Bench Press with Short Legs or Back Pain?

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/26/21)

If you have shorter legs you may find it difficult or simply uncomfortable to keep your feet planted firmly (and flat) on the ground. Let’s fix this.

Having your feet planted flat and firmly to the floor is important because your feet provide lateral stability, i.e., your stance provides side-to-side stability during the bench press because the bench itself is rather narrow. Additionally, having your feet planted firmly on the ground allows you to use your legs to drive up the bench during the movement as well (which provides rigidity in your upper body and also reinforces your arch).

With all this in mind, if you have shorter legs - specifically shorter lower legs (i.e., your shins or shanks) - and if you find that your heels are coming up off the ground, then simply stack a bumper plate or two underneath each foot.

You can use wooden blocks or rubber mats instead of bumper plates, but whatever you use, your new “foot platform” needs to provide a non-slip surface that is high enough that you can keep your feet flat and firmly on that surface. A reasonable benchmark (get it?) is to create a platform high enough that your thighs are roughly parallel to the ground.

The use of such a platform can also be a good tactic if you experience some low back discomfort or pain when you lie down on the bench. This can occur with people with shorter legs due to the excessive arch needed to reach their feet down to the floor, and it can also occur with older people or with people who carry some extra weight.

Jen demonstrates the use of bumper plates to provide an elevated platform for her feet.

If lying down on the bench causes you some discomfort, try raising your feet up a bit by using a platform. If your use of the platform is due to discomfort (and not due to having short legs), you may find that you can reduce the height of your platform over time (e.g., remove a bumper plate from your stack), and you might even get to the point where your feet are flat on the ground again.

We hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

-Phil

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Quick Tip to Improve Your Bench Press | FAST FIX!

Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers a quick and easy breathing tip to help you improve your bench press.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 07/01/23)

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Use This Grip for a BIGGER Bench Press and Press!

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/24/23)

Want a bigger bench? A bigger press? Of course you do. Let’s get right to it.

figure 1: Compression grip (bench press configuration)

This article is the first in our short series on the correct grip for each lift - from pushing movements like a bench press or a press to pulling movements like a deadlift or a row, and we’ll also discuss the differences that come into play when you have an Olympic movement like a snatch or clean.

Today’s Topic: Pushing Movements
The grip we are covering today is the type of grip you would take for the bench press (Figure 1), the press, the incline bench press, the close grip bench press, etc. This grip is commonly referred to as a compression grip.

An important concept to remember is that - and this is true for both pushing and pulling movements - gravity alway wants objects to move downward.

This includes the barbell that’s in your hands, so when you’re pushing on the bar, you don’t want to put the bar in a position that permits the bar to accidentally reach a lower position (in your hands) than the position it’s already occupying. In other words, make sure that the bar is in the lowest, stable position you can achieve . . . right from the start.

figure 2: Do not put the bar up here.

What NOT To Do
For example, when you unrack the press, don’t support the barbell up high in the hand (Figure 2). If you do this with a heavy weight, it’s simply going to bend your wrist backward (thus lowering the bar). As a result, your flimsy, little, dainty, baby wrists are in a rather unstable position of extreme extension (Figure 3).

You’ve created an energy leak, and this is not a productive position from which to press or bench heavy weights. What to do?

figure 3: wrists in extreme extension - don’t be like this fool.

Figure 4

The Answer
Before unracking either the press or the bench, get the bar sitting over the base of the palms - not up by the base of your fingers, but at the base of your actual hand (Figure 4).

This position permits the bar to be stacked right over the bones of the forearms, which is excellent for force transfer.

From here, pronate your grip just enough that your thumbs can grip the bar (Figure 5). This positions the thumbs so that they can wrap around the bar in the opposite direction of the rest of your fingers.

Squeeze the bar tightly, and that’s it - this is your grip (Figure 6).

figure 5: pronate the grip slightly until the thumbs are below the bar.

The Result
This grip permits the bar to sit deep in the base of your palm - whether you’re benching or pressing. Your wrists are as straight as they can be, although they won’t be entirely straight - let’s call it a neutral position.

As a side not, wrist wraps can help achieve and maintain this position, but they shouldn’t be a crutch - learn to achieve the correct position without wraps, and then start using wraps as your work weights get heavier.

Figure 6: squeeze the bar tightly.

The wrists certainly are no longer bent back in extreme extension, and they also aren’t so straight that it feels like the bar is pushing down on the webbing of your thumb.

As previously mentioned, the bar is now positioned right over the bones of the forearm (Figure 7), which makes for efficient force transfer between your arms, hands, and the bar, and this makes for a stronger press or bench press.

figure 7: compression grip (press width)

Next up - the tension grip.

As always, we hope these tips help you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

8 Things Successful Lifters Do Before Benching HEAVY (plus BONUS tip)

Let’s cover 8 things that successful, intelligent, wily lifters do before bench pressing, and at the end, we’ll address a bonus tip that people rarely consider. Let’s dive in.

#1 Stance
The bench isn’t that wide, so it doesn’t give you much lateral stability. Instead, it’s your stance that performs this job; in addition, your stance gives you the ability to effectively drive with your legs (covered later in tip #4) and therefore make yourself more rigid and stable.

With this in mind, take a roughly squat-width stance – you can go wider if you like, but a squat-width stance generally serves very well. Also, keep your feet flat on the floor as you can drive your feet into the floor more effectively when they are flat on the ground than with your heels up in the air (this is also often a rule in competition).

