Arching your back while Bench Pressing: 3 Reasons To Start.

These days the internet gives everyone a platform to voice their opinions. Post a video of your bench press whilst arching your back and you are bound to get some comments like:

“Arching is cheating.”

“You’re going to hurt your back like that.”

I am sure you will get stronger opinionated comments than those examples, but hey – why should you arch your back?

First of all, I am not talking about an extreme powerlifting arch, but more so the arch that most people will be using – see photo 1.3.

Here are 3 reasons why I think this is underused particularly with general population clients.

1 - Shoulder Packing

The shoulder complex is a very mobile joint. It is actively held together by muscles, unlike most other joints. The humerus (upper arm bone) is in a socket joint with the scapula (shoulder blade). The scapula is rather loosely attached to the body and able to move in a wide variety of ways. It forms a joint with the clavicle (collar bone) which is then jointed to the sternum (breast bone).

“Shoulder packing” refers to actively controlling the scapulae, pulling them close to the body and downward, so it is stable. You can see this most visibly when hanging from a bar. If you relax, your shoulders shrug up and you are in a weak position.

The importance of knowing how to 'pack' your shoulders are paramount for several pressing movements to maintain shoulder health. This is especially relevant during a heavy bench press.

Whilst bench pressing, we want to resist both protraction and elevation of the shoulder blade (Example photo 1.1). To resist this we retract and depress the scapular (Photo 1.2). This helps set the shoulder in place and keeps your shoulders aligned throughout the lift. Shoulder packing and Arching your back allows you to set your shoulder joints in place, so they are stable and less likely to alignment during the lift.

2 - Tension.

Arching your back assists in creating more full-body tension than lying flat on a bench. A good bench presser makes the bench press a full body lift. They can produce muscular tension throughout their entire body. This is what allows force to be transferred from the ground - through their body - and into the Barbell being moved. The first step to generating tension is by producing leg drive.

To generate leg drive, simply push and screw your feet into the ground this will also help contract your glutes. Once the legs and hips are set, the torso can tighten. Dig your shoulder blades into the bench (retract and depress).  Arch your upper back as you do when puffing out your chest. Throughout the set you will be driving your tight back into the bench. This must be maintained throughout the entire set. If you relax on the bench, you will lose all built up tension and revert to an unstable sloppy bench press

3 - Range of Motion

Arching your back while bench-pressing slightly shortens the distance the bar needs to travel. Making it easier to move more weight. Think of it like this: for every inch, you can increase your arch, that is one less inch you need to press the weight.

This also ties in with reducing the chance of any shoulder injury while bench pressing. Benching with a flat chest forces you to touch your torso lower. You’re not cheating the range of motion by raising your chest when you Bench Press. You’re making the exercise safer and more effective.

Photo 1.4 - you can see at the bottom of the bench the glenohumeral joint is in a highly compromised position. It is at its most stretched position and could cause Anterior Shoulder Pain. This pain at the front of the shoulder can be referred pain from the rotator cuff. If you are bench pressing with the shoulder rolled forward (picture above), it places excessive force on the muscle tendons in a compromised position.

Arching your back wont stop the shoulders from rolling forward, however will help prevent this. Especially if you utilise the 3 key points above.

Try this out under light load and then build up to moderate weight. See how it feels.