I have always been taught to keep shoulders back/down for benching with an larger arch, but recently, I’ve been benching with a more natural smaller arch and not pulling the shoulders back and down for the setup. Would you say there are any drawbacks to benching this way? I’ve always thought that it is unsafe for your shoulders, but maybe that is not true. From a hypertrophy standpoint, would it benefit the chest more to bench with minimal arch and without actively pulling your shoulders back and down?
Or does it simply come down to personal preference, what is most comfortable, and what does not cause pain?
I think that some arch and and some amount of scapular retraction/depression are part of a repeatable, efficient bench press. In other words, I don’t think doing most people can really bench press without any arch or shoulders back.
Optimizing these for strength, as measured by a 1RM, is similar to optimizing grip width and touch point, e.g. they’re going to vary significantly amongst individuals. They’re also likely to change over the course of a lifting career.
I do not think there’s a significant different in injury risk in either case.
I do not think there’s a significant hypertrophy difference most of the time, though some very large, ultra short ROM benches probably aren’t a great choice for hypertrophy. An extra (or missing) inch or two isn’t likely to make a big difference. -Jordan
One more question on the bench: If I am benching solely for hypertrophy purposes, is it necessary to physically touch the bar to my chest? For instance, if the bottom position causes discomfort or pain, can I stop 1-3 inches short? Would I still receive the same benefits as touching my chest (or possibly better because of the constant tension), and is touching the chest merely a marker for powerlifting and not applicable to bodybuilding? Could I bench, stopping 1-3 inches short of my chest, for all my bench training and not see any differences then benching touching the chest style.
I don’t think the way I would work around bench press related discomfort is to reduce ROM. Rather, I’d favor reducing the load and potentially alter how you’re performing the movement to see if there’s a more comfortable position. I will say that when I hear someone not having an arch and not pulling their shoulders back, yet having pain, I do wonder if there’s some technique modification that would better suit their current loading.
I also don’t think reducing ROM by 3" is a good idea for hypertrophy. I would touch the chest among doing many other exercises to train the upper body, as I do not think bench press alone is sufficient.