The bench setup most competitive lifters use: shoulder blades pulled together, chest pushed up into an arch, and feet driving into the floor while your butt stays on the bench. In one study of trained lifters, the arch cut bar travel by about 3 to 5 cm. The 1RM gain was small (about 4 kg) in that study and absent in another, so treat the arch as a setup skill, not a shortcut. Build it mostly from your upper back, keep it within what feels comfortable, and always bench with a spotter or safety pins.
Set your upper back
Set your safety before you build the arch. Put the safety pins slightly below where the bar touches your chest in your arched position, and check the height with an empty bar. Or agree a lift-off count and a "take it" word with a spotter.
Lie back with your eyes roughly under the bar and your feet on the floor. Some lifters put their feet up on the bench to wedge into position, but that's banned during the set-up in IPF meets, so learn to build the arch with your feet down.
Pull your shoulder blades together and keep them there. This is the most important part of the setup. It shortens the press and, in a 2024 shoulder-model study, lowered shoulder joint loads and rotator cuff activity. Pulling them down as well is a matter of comfort.
a firm shelf across your upper back.
Push your chest up toward the bar to make the arch. The lift should come mostly from your upper back and chest, not from cranking your lower back.
chest high, not just a hollow under your lower back.
Lock the arch in one of two ways: set your shoulders first, then slide your hips toward them, or set your hips first, then push your shoulders toward them. Use whichever lets you hold it.
Check your contact points. Your shoulders and butt must touch the bench. The IPF also requires the back of your head on the bench, and USA Powerlifting doesn't. Lifting any of them during the lift fails it in competition.
Plant your feet
Set your feet back and out to the sides, flat on the floor. This is the most common placement because it helps the arch and still lets you drive. Pick the spot where you can push hard without your butt leaving the bench.
whole foot pressed into the floor.
Keep your heels down. Both the IPF and USA Powerlifting require feet flat (as flat as your shoe allows), so pulling your feet so far back that you end up on your toes fails the lift. Shorter lifters can stand their feet on plates or blocks (up to 30 cm in meets).
Drive & press
Take your breath and brace, then hold the whole setup as you lower the bar to your lower chest. Shoulder blades stay together, chest stays up and feet stay pressed down.
As you start the press, squeeze your glutes and drive your heels through the floor. The push goes back toward the head of the bench, not up. It keeps your chest high and helps the bar travel up and back.
your legs pushing you along the bench, not lifting your hips.
Keep your butt on the bench the whole rep. If it lifts, the drive is going up instead of back. Lifting your butt fails the lift in both federations.
If you compete in the IPF, check your bottom position. Since 2023 the undersides of both elbows must reach at least the level of the top of your shoulders when the bar is on your chest. A very high arch can make that hard. USA Powerlifting has no elbow rule; the bar just has to reach your chest or abdomen.
Feel it
Tight from your feet to your upper back, with your shoulder blades pinned and your chest pushed up to meet the bar. When you drive, you feel pushed toward the head of the bench while your butt stays heavy on the pad. If the arch is coming from your lower back and your chest isn't any higher, or your back aches, you've arched too hard. Back it off. A strength-coaching manual for general lifters (NSCA) lists lower-back arching as a bench error, so you don't need a big arch to bench well.
Fix-its
- Your butt lifts off the bench when you drive You're pushing up instead of back, or your feet are too far back. Bring your feet slightly forward, squeeze your glutes and drive toward the head of the bench.
- Your heels come up Your feet are pulled back too far. Move them forward until they sit flat. If your legs are short, stand them on plates or blocks instead of going onto your toes. Heels up fails the lift in competition.
- The arch is all lower back, or your back aches Push your chest up from your upper back instead of sinking your lower back, and make the arch smaller. If pain stays, stop and get it checked.
- Your shoulders roll forward partway through the set Your shoulder blades let go. Re-rack, pull them together again and keep that squeeze from the unrack to the last rep.
- You can't get or hold an arch Work on upper-back mobility (cobra pose, foam rolling your upper back). Use the arch you can hold comfortably. A smaller arch is fine.
Drill
- Setup practice with an empty bar: build the arch both ways (shoulders first, then hips first), check head, shoulders, butt and flat feet, and keep the one you can hold.
- Mobility before benching: cobra pose and foam rolling your upper back.
- Light sets with a foam roller across your upper back to learn the feel of a high chest.
- Light sets focused on leg drive: squeeze your glutes and drive your heels at the start of each press, butt down, heels down. Film from the side at bench height to check that your hips and heels stay down.
- Paused reps: hold the bar still on your chest before pressing, and keep the arch and foot pressure through the pause.
Sources
- IPF — Technical Rulebook, Bench Press (effective 1 March 2026, v3)
- USA Powerlifting — Rulebook v2026.2, 4.3–4.4 Bench Press (2026)
- British Powerlifting — Bench Press Rule Change (IPF, effective 1/1/23)
- Bartolomei et al. — Flat-Back vs. Arched-Back Bench Press: Examining the Different Techniques Performed by Power Athletes, J Strength Cond Res (2024)
- García-Ramos et al. — Differences in the 1RM and load-velocity profile between the flat and arched bench press in competitive powerlifters, Sports Biomechanics (2021), abstract via Europe PMC
- Noteboom et al. — Effects of bench press technique variations on musculoskeletal shoulder loads and potential injury risk, Frontiers in Physiology (2024)
- Stronger by Science (Greg Nuckols) — How to Bench Press
- NSCA — Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning, Module 3: Exercise Technique (2013)
Last checked 2026-10-26.