Why Do People Arch Their Back When Bench Pressing?

Why Do People Arch Their Back When Bench Pressing?

While benching with a back arch is most commonly associated with powerlifters, it’s a technique that any weightlifter can benefit from because it makes pressing heavy weights safer and more efficient. 

It does this in several ways, including:

• Increasing stability
• Shortening the range of motion
• Allowing you to use leg drive
• Improving shoulder positioning

Let’s look at each of these factors in more detail:

It increases stability.

Trying to bench without tensing your back muscles is like building a house on quicksand. As soon as the weight becomes heavy, the foundations will give way, causing everything to collapse.

Arching your back forces you to engage your entire back, creating a strong, stable base to press from. This helps you maintain control and balance, allowing you to lift heavier weights more safely.

It shortens the range of motion.

Arching your back brings your chest closer to the bar’s starting and finishing point—at arm’s length in front of your shoulder joints. This reduces the distance the bar travels during each rep, allowing you to lift more weight with less effort.

It allows you to use leg drive.

“Leg drive” is a weightlifting technique that can help you lift more weight by using your legs to increase stability, generate power, and facilitate a more efficient bar path in the bench press.

The basic idea is that as you press the bar upward, you drive your feet into the floor as if trying to slide your body up the bench (though your body doesn’t actually move because the weight in your hand pins you down).

If you try to use leg drive without arching your back, your body will likely slide up the bench, causing you to lose rigidity, balance, and stability.

On the other hand, when you arch your back, you dig your traps into the bench pad and create tension throughout your upper body. This tension ensures that the power generated by your legs transfers into the bar, helping you press more effectively and efficiently.

It improves shoulder positioning.

Most people find that to create a bench press arch, you must squeeze your shoulder blades together and tuck them downward since this is the best way to lift your chest as high as possible.

Conveniently, this also ensures your shoulders are in the safest, most stable position to press.

How Much More Can You Lift When Benching With an Arch?

Arching your back during the bench press can help you lift more weight, but how much more exactly?

A recent study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research examined this question by comparing the arched- and flat-back bench press in 15 powerlifters, weightlifters, and athletes.

The results showed that using the arched-back technique increased one-rep max performance by almost 10 pounds compared to the flat-back technique.

Importantly, they also found that the triceps and pectoral muscles were equally active during both types of bench press. 

In other words, the arched-back bench press helps you lift around 10 pounds more than the flat-back bench press without reducing how much work your pecs and triceps do.

This is significant because it means the arched-back bench press will likely help you gain more muscle and strength over time without any downsides. 

Is Arching Your Back While Benching Cheating?

Many people believe that arching your back while benching is cheating because it reduces the exercise’s range of motion, making it seem less challenging. 

This view is particularly prevalent among casual gym-goers used to seeing and performing the bench press with a flat back. 

Despite the criticisms, arching your back while benching is not cheating within the rules of powerlifting. The International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) and other major federations permit this technique as long as your head, upper back, and glutes remain in contact with the bench.

Recently, the rules regarding back arching have changed to prevent powerlifters from using extreme arches. Specifically, competitors are no longer allowed to put their feet on the bench during their setup, which limits their ability to contort their bodies as they did in the past.

Additionally, the bench press now has a depth requirement—the elbows must reach parallel with the shoulders when viewed from the back.

In reality, these rule changes will only impact a small number of lifters with extreme mobility. Most weightlifters will continue to use a legal back arch, similar to how they have always done.

Is Arching Your Back While Benching Safe?

While it’s easy to see why arching your back in the bench press might look dangerous, it’s actually very safe.

Spine injuries typically only happen in two scenarios:

1. When the spine is compressed from top to bottom (axial loading), like during a back squat. 
2. When the vertebrae are pushed in opposite directions (shearing force).

You don’t subject your spine to significant axial or shearing forces during the arched-back bench press, so injuring your back isn’t something you should worry about. 

In fact, arching your back helps position the bar over your upper back and shoulders, reducing pressure on your lower back. It also creates a strong, stable base, which may make the lift safer.

Should You Arch Your Back When Benching?

If you can, yes. Performing the bench press with an arched back can reduce the risk of injury and help you lift more weight without decreasing muscle activation.

You don’t need extreme flexibility to take advantage of a bench press arch, either. Creating a gap between the bench and your back big enough for a fist is sufficient.

Arching your back isn’t feasible for everyone, of course. The setup can be challenging and uncomfortable, especially for those with lower back issues. There’s also a higher chance of “misgrooving” the lift if you haven’t mastered proper bench press technique.

The best way to determine if arching your back is right for you is to try it for a few weeks and see how it feels. If it feels comfortable and improves your performance, keep doing it. If it feels painful or awkward, stop.

How to Improve Your Bench Press Back Arch

A simple stretching routine will go a long way to helping you improve your bench press arch. 

I recommend doing a few simple yoga poses that loosen your upper and lower back 2-to-3 times weekly:

• Cobra pose: Stretches the lower back and promotes spinal flexibility.
• Half lord of the fishes pose: The twisting element of this pose helps to relieve side, back, and neck stiffness and increases spinal mobility.
• Thread the needle: “Threading the needle” mobilizes your neck, upper back, and shoulders.

Do these stretches at least an hour before or after your workouts (or preferably on rest days), hold each position for 30-to-60 seconds, and push yourself to the point of mild discomfort, but not pain. 

To learn how to do these stretches and increase you overall mobility for weightlifting, check out this article:

Is Flexibility Important for Being Fit?

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