Arching your back while bench pressing is a point of undue controversy in the fitness space, with many labeling it a “risky” way to “cheat” at the lift.

This criticism is unfounded. 

Arching your back is a legitimate technique that can help you lift more weight and reduce the risk of injury. It’s not only useful for powerlifters, either—anyone looking to gain muscle and strength can leverage its benefits.

In this article, you’ll learn what a bench press arch is, why people arch their back while bench pressing, how much it benefits your efforts to gain strength and muscle, and more. 

What Is Back Arching in the Bench Press?

Back arching in the bench press is a technique primarily used by powerlifters (hence why some call it a “powerlifting arch”) to lift more weight.

It involves performing the bench press while arching your lower back and keeping your upper back, head, and butt in contact with the bench. 

Here’s how it looks compared to benching with a flat back:

Why Do People Arch Their Back When Bench Pressing?

It increases stability.

Trying to bench without tensing your back muscles is like building a house on quicksand. As soon as the weight becomes heavy, the foundations will give way, causing everything to collapse.

Arching your back forces you to engage your entire back, creating a strong, stable base to press from. This helps you maintain control and balance, allowing you to lift heavier weights more safely.

It shortens the range of motion.

Arching your back brings your chest closer to the bar’s starting and finishing point—at arm’s length in front of your shoulder joints. This reduces the distance the bar travels during each rep, allowing you to lift more weight with less effort.

It allows you to use leg drive.

“Leg drive” is a weightlifting technique that can help you lift more weight by using your legs to increase stability, generate power, and facilitate a more efficient bar path in the bench press.

The basic idea is that as you press the bar upward, you drive your feet into the floor as if trying to slide your body up the bench (though your body doesn’t actually move because the weight in your hand pins you down).

If you try to use leg drive without arching your back, your body will likely slide up the bench, causing you to lose rigidity, balance, and stability.

On the other hand, when you arch your back, you dig your traps into the bench pad and create tension throughout your upper body. This tension ensures that the power generated by your legs transfers into the bar, helping you press more effectively and efficiently.

It improves shoulder positioning.

How Much More Can You Lift When Benching With an Arch?

A recent study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research examined this question by comparing the arched- and flat-back bench press in 15 powerlifters, weightlifters, and athletes.

The results showed that using the arched-back technique increased one-rep max performance by almost 10 pounds compared to the flat-back technique.

Importantly, they also found that the triceps and pectoral muscles were equally active during both types of bench press. 

In other words, the arched-back bench press helps you lift around 10 pounds more than the flat-back bench press without reducing how much work your pecs and triceps do.

This is significant because it means the arched-back bench press will likely help you gain more muscle and strength over time without any downsides. 

Is Arching Your Back While Benching Cheating?

Additionally, the bench press now has a depth requirement—the elbows must reach parallel with the shoulders when viewed from the back.

In reality, these rule changes will only impact a small number of lifters with extreme mobility. Most weightlifters will continue to use a legal back arch, similar to how they have always done.

Is Arching Your Back While Benching Safe?

1. When the spine is compressed from top to bottom (axial loading), like during a back squat. 
2. When the vertebrae are pushed in opposite directions (shearing force).

You don’t subject your spine to significant axial or shearing forces during the arched-back bench press, so injuring your back isn’t something you should worry about. 

In fact, arching your back helps position the bar over your upper back and shoulders, reducing pressure on your lower back. It also creates a strong, stable base, which may make the lift safer.

Should You Arch Your Back When Benching?

How to Improve Your Bench Press Back Arch

A simple stretching routine will go a long way to helping you improve your bench press arch. 

I recommend doing a few simple yoga poses that loosen your upper and lower back 2-to-3 times weekly:

• Cobra pose: Stretches the lower back and promotes spinal flexibility.
• Half lord of the fishes pose: The twisting element of this pose helps to relieve side, back, and neck stiffness and increases spinal mobility.
• Thread the needle: “Threading the needle” mobilizes your neck, upper back, and shoulders.

Do these stretches at least an hour before or after your workouts (or preferably on rest days), hold each position for 30-to-60 seconds, and push yourself to the point of mild discomfort, but not pain. 

To learn how to do these stretches and increase you overall mobility for weightlifting, check out this article:

Is Flexibility Important for Being Fit?