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By Root 662 0

follows the realization that the legs are useful in the bench press. Bridging – the intentional heaving of the hips clear of contact with the bench in order to meet the bar earlier – occurs as the lifter attempts to increase the chest height by using his lower body to steepen the angle of his upper back on the bench. Bridging takes work away from the target muscles by making the range of motion shorter. (The popular gym exercise known as the decline bench press takes advantage of this position of increased mechanical efficiency. Most people can decline more than they bench, thus the popularity.) Some purists believe that we are cheating when we arch the back at all, but this program seeks to use all reasonable means to increase strength on the bench press. Bridging is a good place to draw the line. Lifting the butt off the bench has got to be learned as verboten in the same way that use of the hands is in soccer. The temptation is always there, but if the correct habits are learned early, it will not usually be a problem.

The back arch is easy to learn. Assume your position on the bench, and imagine someone shoving a hand under your low back as you keep your butt in contact with the bench. Then imagine a clenched fist doing the same thing. Keep your lats in mind when you assume this position. Figure 5-26 provides a reference. Remember that you cannot raise your butt up off of the bench, so it’s much better to learn to arch without cheating from the beginning. Make yourself do it correctly, and resist the temptation to bridge your butt up.

Figure 5-26. Learning to arch the lower back.

Feet

Your feet are your connection to the ground. If your foot slips during a heavy bench, the position supported by the lower body – your back arch and your chest-up position, everything you’re using to push the bar – collapses. The feet must be in the correct position on the floor, and they must be positioned against the floor correctly.

Figure 5-27. The main parameters for foot placement in the bench are up/down (A) and in/out (B).

Foot placement on the floor has two variables: width and placement relative to the hips. The feet need to be far enough apart to provide lateral stability for the hips and, through the tightness in the trunk muscles, the torso as it is planted on the bench. An excessively wide stance is seldom a problem, as it is uncomfortable and hard to maintain. A narrow stance does not guarantee disaster, and many competitive lifters prefer this position. In fact, for a competitive lifter, any stance that facilitates a legal bench press with optimum chest position is just fine. But a novice has enough to worry about with just learning to move the bar correctly, and a moderate-width stance presents fewer technical problems.

More of a problem is placing the feet up too far, back under the hips with the knees at an acute angle. This position predisposes you to bridge your butt up in the air, and that is usually the reason people do it – if you have your feet too far up under your butt, and too close together with your heels up off the floor, you’re going to bridge the heavy reps. A wider stance tends to moderate this effect. If the feet are up too far in a closer stance, the knee extension, being done from a more acute knee angle, tends to raise the hips. A more moderate knee angle generates force more parallel to the torso (Figure 5-28). Having the feet too far down, with the knees too straight, is commonly seen in novice lifters who have yet to learn how to use the hips and legs. This position makes it difficult to get enough “bite” against the floor to generate and maintain good tension in the upstream components (Figure 5-28). Your foot position should be set so that your shins are nearly vertical, give or take a few degrees either way, in both axes. This way, your knees are almost directly over your feet at any width, without any adduction of the femurs. This position allows for efficient use of your legs in reinforcing the arch, but doesn’t create a predisposition to bridge.

Figure 5-28. Correct