Just a couple questions about benching… is it dangerious or against the rules ( in a powerlifting compatition… not that i enter in any of that stuff just like to play by the rules so no one can say i’m “cheating” ) for u’r back to arch or for u’r ass to lift of the bench… i find when i’m pushing realy hard with my feet this will tend to happen
keeping your back arched throughout the movement is a good thing and totally legal. but you can never bring ur butt off the bench. If you have that big of a problem there is probably something wrong with your bench set up
arch = good
butt lifting = bad
Not only is lifting your ass off the bench not legal in power lifting it is also wasting energy that should be transfering to your upper body. You really need to focus on staying tight throughout the movement.
The best exercise I’ve done to help me stay tight on benching (and it also helps build your starting strength) is to use a lighter weight for 4-5 sets of 5-10 reps with a lighter weight and lower it slowly then pause on the chest for at least a couple seconds then explode up. This will really help you learn how to keep tight, and you don’t need to worry about going heavy on these its more a technique drill but like I said after doing these for a few weeks I saw immediate results in my bench.
I got this tip from a guy who benches over 900lbs so I think its sound advice
thanks i’ll give that a try
This is from Shawn Lattimer
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Pauses definitely are good for raw benching. Accentuated negatives are good for learning to control the bar and properly involve the lats on the descent, good practice for both shirted and raw.
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However, if you use them mainly as a technique tool, they can work wonders.
Many relatively new powerlifters have a very hard time learning to use the lats in benching. I have used this methos of a slow descent to teach many lifters how to use their lats properly.
This also aids in learning bar path control for shirted lifting.
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the key in his post is its great for learning technique… and it also helps alot to stay tight (you really have to work at it with the pause at the bottom)