ARCHING
ARCHING
Learn how to arch before adding in mobility work️.
When incorporating mobility work to increase your range in your lifts, you need then to use that new found range in your lifts. Otherwise you may aswell have not done the mobility work.
By doing tspine mobility work before bench, but not knowing how to utilise your arch first and just benching the exact same way you’ve always done, makes the mobility work redundant.
So get that foam roller out from under your back and let’s learn how to arch optimally.
Not everyone needs an exorcist set up to have a big arch, find what set up works for you and makes it easiest for you to incorporate these fundamentals:
Step 1 : Close the gap
Step 2 : Scapula down and back
Step 3 : Right angle
Step 4 : Triangle
CLOSE THE GAP
Push your neck into the bench until it’s flush and you can’t see light coming through the other side
Make sure to keep it down for the entire lift. Don’t be afraid of the double chin!
SCAPULA DOWN AND BACK
Essential to creating a tight set up
RIGHT ANGLE
When setting up your arch think about bringing your chest up to touch your chin. You want to envision creating a right angle between your neck/the bench and your spine.
TRIANGLE
When visualising your arch, don’t think about just pushing your stomach upwards or pushing your bum back as far as it can go (from experience I’ve found this has been the cause of erector pain/lower back tightness in bench)
Think about creating a triangle from the base of your neck, to the tip of your ribs, down to the bottom of your glutes.
Remember the arch comes from your upper back positioning, not from trying to arch your lower back. Drop your glutes onto the bench gently
As you can see in the last video my glutes are in the same place on the bench in both videos yet my arch is a lot bigger in the right video
Disclaimer: this is with the assumption that the sole purpose of your mobility drills is to increase arch size.
Author Jen Harrington
ABS Powerlifting Coach, Academy Coach & Nutrition Coach.