“Whip” Technique for the Bench Press and Coaching Leg-Drive

I’ve benched alongside world record holders as well as state and national record holders--people who bench upwards of 600 to 900 pounds. One of the best things I’ve learned from being around these elite benchers is using the entire body to press the most weight possible.

The bench press is primarily a chest and tricep movement but the rest of the body can contribute greatly. For one, the back can hug the bench, creating a more stable surface for pressing. One thing that will hold any of your lifts back is INEFFICIENCY. Inefficiency is any energy lost not moving the weight in the direction you want it (up). Instability (the horizontal/left-right shifting of the force during the press) will cause force to be wasted. Your shoulder blades should be pulled back with the lats engaged (like performing a row or lat-pulldown) so that they hug and contour to the bench.
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Next, the legs can contribute greatly to the press. The legs are obviously much stronger than the arms and chest. Most people don’t use them to help with the press because they don’t know how or they don’t see the point. After all, how would a movement so far away (the feet) affect force moving through the fists during a press?

Take note of how Mike Tyson used leg drive to deliver more devastating punches and how John Elway used leg drive to deliver passes that traveled faster and further than most. Both men are famous for their "power."

If this sounds insane to you, just imagine a boxer like Mike Tyson trying to throw a hard punch while sitting down. Wouldn’t his punch be weaker? Imagine a quarterback like John Elway throwing a 60 yard pass while sitting down. Maybe these great athletes could do it but it wouldn’t be their best possible effort. It’s incredibly inefficient. The arms are simply not a strong enough muscle group to generate a significant amount of force independently.
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Compare the bench press to a different kind of press: the push-press. Have you ever performed a push-press? A push-press is a shoulder press with leg drive at the bottom of the movement. You can usually move between 40-60 more pounds doing a push-press than a strict shoulder press. Thus, getting the legs involved in such a movement can make a huge difference.

So, how do you use leg drive during a bench press? Here’s what I call the “Whip” technique. Think about a whip. You hold one part of it (the handle), cause it to coil, and then perform a throwing-like motion. The energy from that end transfers through the whip as it coils and uncoils itself, eventually breaking the sound barrier (believe it or not) and causing it to “crack” upon impact or lengthening at the other end. Similarly, your bench press should start at your feet. You should “throw” or “pop” the force through your legs, through your entire body, through your arms, and “crack” that force into the bar as it leaves your chest.

One other way I like to think about this is to treat it like the keg toss. Have you seen a keg toss in a strongman competition? The movement starts from the ground. The force passes through the feet, through the body, through the hands, and hurls the keg through the air overhead. Imagine if the strongman had tried to lift it just with his arms. Not only would that be absurd but it’d either not leave the ground or it would hit him or her in the face.

You should gather energy like a spring as you lower the bar to your lower-chest or upper abs. Feel the weight dropping into your feet and then push your feet into the floor as your simultaneously push the bar with your hands. Imagine throwing the bar up and over your head like a keg toss. Imagine the energy from your feet transferring through your body and “cracking” like a whip into the barbell. You should be able to press much more weight this way.