Tonight at the gym I saw a 19 year old guy, about 6"3 and a lean 240-250 bench 315x8 with his feet up on the bench, for fun, before he started his leg workout.
Nice guy, but when i made a joke about NoXplode he got very serious and told me that the stuff was no joke, it helped him get jacked.
I wept as I left the gym.
Well I say let the morons do it. When it comes comp. day, their eyes will be opened. I just leave it alone. I don’t have the time, or the patience to try and help someone that will just turn around and go back to doing it wrong. If I sound a bit jaded, well I am. I have tried in the most sincere of ways to help people when they have either asked, or look as if they are putting themselves in harms way. Through that I have learned that everyone is has hard headed as I am… Feet on the floor!
For people who aren’t competing or putting up powerlifting-sized numbers, I don’t see a problem with it. Like others have mentioned, feet on the floor can be hard on the lower back, and depending on the weight and the construction of the bench itself, there’s not much sacrifice of stability with feet on the bench.
I started to do the bench press with my feet raised in the air or on the bench in high school. My football coach even told me that it was the wrong thing to do. I told him what I’m gonna tell you now. My lower back hurts with the arch I create in the lifting drive. By lifting my feet and having my back lay flat against the bench, my back feels good.
It does feel like I isolate my pecs, but I never started the routine because of this or any other enhancement like reasons. If anything, I’ve only gone as far to think that the extra balance the routine requires offers you the opportunity to work parts of muscles you haven’t used or thought you ever had, like the first time you add swimming routines into your regiment.
Theatrics? lol, theatrics are girls wearing makeup to the gym or guys trying something they can’t obviosuly do, so for all the haters, stop hating and try to understand there could be other reasons. No I have never seen a POWER LIFTER lift with their feets up and yes I do think it is stupid for a POWER LIFTER to do it. For anymore unintelligent responses, please save them.
But on an individual basis, for the average joe, people might have other circumstances that will create different results. For me my lower back hurt. I am not a big guy but I have been able to greatly enhance my pecs with muscle confusion and this is exactly in that realm. I use it on certain days with moderate weights going up and down pyramid.
Then on my POWER LIFTING days, when I want to max out at my highest weights, I use my BRAIN and with INTELLIGENT thinking, I know that bigger the weight, the more balance its gonna require so I plant my feet solid on the floor and do power drives like the books and I see better results, quicker. Very efficient for pectoral muscle gain.
To be able to do the bench press with your feet up requires more focus and believe me, its like anything you do once you get used to the motion, you get stronger and better at it. Using both in this way helped me alot. It seemed like doing the some days with my legs up in the air built extra strength for when I did POWER LIFTING on other days.
In other words, I was able to lift more because of it and my pecs look great. No pains or problems have occurred in the ten plus years I have been working out. But I really can’t see anything really wrong with this when you do the same with flys and the motion and range of that excercise requires lots of the same balance but with the bench press, its should be naturally easier because of a solid bar, virtually one weight in connection, and not having to deal with 2 separate weights with dumb bells which requires much more balance.
Even back when it was thought that lifting fast was considered to be wrong against a more steady beat. But now, explosive excercises requiring quick and fast repetitions is proven to yield arguably better or at least different results than hitting a plateau and keeping to same routines. Just a lil food for thought. Things change as we go. Who knows, maybe one day we will see a POWER LIFTER raise his legs.
[quote]superalpha wrote:
this may be an inconsequential matter but its always bothered me.
does it really make a difference when you bench with your legs up or not, some people put there legs all the way up in a fetal like position, and some people have it fixed on the bench. iv tried both before and it seems to yield no significant enhancement to the exercise.
i see many people doing it in the gym and the usual answer i’ll get is " it works the core" or “you use more muscle for the lift”
on a personal note, i do it every once in a while with light weight when im benching and it seems be more for theatrics then any real beneficial value.
just wanted to get some opinions
cheers[/quote]
In Finland there is competitions where you have to keep feet elevated, its called “sotilaspenkki” military benchpress. This is done to ones max or max reps with bodyweight, try youtube there is videos about it.
I have lower back problems, sometimes. Old wrestling injury. When I find a bench that is a lil too high off the floor (read: can’t get my feel flat on the floor comfortably), I elevate my legs. This feels better on my back. I’m not doing it for a core exercise. While balance may be an issue, I ensure I am balanced before lifting, and try not to overload the bar. I’m actually able to rep with 315lbs, with my legs up, as well as max out at 415lbs.
