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The lower-back arch in the bench press is a “technique” far better known and more widely used in powerlifting.
The arch consists of curving the back so that the range of motion in the bench press is shorter, which, together with other benefits, allows you to handle heavier loads.
Traditionally, gyms have always recommended keeping the back flat against the bench while raising the legs and holding them up, which in theory would reduce pressure on the lower back and lower the risk of injury.
In this article we are going to discuss to what extent this is true, and whether the lower-back arch is advisable.
Lower-back arch
As we have already mentioned, the lower-back arch consists of curving the back in order to handle heavier loads.
In addition to this, other benefits of using the arch have been observed. First, with the feet planted firmly on the floor, we drastically reduce the risk of injury, since we have much more stability while performing the exercise.
Greater activation of the pectoralis major has also been observed during the exercise; this, together with the fact that you will be able to handle heavier loads thanks to a shorter range of motion, will probably translate into greater strength and hypertrophy gains in the medium to long term.
Even so, in my opinion it is important to point out that it is not necessary to use an excessively pronounced arch, such as the one in this photo:
As you can see in the image, it is not as pronounced an arch as the first one, since the aim is not to lift the maximum possible weight at any cost; the aim is to improve performance and reduce the chances of injury. Moreover, as we can see in the photo, the arrows point to other benefits of using the arch and placing the feet on the floor.
With the feet on the floor we can use them to improve our lift; this is known as leg drive, and consists of using the legs as an additional point of support to transfer more force into the lift. This is why you should not perform the bench press with your feet up, as it not only increases the risk of injury due to lower stability, but also worsens performance.
Of course, the person’s mobility must also be taken into account, as it can be a limiting factor when it comes to slightly accentuating the arch in order to improve performance, so if this were the case I would recommend thoracic mobilisation or mobility exercises.
References:
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17194253