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Arching Back in the bench press

musketeer

musketeer

New member
A month ago I was trying to bench three plates for the first time and lifted my butt off the bench. My back hurt a little at the time but it's been aching ever since and I can't train more than light. I regularly deadlift with 500lbs and have bent rowed with 275. What's up with my back?
 
I have actually heard that arching your back, and lifting/tightening your shoulders (but not lifting the ass) will give you better isolation on the chest and thus a better, stronger workout. I've tried it, and seems to work fine for me. Any thoughts on this?
 
rvd_brock said:
I have actually heard that arching your back, and lifting/tightening your shoulders (but not lifting the ass) will give you better isolation on the chest and thus a better, stronger workout. I've tried it, and seems to work fine for me. Any thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
When I incorporate an arch, it shortens the distance the bar must travel. In addition, pinching my shoulder blades together give me better stability...does that help?
 
rvd_brock said:
I have actually heard that arching your back, and lifting/tightening your shoulders (but not lifting the ass) will give you better isolation on the chest and thus a better, stronger workout. I've tried it, and seems to work fine for me. Any thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

The arch your talking about is the oh shit I think I'm stronger than I really am arch. You can usually spot these by the ass being wayyyy up high in the air and the people almost decapitating themselves with the weight. A real arch is just an arch of the back. Basically your back isn't touching the bench at all. You've got your ass down your shoulders pulled tightly together and your upper back/traps on the bench.
 
rvd_brock said:
I have actually heard that arching your back, and lifting/tightening your shoulders (but not lifting the ass) will give you better isolation on the chest and thus a better, stronger workout. I've tried it, and seems to work fine for me. Any thoughts on this?
Click to expand...


This may make you alot stronger, since it cuts the range of motion, uses other muscles, but I think it will take away from chest development.Powerlifters use this style cuz their only concern is to move more weight and shorten the distance. Depends on your goals really. Ive tried this style and it feels very awkward to me , so I stick with the flat backed way Ive always benched. The guy I train with benches 400 in this manner, ass off the bench, arched etc and has little chest to show for it. My
chest is a good deal larger and I bench 365 flat backed. JMO
 
WalkingBeast said:



This may make you alot stronger, since it cuts the range of motion, uses other muscles, but I think it will take away from chest development.Powerlifters use this style cuz their only concern is to move more weight and shorten the distance. Depends on your goals really. Ive tried this style and it feels very awkward to me , so I stick with the flat backed way Ive always benched. The guy I train with benches 400 in this manner, ass off the bench, arched etc and has little chest to show for it. My
chest is a good deal larger and I bench 365 flat backed. JMO
Click to expand...

i agree with ya..it depends on your goals and what you want to get out of benching. but keep in mind..even with an arch you still get some chest work in..JMO. tb
 
thebrute said:
..even with an arch you still get some chest work in..JMO. tb
Click to expand...

I've always arched in this manner on bench press. However, I recently changed my form a bit which gives me a bigger arch. My elbows are tucked and the bar travels (lower) to the top of my abdomen. Even with these changes, my chest still gets VERY sore. Like tb said, the chest still gets some work.
 
I arch my back keeping my ass on the bench it works fine as long as you keep your ass on the bench. One time I let my ass come off the bench and strained my neck which took months to heal properly. So be warned.
 
my pec development was much better better when I benched in higher groove with my back flat. I always had some kind of pelvic tilt going on (even with my feet on the bench) , but never lift your ass off the bench....
 
mvmaxx said:
You can deadlift 500lbs but you can't bp 315? :confused:

BTW, you posted twice.
Click to expand...

IMO, deadlifting 500 is a lot easier than benching 315, but my body is built for the deadlift. :p

-sk
 
Thanks for your input guys. I'm lifting for aesthetic purposes rather than powerlifting, however it would have been nice to know that I can move 3 plates. I've always been really weak on the BP in comparison to other lifts. I trained on my own for the first few years (in my garage) so I had no comparison as to how much people could lift in particular exercises. For all bodybarts I lift about as heavy as I can for one or two sets (Yates style) pwer exercise.
 
musketeer said:
Thanks for your input guys. I'm lifting for aesthetic purposes rather than powerlifting, however it would have been nice to know that I can move 3 plates. I've always been really weak on the BP in comparison to other lifts. I trained on my own for the first few years (in my garage) so I had no comparison as to how much people could lift in particular exercises. For all bodybarts I lift about as heavy as I can for one or two sets (Yates style) pwer exercise.
Click to expand...

incline is better for aesthetics, i.e. bodybuilding........and in IMHO suppior to flat barbell bench in any regard
 
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