Feet Up While Benching is Ideal?

paulieserafini · February 11, 2012, 11:38pm

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]Anthony Mychal wrote:

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:

[quote]Anthony Mychal wrote:
I used know an athlete (who now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles) who was on the shorter end of the height spectrum. He literally couldn’t get his feet flat on the ground, so we had him put them up on the bench. He benched in the 350’s. He didn’t hold them in the air or anything, but rather just put them on the bench.

Moral: I think that the strong people in the world are going to end up in the same place, regardless of what variation is used. [/quote]

One question for you: If he would’ve been able to reach the floor, would he have put his feet up?
[/quote]

I wasn’t really recommending people put their feet up. But to answer your question, no.
[/quote]

At 5’7" and absolutely no problem getting my feet to the floor on a bench press, I dont believe there is any professional football player that cant get his feet flat on the floor during a bench press.

Unless it’s the tallest bench ever Im not buying it. [/quote]

i got my buddy in the gym last year he is 5’4-5’5 his feet reach the floor just as well as anyone elses

maraudermeat · February 12, 2012, 12:37am

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

Just for reference, the guy who posted that video IS the guy in the video. So, if you want to know why he’s doing it that way just ask him.[/quote]

<---- Awaits response from the poster of that video![/quote]

i do them at the end of my session routinely because i feel it really emphasizes the pecs, shoulders and triceps while also forcing you to use all those little stablizer muscles. i also find that doing this makes my form on a bench with my full setup much stronger and crisp in my ROM because all those stablizer muscle have been worked. it also forces me to strain more against the weight becuase i’m not using an arch, leg drive, lat activation or tightness. this then transfers to being able to move through my sticking points easier.

i get what you are saying but i feel that the feet up version definitely has it’s place in a routine. [/quote]

So you do believe that by placing your feet on your bench, you activate your chest more as opposed to feet on the floor?

I have another question for you too. If someone told you to give them an exercise to focus on their chest, what would it be?

Thanks for the reply, and I’m just picking your brain a bit if you’ll let me
[/quote]

yes, i feel that the pecs do more work with feet up.

if getting bigger pecs were the main priority i would do more of a guillotine press, dumbell press with deep stretch or dumbell flyes. these are the things i did when i was a competitive bodybuilder before i switched to compeitive powerlifting.

Iron_Dwarf · February 12, 2012, 5:23pm

Looks like we’ve covered this before. Heh.

RePz · February 12, 2012, 5:25pm

I actually do both, that and different width of the grips. I actually tried the feet on bench thing when I saw the scott abel video (that was posted here) a few months back.

system · February 12, 2012, 6:46pm

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Looks like we’ve covered this before. Heh.

http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding/benching_with_legs_fixed_on_the_bench_and_not_on_the_floor[/quote]

HA! I KNEW IT!

Iron_Dwarf · February 12, 2012, 7:29pm

[quote]Hallowed wrote:

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Looks like we’ve covered this before. Heh.

HA! I KNEW IT![/quote]

Yes, we’re as redundant in our topics as you are in your photo posts.

SteelyD · February 12, 2012, 8:44pm

[quote]Hallowed wrote:

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Looks like we’ve covered this before. Heh.

HA! I KNEW IT![/quote]

re: your avatar.

You took a picture of the wrong side. Please resubmit.

system · February 12, 2012, 9:09pm

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:

[quote]Hallowed wrote:

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Looks like we’ve covered this before. Heh.

HA! I KNEW IT![/quote]

Yes, we’re as redundant in our topics as you are in your photo posts.
[/quote]

Weird.

2020Wellness · February 13, 2012, 12:18am

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

Just for reference, the guy who posted that video IS the guy in the video. So, if you want to know why he’s doing it that way just ask him.[/quote]

<---- Awaits response from the poster of that video![/quote]

i do them at the end of my session routinely because i feel it really emphasizes the pecs, shoulders and triceps while also forcing you to use all those little stablizer muscles. i also find that doing this makes my form on a bench with my full setup much stronger and crisp in my ROM because all those stablizer muscle have been worked. it also forces me to strain more against the weight becuase i’m not using an arch, leg drive, lat activation or tightness. this then transfers to being able to move through my sticking points easier.

i get what you are saying but i feel that the feet up version definitely has it’s place in a routine. [/quote]

So you do believe that by placing your feet on your bench, you activate your chest more as opposed to feet on the floor?

