed like a grape. Listed
below are just a few of these things.
1) Getting a good hand off
As the weights you handle get heavier and heavier, you really start to understand the value of a good
hand-off. In my most recent meet, I understood this even more as the hand-off guy got the bar over
my face and then proceeded to let go! I envisioned swallowing my own teeth and blood the rest of
the day, so I got my own hand-off guy for the last two lifts.
When you set-up like Ive described above, you want to do as little as possible to get the weight out.
You already have your upper back tight and your scapula retracted and depressed; lose this position
with a limit weight and youre asking for trouble. A great hand-off guy will not only take most of the
weight, but will also get it to a position over your chest so all you have to do is move the bar down
and up.
2) Bench shirts and little belts
More and more people are using bench shirts, but quite often a bench shirt can change your set-up
and body position. For example, if you use a belt to keep the shirt down, quite often you cant get as
much of an arch as youre used to. In this case, try a small belt like youd wear around your jeans. A
4 powerlifting belt is quite often too thick and rigid, inhibiting your ability to set a good arch.
Also, in a bench shirt you wont be able to get your hands out wide enough to grab the supports. In
this case, youll probably have to take either an over or under-hand grip on the bar to help set
yourself up. Setting up with a bench shirt on is quite a bit different than setting up raw, so youd be
wise to try it out quite a bit before going for a max.
3) Wear shoes with a heel
Shoes with heels are good for two reasons. First, theyre usually stiffer in the sole, making for better
action-reaction force with the ground. Second, they allow you to get your feet farther back while still
keeping your heels in contact with the ground.
Whether you choose to leave your heels on the ground or not, a shoe with a heel can help improve
stability while getting more leg drive at the same time. A lot of top-tier bench pressers are using
Olympic weightlifting shoes, as they have a 1 to 1.25 heel on them.
The Wrap
Id like to thank the members of the USA Bench Press Team for their insight into the set-up, as well as
the guys over at Metal Militia. Whether you choose to employ one or all of these tips, Im sure theyll
allow you to move heavier weights and break some PRs in the process. Now all you have to do is get
your ass in the gym and have a killer bench workout!