How to Use Leg Drive to Bench Press More Weight
Bench. It’s one of the most famous upper-body lifts, loved by gym Bros and hardcore strength Dudes alike. But, what's overlooked by the average gym-goer is that it’s a full-body lift. That’s right, the bench press isn’t just “chest, tri’s, and shoulders,” it should engage nearly every muscle in your body, including your legs. If you want to press a lot of weight & boost that bench number, using your legs to assist you is essential. Below, we will discuss what leg drive is, how to use it, and a couple of drills to help you practice.
What is leg drive?
Leg drive is simply using your legs to assist you in the bench press. It can help you press more weight.
To perform it, the lifter extends their knees and hips, driving through the floor. It’s a pushing motion through the feet that transcends up the legs, engaging your quads and glutes.
This effort transfers force throughout the body, assisting you in pressing the barbell upward. It also reinforces full-body tension & your arch position, as tension in the lower body helps create tension in the upper body. You can’t get the most out of your upper back position if you’re not engaging your legs. By improving the arch, you’ll also be in a more stable place to press from when you use leg drive.
Essentially, it increases force production & helps you stay tight throughout the lift. These two benefits are essential components of a solid bench press, so leg drive is not something you want to miss out on!
How to Leg Drive
While a very common topic, leg drive is also extremely misunderstood. Many people don’t conceptualize how to perform it or how it will help their lift. Leg drive takes practice and can be difficult to master, but with proper cueing and guidance, you can certainly get comfortable with it. Here are some ways to think about it:
1. Practice with Queues & Find The Right Queue for You
Different cues work for different individuals, so these are my three favorite ones, depending on what resonates with you. Some of the most popular queues are:
Push the carpet/floor away with your feet
Spread the floor apart
Drive your heels into the floor
Leg drive is performed by pushing your feet into the floor- like during a deadlift, or at the bottom of a squat. It then causes your knees & hips to extend, like a slight leg extension/glute bridge. Leg drive does NOT mean you should hump the air, lifting your ass off the bench. It is a *subtle* motion that can be hard to see if you’re not focusing on it.
Turning the toes out also creates stability from the hip, which is where “spreading the floor apart” can be a helpful cue, almost like a Sumo deadlift.
Whatever helps you visualize it, use and repeat that cue!
2. Find your proper foot position.
Within the rules of the USPA, lifters can bench with their heels up or heels down. There is no "correct" way to go about it- this is a modifiable factor depending on the individual. Your goal with your foot position is to find whatever feels strongest & most stable. Your feet are where you generate power from, so it matters.
Whether heels up or down, you generally want your feet to be as close to you as possible. Doing so maximizes your arch.
With the heels up, you may be able to get more arch.
With the heels down, you may feel more stable.
Experiment with both to see what works best for you.
If you struggle with reaching the floor- you can also place your feet on blocks.
Try one position, give it a fair shot, and then determine whether it's helping or hindering. As long as you feel tight & can generate power through your press, you're good.
3. Engage your legs during your setup, but exaggerate it during the press.
Timing the leg drive is another tricky aspect of this technique. If it was already hard enough to understand, now coordination is involved! But, repetition and practice will connect your brain and body.
You want to engage your legs in your setup, getting tight and finding a stable position for them. As mentioned before, you can’t get the most out of your arch & upper body position without involving your lower body. So, you should feel tight during the unrack.
But, leg drive should be exaggerated off of the chest. This portion is when you’ll likely be weakest & where you have to work the hardest against gravity. So, some extra force production will help you push through the sticking point & have a greater chance of getting the bar up. Sometimes when learning leg drive, lifters exaggerate it on the descent, which makes no sense. Why use the extra help before you need it?
Create tension and stability in your setup, but as you press off the chest, focus on pushing/driving your feet harder, getting an extra boost. The goal is to press with the legs and arms simultaneously.
Best Ways to Improve Leg Drive
With leg drive, practice & patience is everything, and using additional accessories/drills to further solidify it will benefit you. Here are some solid options:
Pin Bench Press
With the pin bench press, the eccentric and concentric portion of the movement is broken up. You set the pins to chest height, lower the bar with control, let it pause, then press the weight.
Breaking the movement apart can help you cue that consecutive leg drive. With the dead-stop, you have to use all of your strength to get it back up, and leg drive is an essential aspect of it. That one-second pause can help your brain remember to engage your legs!
Dead Pin Bench
Similar to the pin press, but in reverse- you start with the bar on your chest, resting on the pins, doing the concentric portion first. This exercise can help improve leg drive similarly- it’s extremely difficult to get the bar moving with no momentum, so using your legs is essential. Plus, you’ve got plenty of time to set up and focus on it.
Pause/Tempo Bench Press
With the pause, you’re required to hold tension longer throughout your entire body. Your legs must stay tight and stable if you want to press the weight back up. Again, having the stop on your chest can help cue the timing of the leg drive.
Leg drive with an empty bar
Another great way to practice powerful leg drive is doing it without any additional weight. When you’re benching a heavy set, the weight somewhat acts as a counterbalance, so you may not *feel* your legs as much. With just the barbell, the force from your legs is accentuated, and you’ll feel it to a greater degree. Treating your warm-up sets with the utmost intention and focus will significantly improve your working sets. It starts from the first rep you perform, which sets the tone for what’s to follow.
Leg drive against the wall
This is a more uncommon drill, but it’s helpful. Here’s how to do it:
Set up against the wall, like you’d set your upper back on the bench.
Practice lowering your arms as you would with the bar, then activate your legs, feeling your body scoot up on the wall. It might feel weird, but doing it separately from the bench can help strengthen the concept. You can do this drill before your bench work, or as a superset, to prime you for your working sets.
Additionally, even when sitting in a chair, you can practice the motion of activating your legs, driving your feet into the floor to feel out of that position.
Have your coach cue you
For any of my athletes struggling with remembering to leg drive, I simply yell “LEGS!” as they are pressing the barbell back up. This exclamation serves as a quick reminder to generate force & engage their lower body. When you’re not thinking about it, leg drive is easy to forget. Having someone yell at you can be highly effective for mastering technique.
Film your sets
Simply taking videos of your sets can be helpful in many applications, especially in this situation. Seeing yourself perform leg drive vs. not can help clarify that cueing in your brain. Some of us are more visual learners, and some are not, but using all the tools at your disposal will provide the best results for bettering yourself as a lifter.
Building a strong, impressive bench press- it’s a goal that every Powerlifter has. While this lift is often thought of as just “upper body gains,” utilizing your lower body is just as important. Leg drive is an essential aspect of a big bench, but understanding how to apply it can be a difficult feat. With some technical drills, practice, and intelligent programming, you can certainly improve the skill. That way, you can feel powerful & confident in your press; and reach that next milestone you’ve set.
