Hi, sometimes when lifting i put my feet up on the bench to keep my back flat on the bench. Are there risks to doing this? should I keep my feet on the floor? I dont want to arch my back but some benches are a little too high to keep my feet flat on the floor.
Eric:
I'd recommend against the feet up benching. It is actually pretty complicated to explain because it's not a cut and dry situation (hardly anything ever is).
There are probably people who would be better off with their feet up due to lower back problems caused by etension/rotation problems. But those people may also be advised to limit flat bench pressing.
If you put up your feet it will limit your abilty to get in a proper position and provide a good stable "platform" with the upper back. It WILL limit the amount of weight you are able to push.
The problem is similar to the other side of the coin that you will see with powerlifters. They will really get their hips way up in the air and exaggerate their back arch a lot. Basically this makes it more like a decline bench and reduces stress on the shoulders and they can lift more. But as a general training technique this excessive arching should be avoided. What you want is feet firmly planted and a "neutral" lower back, which is one that is naturally slightly arched.
I noticed you said you don't want to arch your back. Can you explain what you mean by this and why?
When you put your feet up on the bench what you do is the opposite of the excessive arching thing. You flatten out your back. So it is no longer neutral. This impedes natural power transfer from the lower to upper body..a big part of benching. If you flatten out your lower back you also can't arch the upper back. Effective retraction of the scapula is impeded and this rouned back posture while lifting can cause the scapula to wing. Something you don't want.
So you want the knees bent, feet firmly planted, a good tight neutral arch of the lower back, shoulders down and back with scapula retracted (pinched) together...all this will lead to the best longer term "health". Especially at the shoulders. As well as the biggest numbers.
Maybe you can find something to place on the floor on both sides of the too high benches to place your feet on. Perhaps some extra plates or steppers. My bench is too high as well and I actually put my feet on gallon paint cans filled with sand
So whatever works.BTW, I was posting at the same time as Ross and Pity so if any of this is a repeat of anything they said, my apologies.
teamfast:
I think the less arch you have in yur back the better form you are holding since (as powerlifters demonstrate) arching your back enough causes flat to become more of a decline. Some times i see guys doing dumbbells with there feet in the airholding their legs up off the bench (hard to explain) . I guess maybe im thinking by having your legs up makes your core unable to be flexed during lifts.
Not really sure where im going with this one...
Eric:
A natural back is a slightly arched lower back. This does not mean you need to or want to exgerate it but it also doesn't mean you want a "flat" back which is equally bad. But I'm not sure what you are trying to say. Are you saying you agree or that you still want to keep your feet on the bench?
teamfast:
i think you answered my question that having your back flat on the bench is equally bad as over arching.
Eric:
So your saying, Monsta, that you don't want to have the 'advantage' of good form? To me, whatever short term mental advantage you may get is outweighed by the long term disadvantages. With either technique, as long as you are consistent and steadily progress, then the difference in the weight used is cancelled out. Given the choice, it is better to go with a somewhat safer technique and let the natural laws of progressive overload do their job. Anything else is overthinking it, imo.
Eric (continued):
Totally, agree. That picture you have up...i can just imagine what would happen if you suddenly lost strength in one side. You wouldn't have a stable position from which to recover and you could really end up getting hurt.
Well, I agree. That excessive arching, or basically lifting the butt off the bench can put a lot of compression on the discs and be very bad for the back. But you are taking something that is mental and making it more important then actual biomechanical considerations. Frankly, anyone, if they are disciplined can learn to avoid that reaction of the butt rising. It's hard, I admit because when the weight gets heavy the body just naturally seeks a mechanical advantage and that gives it one. But it can be overcome with discipline.
Let me go at it another way. I actually read one guy with a bunch of letters after his name talking about feet up benching just now. He brought up some of the points I already discussed about lower back problems and how it may be advantages for some. But then he brought up a point about how the upper body stabilizers will be more engaged with feet up benching because you take out the lower body. He didn't actually give his opinion on it though (so fuck em).
As soon as I read it I thought it was ludicrous. Your "upper body" stabilizers were not built to be "isolated". We are connected from head to toes and things going on at the hips can affect things going on at the shoulders. Ask youselve if your body was ever meant to bench press. Maybe if a rock fell on you and your hands were in the right position you may press it off, lol. But do you think isolating the upper body stabilizers would be a good idea? Course not. You would just be less stable and more prone to injury, most likely from being squashed by the rock.
First of all, you are not well anchored to the bench. Second of all, there are two types of stabilizers, active and passive. You don't want to overwhelm one to the disadvantage of the other.
It would be one thing if we were actively training 'stabilizers'. You know, like the bench pressing on a ball? But that is light weight dumbells, not heavy barbells. When you are benching even somewhat heavy, it is not a time to make yourself less stable and definitely not a time to put your shoulders in a more stressful position. But the only way you can properly set your upper back with the feet up, at least from what I have experienced is....to create an excessive and unnatural arch in the lower back.
But you are benching with your lower back flat, your upper back rounded and your chest down. You are basically unstable in a myriad of ways. Your body was meant to work as a unit. There is not any real disadvantage to allowing it to do so. You just have to control the pitfalls of anything you choose to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment