SHOULD YOU BE BENCHING WITH FEET UP IN THE AIR?

STUDY EXAMINES FEET UP BENCH PRESS CHEST MUSCLE ACTIVATION

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FEET UP BENCH PRESS SUMMARY

• Benching with the feet in the air resulted in greater chest muscle activation.
• The chest, the anterior deltoid, and triceps showed the most muscle activation in the bench press exercise but placing your feet in the air resulted in greater activation of these muscle groups.
• We don’t know if benching with your feet in the air leads to greater muscle growth.

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Changes in bench press kinematics can cause increased muscle activation. For example, the free weight and smith machine bench press caused greater activation of the triceps than the dumbbell bench press, whereas the dumbbell bench press caused greater activation of the biceps than the free and smith machine bench press. Muscle activity in the biceps increased with stability requirements (i.e., Dumbbells > barbell > Smith Machine), while triceps brachii activity was reduced using dumbbells versus barbell and dumbbells versus Smith machine.

The three different exercises noted no differences in the chest or anterior deltoid muscle activation.   The researchers suggested that the increased instability of performing dumbbell chest exercises resulted in greater muscular activation of the biceps to stabilize the joint. (1) Instability devices such as doing a bench press on a Swiss Ball have been found to result in no greater muscle activation of the chest than performing a traditional dumbbell press. (2, 3)

ARE THE FEET UP BENCH BETTER FOR CHEST ACTIVATION?

Many people will often do a flat bench press with their feet in the air to increase muscle activation of the chest. In a previous study, muscle activation of the chest and triceps performed on a stable bench press was greater than on unstable surfaces.(4) Researchers measured muscle activation of the chest, arms, shoulders, abs, etc. The subjects had electrodes placed all over their chest and arms, as documented in the study below.

Muyor JM, Rodríguez-Ridao D, Martín-Fuentes I, Antequera-Vique JA (2019) Evaluation and comparison of electromyographic activity in bench press with feet on the ground and active hip flexion. PLoS ONE 14(6): e0218209. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218209

 PLoS ONE 14(6): e0218209. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218209

ARE THE FEET UP BENCH BETTER FOR CHEST ACTIVATION?

The researchers found that bench pressing with the feet in the air resulted in greater muscle activation of all muscles than with the feet on the ground.(5) The chest, the anterior deltoid, and triceps brachii showed the most muscle activation in the bench press exercise but placing your feet in the air resulted in greater activation of these muscle groups.

The researchers suggested that the lesser stability of the spine with a person’s feet in the air caused greater muscle activation to stabilize the body while performing the exercise.

One difference in the current study was that they used a much lighter weight (i.e., 60% of a 1-RM) compared to other studies. Other studies that used a much heavier weight on instability surfaces (i.e., 80% of a 1-RM). When using a heavier-weight bench press, it’s best to place your feet on the ground for safety reasons. If you want to focus on greater chest activation during the bench press, try placing your feet in the air.

 

REFERENCES

1.         Saeterbakken AH, van den Tillaar R, Fimland MS. A comparison of muscle activity and 1-RM strength of three chest-press exercises with different stability requirements. J Sports Sci. 2011;29(5):533-8.

2.         Uribe BP, Coburn JW, Brown LE, Judelson DA, Khamoui AV, Nguyen D. Muscle activation when performing the chest press and shoulder press on a stable bench vs. a Swiss ball. J Strength Cond Res. 2010;24(4):1028-33.

3.         Goodman CA, Pearce AJ, Nicholes CJ, Gatt BM, Fairweather IH. No difference in 1RM strength and muscle activation during the barbell chest press on a stable and unstable surface. J Strength Cond Res. 2008;22(1):88-94.

4.         Saeterbakken AH, Fimland MS. Electromyographic Activity and 6RM Strength in Bench Press on Stable and Unstable Surfaces. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 2013;27(4):1101-7.

5.         Muyor JM, Rodríguez-Ridao D, Martín-Fuentes I, Antequera-Vique JA. Evaluation and comparison of electromyographic activity in bench press with feet on the ground and active hip flexion. PLoS One. 2019;14(6):e0218209.

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