I have another question for you too. If someone told you to give them an exercise to focus on their chest, what would it be?

Thanks for the reply, and I’m just picking your brain a bit if you’ll let me
[/quote]

yes, i feel that the pecs do more work with feet up.

if getting bigger pecs were the main priority i would do more of a guillotine press, dumbell press with deep stretch or dumbell flyes. these are the things i did when i was a competitive bodybuilder before i switched to compeitive powerlifting. [/quote]

Thanks for the response. I was trying to see if you’d say exercises other than the bench for chest focus, which you did. I agree with you. If someone says ‘lets do chest today’ I don’t think of bench pressing. I haven’t done bench ‘for chest’ in years. To me, the bench is best for overall growth of the dominant pressing muscle groups (pecs, triceps, and front delts) and just getting the press motion under as much load as possible.

Here’s a question to everyone:

If someone told you to put together a 2-3 exercise chest focused routine, what exercises would it be composed of?

plateau · February 13, 2012, 10:52am

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:
Here’s a question to everyone:

If someone told you to put together a 2-3 exercise chest focused routine, what exercises would it be composed of?
[/quote]

Probably my fave

Low incline BB for low-ish reps
Flat DB press with a stretch at the bottom for high reps
Pec deck with squeeze for high reps

Raw_Finn · February 13, 2012, 2:08pm

[quote]plateau wrote:

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:
Here’s a question to everyone:

If someone told you to put together a 2-3 exercise chest focused routine, what exercises would it be composed of?
[/quote]

Probably my fave

Low incline BB for low-ish reps
Flat DB press with a stretch at the bottom for high reps
Pec deck with squeeze for high reps[/quote]
Pretty much this.

2020Wellness · February 13, 2012, 2:31pm

[quote]plateau wrote:

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:
Here’s a question to everyone:

If someone told you to put together a 2-3 exercise chest focused routine, what exercises would it be composed of?
[/quote]

Probably my fave

Low incline BB for low-ish reps
Flat DB press with a stretch at the bottom for high reps
Pec deck with squeeze for high reps[/quote]

IMO, the best part about the slight incline bench is that it makes it so much easier to use the safety pins in the squat rack!

I believe that every exercise you do should be done for more than just one rep scheme. For example, I’d take all three of those and rotate through high, medium, and low rep days. Or, if you were more focused on size, I’d rotate through medium and high reps. More focused on strength? I’d rotate through low/medium reps. I think rotating is more effective then just sitting at one constant rep range.

plateau · February 13, 2012, 2:48pm

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:

[quote]plateau wrote:

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:
Here’s a question to everyone:

If someone told you to put together a 2-3 exercise chest focused routine, what exercises would it be composed of?
[/quote]

Probably my fave

Low incline BB for low-ish reps
Flat DB press with a stretch at the bottom for high reps
Pec deck with squeeze for high reps[/quote]

IMO, the best part about the slight incline bench is that it makes it so much easier to use the safety pins in the squat rack!

I believe that every exercise you do should be done for more than just one rep scheme. For example, I’d take all three of those and rotate through high, medium, and low rep days. Or, if you were more focused on size, I’d rotate through medium and high reps. More focused on strength? I’d rotate through low/medium reps. I think rotating is more effective then just sitting at one constant rep range.[/quote]

Rep range: it depends on the exercise IME, I (my joints) don’t appreciate low(er) reps for single joint work.
For isolation work I am more bothered about keeping a focus on the target muscle, this is easier when the intensity (relatively) is easier.

I’d rather rotate exercises than rep ranges when progress stalls, by the fact that you are working through a RANGE stops things from getting stale IME.

Anthony_Mychal · February 13, 2012, 4:12pm

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]Anthony Mychal wrote:

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:

[quote]Anthony Mychal wrote:
I used know an athlete (who now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles) who was on the shorter end of the height spectrum. He literally couldn’t get his feet flat on the ground, so we had him put them up on the bench. He benched in the 350’s. He didn’t hold them in the air or anything, but rather just put them on the bench.

Moral: I think that the strong people in the world are going to end up in the same place, regardless of what variation is used. [/quote]

One question for you: If he would’ve been able to reach the floor, would he have put his feet up?
[/quote]

I wasn’t really recommending people put their feet up. But to answer your question, no.
[/quote]

At 5’7" and absolutely no problem getting my feet to the floor on a bench press, I dont believe there is any professional football player that cant get his feet flat on the floor during a bench press.

Unless it’s the tallest bench ever Im not buying it. [/quote]

Alright, I have no reason to lie though. I may have phrased it wrong though. It’s not like his feet whiffed the ground. They touched and he could get them settled if he used a stronger arch. But a lot of times, he just put his feet up. We used mostly submaximal weights, so safety wan’t a huge issue. When and if we maxed, he would put his feet down. Still didn’t have too solid of a platform though.

The_Rattler · February 13, 2012, 4:21pm

[quote]Anthony Mychal wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]Anthony Mychal wrote:

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:

[quote]Anthony Mychal wrote:
I used know an athlete (who now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles) who was on the shorter end of the height spectrum. He literally couldn’t get his feet flat on the ground, so we had him put them up on the bench. He benched in the 350’s. He didn’t hold them in the air or anything, but rather just put them on the bench.

Moral: I think that the strong people in the world are going to end up in the same place, regardless of what variation is used. [/quote]

One question for you: If he would’ve been able to reach the floor, would he have put his feet up?
[/quote]

I wasn’t really recommending people put their feet up. But to answer your question, no.
[/quote]

At 5’7" and absolutely no problem getting my feet to the floor on a bench press, I dont believe there is any professional football player that cant get his feet flat on the floor during a bench press.

Unless it’s the tallest bench ever Im not buying it. [/quote]

Alright, I have no reason to lie though. I may have phrased it wrong though. It’s not like his feet whiffed the ground. They touched and he could get them settled if he used a stronger arch. But a lot of times, he just put his feet up. We used mostly submaximal weights, so safety wan’t a huge issue. When and if we maxed, he would put his feet down. Still didn’t have too solid of a platform though.[/quote]

Couldn’t he have put some plates under where his feet would go so he could have a solid platform?

2020Wellness · February 13, 2012, 4:41pm

[quote]The Rattler wrote:

[quote]Anthony Mychal wrote:

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]Anthony Mychal wrote:

[quote]2020Wellness wrote:

[quote]Anthony Mychal wrote:
I used know an athlete (who now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles) who was on the shorter end of the height spectrum. He literally couldn’t get his feet flat on the ground, so we had him put them up on the bench. He benched in the 350’s. He didn’t hold them in the air or anything, but rather just put them on the bench.

Moral: I think that the strong people in the world are going to end up in the same place, regardless of what variation is used. [/quote]

One question for you: If he would’ve been able to reach the floor, would he have put his feet up?
[/quote]

I wasn’t really recommending people put their feet up. But to answer your question, no.
[/quote]

At 5’7" and absolutely no problem getting my feet to the floor on a bench press, I dont believe there is any professional football player that cant get his feet flat on the floor during a bench press.

Unless it’s the tallest bench ever Im not buying it. [/quote]

Alright, I have no reason to lie though. I may have phrased it wrong though. It’s not like his feet whiffed the ground. They touched and he could get them settled if he used a stronger arch. But a lot of times, he just put his feet up. We used mostly submaximal weights, so safety wan’t a huge issue. When and if we maxed, he would put his feet down. Still didn’t have too solid of a platform though.[/quote]

Couldn’t he have put some plates under where his feet would go so he could have a solid platform?
[/quote]

Not sure why, but this just made me laugh. No offense intended Rattler!

maraudermeat · February 14, 2012, 1:01am