If you're not getting leg drive, you're leaving pounds on the table when bench pressing.
This method will develop a feel for the kind of tension you should be exerting through your entire body as you press and especially out of the bottom.
You CAN train this on a flat bench. I like this setup for really drilling it in.
You'll need a decline bench, braced up against something solid. You can use dumbbells or you can use a barbell inside the rack.
Your upper back and head will be on the bench, your hips up off the bench, in the same position you'd be in for a flat bench.
Your knees should be bent about 80 degrees (not 90) so you can push backwards. You want to be exerting SOME constant tension in the quads to keep your hips in that up position.
This constant "push back" quad tension is something you should be doing on barbell bench press. When doing heavy loading, the bench press is NOT a relaxed exercise. It requires total-body tension to provide the strongest base to press from.
Lower the weight under control, then at the EXACT moment you start the press, push backwards HARD with your quads, as though you were trying to violently slide yourself back and up the bench.
Because the weight is anchoring you down, you won't slide but that's the INTENTION.
This force will transfer from the lower body, through the core, and give you help out of the bottom.
You'll notice I come up on my toes when I do this. This is because the quads are firing powerfully. Your hips will likely come up a little bit as well because your upper body isn't going anywhere.
*** Key point...when translating this drive to flat bench press, your glutes should stay in contact with the bench. They're not RESTING fully on the bench, but they're in CONTACT with the bench.
Bottom line, training leg drive and total body tension can give you an immediate boost to your bench press strength.
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