#2 Grip
Take a grip that is about a hand-width wider than where the knurling starts (a thumb-length will also often work quite well).

This will serve nicely to get started, and you may need to make a small adjustment inward or outward once you start benching. Record yourself on video or have a friend watch you – specifically, you’re looking for a grip that permits vertical forearms (as seen from the head or the foot of the bench) when the bar touches your chest. 

Also, you want the bar positioned over the bones of your forearms, so pronate your grip slightly and make sure the bar is supported in the base of your hand and not up by the pads of your fingers.

Lastly, do not take a thumbless grip (AKA “suicide grip”). Wrap your thumb around the bar when benching – always.

#3 Chest & Shoulders
Your chest should be up and your shoulders should be pinched back and down.

Doing this puts your shoulders in a stronger, safer position from which to bench, and by getting your chest up, you also position your pecs into a more mechanically advantageous position.

#4 Leg Drive
Drive your feet forward and downward (i.e., diagonally) into the ground.

This is closely related to the concept of getting your chest up and providing yourself with a nice arch – your feet should be driving into the ground almost as if you are trying to slide up the bench, i.e., as if you are trying to slide toward the uprights.

Of course, you don't want to slide toward the uprights, but the bar is pinning you in place, so don’t worry about that.

Be sure you aren’t driving your legs in such a way as to cause your butt to come up off of the bench (your rep doesn’t count when you do that).

You drive with your legs so that you compress yourself slightly and create as stable and rigid of a platform (i.e., a more rigid and stable you) as possible from which to bench.

#5 Focal Point
First, have a focal point, and second, it’s not the barbell (don’t stare at something that moves).

With the bar locked out, pick a spot on the ceiling directly above you and note that you can still see the bar in your peripheral vision. That bar needs to finish in the same place every single time at the top of each rep.

#6 Breathing and Bracing
We’ve covered how to do this for lifting in general, and we’ll link to a video below that addresses these general principles of breathing and getting tight. 

Here, let’s cover two interesting notes specifically related to breathing when benching.

First, the bench is a rare lift wherein you might consider doing multiple reps on one breath. That is perfectly acceptable, but don't take this as a test of your manhood (or womanhood) to see how many reps you can get on one breath. Passing out while benching is always a lousy idea.

Second, when you have the bar locked out at arms-length between reps and need to take a breath, don't take the biggest possible breath. When you do that, it's moves your upper body, which makes it difficult to keep your shoulders pinched back into place. Instead, think of the breath as a smaller, “topping-off-your-gas-tank” breath.

#7 How to Unrack a Heavy Bench Press By Yourself
If you’re training with someone, it's great to have your buddy help you with the unrack (i.e., the “lift-off”) so that you can stay in position efficiently and keep your shoulders pinned back and down.

However, if you're lifting on your own, it can be difficult to lift a heavy barbell up off the j-hooks and then maneuver it horizontally to the starting position directly above your shoulders.

The key is to use the leverage provided by the rest of your body to help you accomplish this task. Check out the short video below for an explanation and very useful demonstration of this process, but in short, the steps are as follows – first, flare your elbows out and back slightly. Second, lift your hips up off the bench. Third, unrack the bar, and fourth, bring your hips back down as you bring the bar into position.

#8 Safeties and Spotters
When possible, get a spotter. 

A spotter is great for the lift-off, and a spotter is also great if you get into trouble – after all, the bench press is the most dangerous lift in the room, so be smart about this and have a spotter when possible.

However, having a spotter is not always possible, and in this case, make sure that you set the safeties at the appropriate height. They need to be set low enough that you don't run into them when benching, but they also need to be set high enough that they save you from trouble if you fail a rep.

Check out the short video below for a demonstration of this.

Be sure to practice this, i.e., practice failing a rep with an empty bar and with the safeties set at the correct height. You should be able to relax your arch, set the bar on the safeties, and then slide out safely from under the bar. If you can’t do this, raise the safeties until you can.

We also recommend not using collars when benching as you can dump the plates (side-to-side) if you fail a rep, but the absence of collars is not sufficient as it won’t save you from the type of catastrophic disaster that can occur during the unracking or racking process and results with a bar on your face or neck.

Get a spotter or use safeties correctly. These are the only two options.

Bonus Tip
Use chalk.

Take a look at the big bench presses on YouTube or on social media, and you’ll notice that these guys and gals use chalk (you’ll see a few examples in the video below as well).

Chalk is most important in pulling movements like the deadlift, but it’s still important in the bench as well, and if you’re ever had your hand start to slide outward slightly when benching, you already know what I’m talking about.

You don’t need a lot of chalk, but it is wise to use some. Also, remember that if you’re training at a commercial gym, you’re not only dealing with the moisture and oils from your hands – you’re also dealing with the moisture and oils from whoever has used that bar before you.

Stay chalked, my friends.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Your BENCH PRESS Waits Your WHOLE LIFE For You to DO THIS (Don't Mess This Up)

Lifters make these bench press errors their whole lives and never realize it, and if your bench is stuck, you might be making one of these four common mistakes. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers how to fix them fast and bench more effectively.

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

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• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

This Mistake Will RUIN All Your Lifts!

Want to improve every one of your lifts with one fix? Make sure you're doing this. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 05/27/23)

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?