how do you use leg drive while benching

[.9mm]

Can someone explain how to properly use leg drive while benching? I've tried it with feet out and feet back toward the bench. It just seems like I'm missing something??? How can you tell your using leg drive? Also, it seems like the more I try to use my legs, the more I feel it in my back.
Thanks

 

[ManBeast]

Well... What I do to bench (I feel that I use a lot of leg drive). Is this. I setup and plant my feet out and wide on the floor. When I push, I ground them HARD, but keep my hips and shoulders planted, while maintaining my arch. I find I have so much more power this way with a stable base to "push through" I really don't understand the dudes that hold their legs up in the air while benching... Only thing I can see that it does is prevent them from shooting their hips up in the air and unsafely arching... but if you have to lift your feet up to do that, you should really be looking at your bench form IMHO.

ManBeast

 

[Cardinal]

I'll just pass along some advice I read that seems to help me, namely focus on trying to use your legs to drive your shoulder blades/lats into the bench and thus create stability. Combine that with bending the bar/tucking elbows, lowering weight to upper abs/lower chest and pushing forward toward feet to help lock-out

 

[ryansm]

Both ManBeast and Cardinal are right on, I use to powerlift, and the key to using the leg drive is to keep the natural arch in your back without lifting your hips off of the bench! Push with your legs while going up through your hips, and remember to keep your whole body tight. It is hard to recognize the fact that you are using your legs.

 

[ManBeast]

It's only hard until you lift one off the ground

ManBeast

 

[Jstrong20]

Can someone explain how to properly use leg drive while benching? I've tried it with feet out and feet back toward the bench. It just seems like I'm missing something??? How can you tell your using leg drive? Also, it seems like the more I try to use my legs, the more I feel it in my back.
Thanks

Thats because for the leg drive to be effective you have to have a strong midsection. It could just be that your not used to the pressure. If you think your back is a weak link though maybe you should hit more ab work and good mornings for the lower back. By the way I had similar problems when I started. My back used to cramp but once I started moving alot more weight on the goodmornings it seemed to go away.

 

[ryansm]

It's only hard until you lift one off the ground

ManBeast

LOL, ya and then you really know if it is benificial or not.

 

[SUPERMAN0383]

Can someone explain how to properly use leg drive while benching? I've tried it with feet out and feet back toward the bench. It just seems like I'm missing something??? How can you tell your using leg drive? Also, it seems like the more I try to use my legs, the more I feel it in my back.
Thanks

Take my advice as you may. I'm not as knowledgeable as half the people on this board, but I've had some immpressive lifts. The key to driving through a bench press using your legs as well is you entire upper body is your heels. This remains the same for squats and other olympic lifts. Here's the sequence I go through to max out. I get a bench low enough for my heels fo be firmly on the ground. I grap the bar and pull my shoulder blades together then I firmly set myself in place and drive with heels without arching my back. Hope this makes since to you.

 

[jas123]

I would make sure that your feet are closer towards you than your knees, meaning that your knees project out over your feet so that your leg makes an angle of slightly less than 90 degrees at the knee.

 

[.9mm]

Thanks everyone... these are the type of answers I was looking for. I'll just keep practicing it.

 

[Dan]

This is neglected by a lot of people, but try training your rotator cuff muscles with external rotations to increase stability in the shoulder joint. When you see people lifting their asses off of the bench during a heavy lift to make it easier, they are simply creating a sort of artifical shoulder stabilization by driving their scapulas into the bench as Cardianl said.

 

[Anecitus]

when lying on the bench have your lower legs at about an 80 degress angle to your thighs and spread your feet resonably wide.

begin your rep and lower the bar as usual. Once you begin the actual lift, push with your legs as is you were trying to slide your body up the bench. (the weight of the bar will ensure you dont move) make sure to keep your ass on the bench at all times. try it with light weights at first to get used to it.

I felt i never used to get any leg drive and was skeptical of this method initially but when i first tried this method i was recovering from the previous days leg workout and believe me the excruciating cramp i got in my legs mid press was proof enough to me that this method worked my legs fairly well.