Lifting head during bench

[Silencer]

I've always seen guys that lift their head off the bench during bench press. It never looked right to me, but for the hell of it I decided to give it a try last week during incline benches and was surprised to find I could put up about 25 pounds more with the same effort. That seems strangebecause I thought the head provided another point of stability during the lift. Does raising the head shift some of the stress elsewhere, like the front delts?

 

[HOUSE OF PAIN]

I'm not sure what it does, but I have found the same to be true for me!!

 

[MikeS]

I think with the head up, the spine is slightly arched. This aids in
contracting the BACK muscles-probably does the opposite for the chest. If you do dips with the head up your triceps will take more of the stress, as opposed to the head down which rounds out the spine/back and activates the pecs.

 

[FRKNHUGE]

bringing ure head up during the bench does the following

activates the lats in the lift
puts more stress on the front and rear delts
lets u sit on ure traps instead of neck, thus creating an arch and decreasing ure range of motion
when my head goes up, the bar hits lower, activating tricep more

 

[bigmike230]

One thing you guys didnt touch on is abdominal contraction. Raising the head can cause ab contraction which increases core stability/strength. I Do raise my head at heavier weights (405 and up) and I find that that simple action alone can add rigidity and stability to my movement thereby adding strength.

but then again, I bench with my feet off the floor so what the hell do I know anyway?!?