ExRx.net

Another Pet Peeve of mine. A new trainer in my gym has actually being doing a variety of things that make me want to throw myself through the window next to the free weights area. Most of all...

Bench Press with feet up on bench..... Jeeeeeeeeeeeez

As arrogant as it may sound, i'm done justifying why not to do this, and other stuff that makes no sense. As I get older I prefer to sit back and listen to the people-that-do-stupid things justify why they are doing said stupid thing. If they come up with any sensible explanation, i'll quite happily debate.

Like when someone asks you something like, "so...Why do some people say you shouldn't eat after 7pm?" Um.... How the hell you supposed to answer that? Ask the people that recommended it. A good answer would be, "well, your screwed if you work till 8pm then aren't you". I actually got asked this question about 2 weeks ago after giving someone fat some diet advice. Sounds nasty calling them fat but you would understand if you knew them - it's not because they're fat, it's the know-it-all-attitude when CLEARLY they don't know much if anything.

Oh, and agility ladders deffinitly have their place in some athletes training programs, particularly as a warm up or on recovery/movement days. They even have benefit in rehabilitation scenarios. But at what point does a trainer think it will do anything for a 20year old, 6ft, 130lbs boy who wants to bulk up? Not to mention, making up 20 minutes of an hours session.

*big sigh*

Feel better now.

KPj

A little off topic here, but I've also seen guys bench with their feet on the bench. What is the purpose of that? I've never gotten the nerve to ask them why they are doing it!

Ask them and let us know. There is supposed to be some core stability benefit. It's like squatting on a boso ball. It's a way of increasing injury risk without providing any real advantage to your training. For would-be recipiants of the Darwin Awards.

I was educated by weight lifting myths growing up ... so I'll elaborate ... folks back in the 80's told me to bench with my feet on the bench so I would keep my lower back from arching ... supposedly the arch would cause lower back problems .... the only time the feet on the bench felt thing right was with dumbbells, but was never comfortable with a barbell .. always felt like I was gonna roll-over

and yes I did learn the error of my ways .. just took a "long" while

How about benching with the feet up in the air? It looks really silly.

LOL. Best explanation i've heard for it.

There's 3 main reasons they do it. The most understandable one is that they don't know mcuh about it and someone that they trust told them to do it like that. Another reason is to further "isolate the pecs", by taking the legs out the movement (although, you don't need your feet up on the bench to take your legs out of the movement...um...just don't use any leg drive?).

And finally what ellerbus said about taking the arch out the lower back. That theory decades ago is understandable but not now... When your lower back is 'neutral' it's actually arched slightly. By flattening the lower back you actually begin to flex it (round it). This also screws up your stability in the upper back by changing spine position and affecting how the shoulder blades sit (hikes them upward a little), and of course, the shoulder blades stabilise the shoulder joint during benching. So, you actually make things worse, injury wise, not just on your shoulders but on your lower back, too.

And yes, benching with feet in the air is one of the most bizarre things ever.

I don't think much tops the agility ladder. The trainer get's the ladder out up where I do my warm up. Imagine paying someone for an hour to get you bulked up. Then, they spend atleast 5 minutes unrolling the ladder and setting it up, and they do so with such pride - like a guy who has, i don't know, model ships that he's built, and handles them with such delicacy and care. This is the trainer with the agility ladder. And she's not even agile, she's quite heavy footed. You'll hear her saying, "ok, Ali shuffle" and you think, "cool, someones doing the Ali shuffle" and turn around, and, well, it's more like a drunk guy at a wedding attempting the moonwalk. They spend about 20 minutes doing it, plus 5 (atleast) setting it up. By the time they go and do whatever bag of tricks she has in store next, it's basically half the session.

Ach, the joys of commercial gyms.

KPj

My gym is pretty small and we don't even have any trainers. In fact, there's not even really any staff around if I would need a spot or something. Plus there's not alot of great equipment and alot of it is old. However, I have free membership because my wife teaches some aerobics classes, and it's normally not very crowded so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. It would just be nice to have a "expert" there to help.

So I asked the guy last night why he did it that way and his response was that it isolated the chest and also helped his back because he didn't arc it. He also did some benching with his feet up in the air. So is he right or is this hogwash?

lol, I tell ya, who would of predicted that response?

KPj

p.s If you don't get that, check my last response. I explained it there.

I to have heard that it is for satability, prevent back arching etc. But I see younger guys and some older as a way to cheat. Gives them some leverage to complete a rep is they want (aka: cheating).

The worst benching I've ever seen was at the YMCA in Glen Cove, NY. The guy (a local judge in his mid-forties) would set up with his feet on the bench, get a lift off from a spotter and slowly lower the barbell to his chest. He would then bridge high off the bench, so that only his upper back and feet were in contact with the bench. Finally, he would drop his butt back to the bench, and press out the last six inches or so to lockout (he had long arms). One could call this a "bridge press" or a self-assisted negative, but either way it wasn't a bench press (or safe).

Three of the most common mistakes I see are turning a seated shoulder press into an incline press, turning an incline press into a flat-bench press, and turning a flat-bench press into a declinr press.

How about the guy who uses the chest press machine with his elbows/shoulders up by his ears?

I can't tell you how many times I've seen people do that. I want to ask them if they perform a normal bench press like that or if they have ever bench pressed.

Another thing I love to see is a person get on the chest press machine and they lean forward as they push the bars away, thus rounding their shoulders forward and locking their elbows out. "But it gives me more range of motion!" Yeah, that's great but think of the correct form.

It appears too many people think that just because the machine helps you go through a range of motion that it cannot hurt you whatever contortions you take your body through.

Oh yeah, one more. I love the people who get on the pulldown do absolutely perfect reps then stand up, let their arms go above their heads and start twisting around like they are having a seizure. "It's good to stretch!"

I got this book from Men's Health in the mail the other day and they talked about benching with feet up. Here's there response. I'm going to quote them word for word so for disclosure purposes this comes from Men's Health Total Fitness Guide 2009, pg 184.

Q: "Is it okay to put my feet up on the bench while I benchpress?"

A: "Yes and no. If you have back problems, go ahead and put your feet up says Joseph Warpeha, MA, CSCS, an exercise physiologist at the University of Minnesota. 'As the weight on the bar gets heavier, the natural reaction is to arch the lower back excessively. This can cause pain in people with lower-back problems,' he says. 'Putting your feet up changes the lift's mechanics and eliminates that instinct.'

But you won't be able to lift as much, because you'll be taking your lower-body stabilizers-hips, legs, feet-out of the equation. Instead, you'll be relying on your upper-body stabilizers to help raise the bar. 'If your goal is to increase your bench-press strength or develop a bigger upper body, placing your feet on the bench may hinder your progress,' Warpeha says.

But if your primary goal is gaining functional strength for athletics, changing the position of your feet definitely can help. Warpeha suggests taking a step further by placing a Swiss ball a few inches below the base of the bench, extending your legs, and balancing your heels on the ball while lifting. It adds balance to the mix and engages your lower stabilizing muscles."


So what do you guys think? Here we have a so called expert in a national recognized publication stating there is merit to it. This change anyone's opinion?