John Phung

Recently I figured out how to utilize leg drive during the bench press. My bench press has gone up, but I’ve found myself pushing so hard with my legs that sometimes my back would slide on the bench.

Here’s an example of me slipping on the bench while attempting to bench press 350 lb:

As you can see at around the 0:47 mark, the position of my head and body suddenly jolts backwards as I started pushing harder with my legs on the ascent, causing me to miss the rep.

It sucks! I would have had that rep had it not been for the my back sliding on the bench.

The first thing I attempted to remedy this situation was chalk. I already have it in my home gym, so might as well use it. I’ve put chalk on my back and on the bench but had varying success. Sometimes it would work, but other times I would slip.

A user on Fitocracy directed me to a post on AllThingsGym.com which mentions the use of a rubber mesh used to line shelves, and nearly at the same time, Craig Hirota made a comment to use the same thing.

So I picked up a roll of this “Shelf & Drawer Liner” from the dollar store and put it to the test.

I choose black in color to match the Rogue bench. Plus, anything else wouldn’t look as manly.

The roll is 1’ x 5’, which fits my bench just fine. It’s a little long, but I let the excess part hang off the edge. I may cut it to size in the future.

So far, it works pretty good.

Earlier, I missed on a 360 lb bench press due to my back slipping once again. I did not have the rubber mesh liner at the time.

Now, 2 weeks after, here’s how it looks after placing the anti-slip rubber mesh shelf liner the bench:

No slipping! Not bad considering I hit a bench press PR using a $1 item Good investment if you ask me.

Another way to prevent sliding on the bench during bench press is to use bands. It’s also mentioned on ATG's post, but check out the video below by Greg Robins demonstrating how it’s done: