All Women should bench press: Why learning the powerlifting bench is beneficial for non powerlifters

When we think of powerlifting, the bench press is a core movement often associated with high-level athletes, but it holds significant benefits for the general population as well, specifically women and specifically to counteract the modern lifestyle.

While the arched bench press (used by powerlifters to improve leverage and stability) may seem unnecessary and scary at first, adopting this technique can be a game-changer for women in terms of strength, muscle engagement, and injury prevention. 

Here’s why the powerlifting-style bench press deserves a place in your training routine no matter your experience level.

1. Efficient way to Strengthen Upper Body:

   Using an arched bench press shifts the movement from a more isolated exercise to virtually a whole body movement. Instead of pressing from a loose, unstable base using your chest, shoulder and arm muscles - we set up in a way that has our entire back, core and lower body muscles involved in creating a stable base to push challenging weight from.

   
   

   I have clients that train 2-3 days in the gym maximum - and so spending time building on safe, compound exercises like the barbell bench press to help create a base of strength for the entire upper body makes sense in their programming.

2. Shoulder Health:

   When we bench using this technique, we prioritise both retracting and depressing the shoulder blades to provide a strong, stable base to reduce the risk of shoulder impingement. This setup keeps the shoulder blades tight against the bench and decreases the likelihood of unwanted shoulder movement, which can lead to strain and injury over time.

   
   

   

   
   

   The way we set up the movement acts to balance the load placed on your upper body muscles. So often in a traditional bench press the front deltoids are overworked and over time this can lead to dysfunctional movement patterns that leaves you feeling strained in all the wrong places.

   
   

   An arched bench press allows the bar to follow a slightly curved path, aligning better with the natural shoulder and elbow positions. This alignment reduces stress on the shoulder joint, as it avoids forcing the arms into a high or unnatural angle, which can happen in a flat-backed bench press.

3. Injury Prevention:

   The arched bench press is often viewed skeptically because of concerns over lower back strain. With zero context to go off, seeing videos online of powerlifters benching can look super extreme. Its unfortunate that this misconception deters so many women from getting in and giving it a try because when done correctly, the technique allows for better biomechanics, distributing the force evenly across the back, shoulders, and glutes, which is actually SAFER than a press that doesn't prioritise a stable set up.

   
   

   By adjusting the bar path, the arched position allows for a more efficient transfer of power from the chest and arms, minimising unnecessary stress on the shoulders and lower back. Biomechanically, the arched position aligns the bar more naturally over the shoulders and elbows, reducing joint stress

   
   

   While it may look exaggerated, this arch should never be extreme—just enough to engage the upper back and provide a firm foundation. For general population women, mastering this style can prevent injuries that could occur from an uninformed bench press technique, which will keep you feeling confident to sustain upper body strength into your training long term.

4. Muscle growth:

   At any age, increasing muscle mass and improving body composition should be a goal of every woman. This goal only becomes more and more important as we age and enter different hormonal phases of our life.

   
   

   Heavy, compound lifts are the most efficient way to build muscle due to their impact on muscle fibre recruitment, hormone release, and overall muscle stimulation.

   
   

   Muscle growth occurs through the recruitment of both slow-twitch (Type I) and fast-twitch (Type II) fibres, and heavy lifting recruits more of the fast-twitch fibres responsible for larger muscle growth.

   
   

   Lifting heavy weights with compound movements has been shown to increase the release of anabolic hormones, such as testosterone and growth hormone, which are essential for muscle protein synthesis and growth. A study published in Sports Medicine found that exercises using large muscle groups and multiple joints lead to higher post-exercise levels of these hormones compared to isolation exercises like bicep curls or leg extensions​. This hormonal boost accelerates muscle repair and hypertrophy (muscle growth).

   
   

   As the body adapts to heavy loads, it improves its ability to recruit and synchronise muscle fibres more effectively. This process not only allows for heavier lifts but also creates conditions that optimise muscle growth by challenging the muscles to respond to progressively heavier loads. By incrementally increasing the weight on compound exercises, lifters consistently place the muscles under greater mechanical tension. Mechanical tension, as supported by the principles of exercise physiology, is one of the main drivers of hypertrophy because it induces cellular signalling for muscle repair and growth.

5. Confidence and Skill Development:

   Like any other lift, learning proper technique of a bench press can help you to actually see the weight on the bar increase, which for women specifically strengthening an upper body movement, which can have a lot of stereotype around it - can be an incredibly empowering feeling to break that stigma that we are forever weak and incapable especially in the upper body. Learning new skills can help to keep our time int he gym fun and exciting as well as our brain sharp.