Call me a moron, or whatever you will, but lifting like that doesn’t hurt me at all. If some of you continue to call me a moron or such, you can go ahead and kiss my ass while my legs are up in the air.
[quote]Gmoore17 wrote:
I think the general consensus here is that benching with your feet on the bench is just dumb[/quote]
X 2!
Yea - as i think has been said, it is about what you are lifting for.
Feet on the floor is vital for strength - as your feet place below your hips and allow you to push through the legs, keeping the upper back on the floor and get that weight up (nit pretty but effective).
Feet raised is ‘harder’ which is of course better for the bodybuilding crowd - as this is after a large part of many BB lifts - to make the move as intense as possible.
;~)
Benching while doing leg raises is gaining popularity at my gym, sadly one of the bigger guys there did it for a while then he stopped after a couple of weeks… but the twenty or so guys that thought that was his secret have yet to give it up.
Feet on floor allows you to press more weight. IE: the bench becomes a total body exercise.
Old school guru Gironda says benching with feet on bench and to the neck will activate the pecs more.
Do whatever you want, but I don’t see a neck press with feet on the bench as an every week thing. Might be a nice way to mix things up…just be careful not to choke yourself while falling off the bench.
[quote]wfifer wrote:
Iron Dwarf wrote:
Ever see powerlifters put feet up on bench?
Nope.
Ever see a floor press?[/quote]
Rarely do you ever see someone do a full ROM(meaning bench press style, bar contact with chest) in a floor press
I think a full range of motion bench from the floor would be a near physical impossibility…unless you have big tits.
To suggest an absolute in either direction is kinda silly. Some people with a lumbar spine issue might indeed find a flexed hip position (i.e. feet on the bench) to be beneficial in relieving some of their discomfort. HOWEVER, my first question would be why does the pain/imbalance exist in the first place and what can we do to alleviate/ameliorate BEFORE creating the painful scenario (i.e. benching).
That said, my general recommendation is to keep the feet planted on the floor. This whole ‘core activation’ nonsense is silly and played out. I defy anyone to point to their ‘core’ muscle! Be specific, let’s understand the function and purpose of each mechanical moment or each force angle of each involved muscle and joint and then we’ll talk about generalizations like ‘core’!
I HATE seeing this crap. Legs flopping up in the air like a little slut looking to get fucked.
But whatever… to each his own I guess.
I have a groundbreaking idea OP…try both and do what works for YOU!
Everyone hating on legs up seemed to ignore the post about about Finnish powerlifters (surprisingly) doing this.
I wouldn’t do it, but seeing these animals do it with considerable weights, there is no need to be so categorical about this variation.
Also see elite Olympic lifter doing 1 x 225 KG with feet on bench:
I find it easier to isolate my triceps during a close grip bench press with feet up, but then again I can’t lift very heavy with bench so overall stability hasn’t become an issue yet.
Today at my university gym I watched a guy do reverse crunches while lying on the floor, trying to pin press a 185 pound barbell (and failing).
[quote]Thy. wrote:
Everyone hating on legs up seemed to ignore the post about about Finnish powerlifters (surprisingly) doing this.
I wouldn’t do it, but seeing these animals do it with considerable weights, there is no need to be so categorical about this variation.
Also see elite Olympic lifter doing 1 x 225 KG with feet on bench:
[/quote]
After watching that second vid, it’s pretty clear that feet up does work for some.
I rarely flat bench with my feet on the floor, like, maybe 3x in the last 3 years, and really stopped benching entirely for long periods due to form/posture issues from an accident I was in that demolished my right shin bone. somehow the imbalance worked its way up to my shoulder girdle and the only way it feels right to bench for me is with my feet up. feet down and I aggrevate all the things that are wrong and feel like I’ve taken myself aesthetically and body-comfort-wise backwards for having bench pressed. incline benches are ok cause they put my hips and, more importantly my back, in the “feet up” position. decline as well, more or less.
I do foam/prehab etc work and this has not changed much bench-wise over years, and I and others have asked how to fix it many times here to just hear that we should use dumbells. basically not very many people “get it.” there are a few helpful posts here and there though that I’ve been extremely greatful for, and when time and money coincide in my life again I plan on seeing a professional.
if you think I’m a moron for benching “feet up,” just be happy you are part of the majority that don’t have these issues. it is really the only way I can flat bench and you really aren’t going to convince me I don’t know what I’m doing because I do what works for me and not what doesnt.