The Perfect Bench Press Setup For a Better Starting Position.

What is the goal of the bench press setup?

A lot of people struggle with a lack of stability in the bench press, you feel like every rep is different from the previous one. Some side to side imbalances start to come out and the whole thing gets really messy. In that scenario, the most important thing to understand is that most of these issues are created before you even start lifting, they are created during the setup. A strong start position means a strong foundation on which you can build your press, but without it, the whole thing is meant to fail.

With that in mind, what should a good setup achieve?

• A high arch that will minimize your range of motion, this is powerlifting after all
• Good legdrive which keeps your upper back pinned into the bench AND does not incentivize butt lifting
• A stable upper back position that allows you to feel the "pop" of your chest

How to achieve that?

In this section, I will go over how I like to setup for the bench press. Keep in mind that everyone does it a little differently, but here is what works for me and my athletes.

Upper back position is everything

If you set your upper back correctly, then the rest will follow. Start by laying down on the bench, way further from the bar than you would start your unrack, and grab the bar with straight arms. Now, get on your toes and lift your butt as high in the air as possible (the video attached will make everything clear), your arms should still be straightened. Your goal with this is to drive your upper back into the bench as vertically as possible, from the top.

After that, slide your upper back on the bench in the direction of the bar, your arms will bend a little but not that much, a lot of the movement will come from your scapula going into depression (basically your shoulderblade is going down your body, into the back pocket of your pants). Keep sliding, while depressing your scapula and pushing against the bar until your eyes are around the area of the barbell.

In this position you can either already unrack, but there are two more possible improvements of position. First, you can reset your feet into their desired position, now is the time to do so. Second, you can set your upper back again, think of the first setup as loading you into a position from which you can do the final setup. Lift your whole body by pulling yourself up on the bar, and try again to wedge your upper back into the bench even more vertically than before. Then you can also slide a bit more to depress your scapula and you are good to go.

The unrack

Lift the bar by extending only your arms, do not pull the scapula out of the position that you have worked so hard for, after getting the bar out of the rack, another important thing to increase your arch is to think about curling your butt in the direction of your head, not just putting it straight down on the bench.

Goal of the leg drive

The main goal of the leg drive is to keep your upper back stable, if you keep that in mind, then it is clear that leg drive where your hips shoot up does not achieve that. Instead, push with your legs in the direction of your head or the spotter behind you. By doing it, if you have set your upper back correctly, and vertically into the bench, the force of your legs will be met with the resistance of your upper back. This will ensure the force stays in the system, and is transfered into curling up your arch even more. The key point: push backwards into the upper back, not upwards into the hips.

Summary

Here are a few final points that i want to mention:

• keep your upper back as vertical to the bench and as pinned to it from the top as possible
• to do that, push your hips in the air
• slide into the bar while pushing away from it with your arms
• think about putting your shoulder blade in the back pocker of your pants when doing this
• when you unrack, the weight of the bar will pin your upper back in a set position, don't mess with it
• straighten your elbows immediately after unracking
• curl your butt into your spine for a bigger arch
• push with your legs in the direction of the upper to curl your arch even more

Let me know if this setup helped you with pressing more weight, happy benching ;)