Doing bench presses with the legs up significantly increased the recruitment of the pectoralis major clavicular portion sternal portion and costal portion anterior deltoid triceps brachii medial head forearms flexor digitorum rectus abdominis external oblique and rectus femoris muscles.
Feet up bench press bodybuilding.
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If you have long legs or the bench is relatively close to the ground you ll probably want to keep your heels on the floor.
Bench pressing with the feet up is a variation that is most applicable to the flat bench press and floor bench press.
How to bench press set your feet.
Feet up bench press set up as you would for a regular bench press however pick your feet up off the floor flex your hips to 90 degrees and cross one ankle over the other.
The feet are elevated so that your body is aligned at an angle to the floor rather than parallel.
This makes it more difficult than push ups on the floor but also puts more emphasis on the shoulder muscles.
While the rest of the crew including omar benches like normal people mark bell goes for a little variety by putting his feet up on the bench.
Yes you ll be able to bench less in this narrow width than if you went super wide with the elbows flared.
Try to keep your feet back toward your butt as far as you can while still keeping them flat on the ground.
This will allow you to press your feet into the ground solidly to help drive the bar away from you.
The stated benefits are that you put less stress on your spine in this position by building less of an archwhile working your pecs better as they have to work harder without the support of an arch and the legs.
Although your foot placement isn t as crucial on the bench as it is for the deadlift or squat it s still important.
Your feet are the start of a strong base and are where you ll draw your power from.
Tuck in your feet underneath you as far as is comfortable toward your hips and shoulders.
Point of contact take home tip.
Pull your feet in to about a 90 degree angle at the knee or slightly tighter.
You should be aware of your legs when benching if you can engage them they do add to the weight you can lift i don t mean lift your butt or even huge leg drive like a powerlifter strives for but just engage them giving you a completely solid rigid body to push with you wil see the weight move rise and also feel your pecs being pushed harder by.
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Flat versus heels up can also depend on the length of your legs and the height of the bench.