feet up while benching

Gantz · Post by **Gantz** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:50 am

generally your feet should be planted on the ground while bench pressing, but are there any negative consequences to having your feet up on the bench?

Post by **Jungledoc** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 7:27 am

Unstable body position (rocking around on the bench).
No foot drive.

hoosegow · Post by **hoosegow** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 7:43 am

to piggy back what doc said, being unstable can get you hurt and at minimum reduce your gains.

Gantz · Post by **Gantz** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 2:08 pm

alright, so basically instability and less power.

hoosegow · Post by **hoosegow** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 3:18 pm

And people look stupid doing it too.

Post by **Jungledoc** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 4:04 pm

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=tim ... iew=videos

This is the u tube list of a bunch of Rippetoe videos. There is a play list of just benching videos. Rip has a discussion of foot position that is worth watching.

Peter Rouse · Post by **Peter Rouse** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 1:55 pm

Without correct foot position you will be unable to activate the posterior chain to aid in stabilizing the shoulder girdle, therefore feet up = bad shoulders. There is much more to it but that's that basics of it.

Matt Z · Post by **Matt Z** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 6:16 pm

Also, try to imagine what would happen if one of your feet slips off the bench mid-rep.

Post by **Jungledoc** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 11:31 pm

What's worse is the feet-up-in-the-air pressing. Looks worse than stupid!

Matt Z · Post by **Matt Z** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 5:21 pm

That's still better than the air-humpers who bridge high in the air with their feet on the bench.

floggg · Post by **floggg** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:07 am

Is there any merit to any of those variations? Why do people get it into their heads to use them?

Post by **stuward** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:53 am

floggg wrote:Is there any merit to any of those variations? Why do people get it into their heads to use them?

Many lifters use too much arch and leg drive to bench, lifting their butt off the bench. This can be dangerous. Benching with the feet up can help get over this but it's better just to use proper technique and keeping the ego in check.

Stephen Johnson · Post by **Stephen Johnson** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 12:14 pm

floggg wrote:Is there any merit to any of those variations? Why do people get it into their heads to use them?

By arching their backs and raising their hips, lifters are turning a regular bench press into a decline bench press. Since declines are a stronger position, more weight can be lifted. Also, the arch reduces the distance the bar has to travel for lockout. It's cheating, but some lifters are obsessed with benching 300 (or 400 or 500) pounds by any means