Bench pressing when your feet are not touching the ground: dangerous? Risks?
4 min read
Asked by: Brad Shayde
Why is it important to have your feet on the ground when performing the bench press lift?
This is because your legs use the floor to prevent any minor torso movements side-to-side, in addition to stabilizing your bench press arch, which helps position your upper back and traps on the bench press effectively.
Should you put your feet on bench during bench press?
Basically, the only time you should be benching with your feet on the bench is if you experience pain when arching your lower back. That’s it. In all other situations, you should keep your feet firmly planted on the floor, with your scapula pulled back, while maintaining a moderate arch in your lower back.
Can bench press be dangerous?
Of all the main barbell lifts, the bench press is the most dangerous. In fact, it can kill you. If the bar slips from your hands during the lift, the loaded barbell can fall on your face, throat, or chest, ending your life relatively quickly.
What are the 5 common mistakes when performing the bench press?
12 biggest bench press mistakes
- 1 – Going too heavy. …
- 2 – Flaring elbows out at 90° angles. …
- 3 – Bending wrists backwards. …
- 4 – Improper grip width. …
- 5 – Lowering bar too high up on chest. …
- 6 – Bench pressing with a flat upper back. …
- 7 – Raising butt off the bench. …
- 8 – Not keeping the feet grounded.
How should your feet be when bench pressing?
At the start of setup, pull your feet back under your hips and dig the balls of your feet into the floor. Choose the Best Foot Position. Choose either toes down/heels up with legs tucked tightly to the bench, or heels flat with feet out wide.
Why do people bench press with feet on bench?
Many personal trainers and misinformed coaches advocate performing the bench press with your feet in the air, because doing so “flattens” the lumbar (lower) spine and is thus deemed safer. For some, bench pressing with an arched back is worse than wearing white socks with dress pants or clubbing a baby seal.
Should Heels be on the ground when benching?
The under portion of the bench. Um one the key factors that got me into benching with my heels up was i instantly found it helps with my arch it helps me get into position.
Is feet up bench good?
And at your lower back to create more driving force into the ba belt during each rep. But when your feet are up your back will be flatter on the bench which actually creates more tension in your abs.
How do you bench press safely?
Press pins or handles where you're going to be bench pressing off of and then you adjust those. So for me I think it's approximately.
What should you not do when bench pressing?
The top 19 bench press mistakes are:
- Not warming up.
- Not using leg drive.
- Not creating an arch.
- Not retracting the shoulder blades.
- Not keeping your butt on the bench.
- Shifting your feet between reps.
- Not touching your chest.
- Bouncing off the chest.
Do you need to go all the way down when you bench press?
The very easy, very simple, and very generic answer to this question is often yes… you should lower the bar all the way down until it touches your chest. That is, after all, the full range of motion for the how the barbell bench press is generally supposed to be done. All the way up, all the way down.
Can you bench press on the floor?
So I'm gonna show you how to do this if you're struggling with the weak point being a few inches off your chest on a bench press to perform a floor press you're gonna start by laying on the floor.
Should you touch chest benching?
The bottom portion of the bench press is where your pecs are most heavily activated. If you don’t touch the bar to your chest, you’re cheating your pecs out of a lot of good work. Sure, it’s the most difficult portion of the lift. That’s the point.
