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Bench Press Hand Placement


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After a forum search and a Google search I'm still unsure of my hand placement.

I think that I know now what I should be doing, but I better ask the experts.

One page on my Google search said the forearms should be vertical when the upper arms are horizontal.

My forearms seem to be vertical near the top of the lift.

I think my grip might be too close since my chest is never tired or sore.

My shoulders and upper arms always seems to be sore when I'm done.

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I don't believe there is a "best" grip when it comes to bench pressing. It's like the pullup. One should vary their grip on occasion.

 

Speaking of which, has anyone experimented with a mixed grip bench press? (over/under grip) results? dangers? I'm thinking of trying this.

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Thanks, I going to give that training a try.

 

My current grip feels natural.

But since it seems that only my shoulders are working, I'll try a wider grip.

I'm not gripping so close as to feel the triceps.

 

I'm going to take my camera home to record a lift.

My errors will probably be obvious then.

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My current grip feels natural.

But since it seems that only my shoulders are working, I'll try a wider grip.

I'm not gripping so close as to feel the triceps.

Are you making sure to keepi the shoulders back by pulling your shoulder blades together through the whole lift? That should limit their involvement to some degree, but of course Im not sure if thats your problem.

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Are you making sure to keepi the shoulders back by pulling your shoulder blades together through the whole lift? That should limit their involvement to some degree, but of course Im not sure if thats your problem.

That could be part of it, I don't do that. I'll make sure I do it.

After watching the animations on the eas.com website, I notice my elbows may be too close to my sides.

The animations show the elbows pointing straight out, parallel to the bar.

Mine are positioned similar to this picture of Alexander doing a pushup

I tried some lifts making sure my elbows pointed straight out.

I could feel it in the chest - my old way, nothing.

Thanks for helping the newbie out.

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The animations show the elbows pointing straight out, parallel to the bar.

Mine are positioned similar to this picture of Alexander doing a pushup

I tried some lifts making sure my elbows pointed straight out.

I could feel it in the chest - my old way, nothing.

Thanks for helping the newbie out.

I would think somewhere in between would be the best. Having elbows straight out isolates the chest more, but that doesnt mean its more effective, since you'll be moving less weight.

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I've always kept my grip just slightly passed shoulder width and it's been great for me. I use an olympic bar so for me that is where the smooth lines are.

That's about where my hands are too.

My olympic bar has a groove cut in the knurls at 31 inches apart.

It's an unpleasant edge so I kept my hands inside them.

That places about 24 inches between my index fingers.

Placing my hands outside the line felt awkward.

Benching with my middle fingers on the line still feels like a natural width.

But I think my biggest problem is bringing my elbows in towards my sides.

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Grip all depends on whats natural...if your looking for total weight it all depends on whats stronger...if you try a wider grip and like it that means your chest is likely stronger(of course its gonna be but I'm talking compartively), and if a narrow grip if more comfy then your tricepts are stronger.

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  • 1 month later...

have you tried spreading your hands out more or maybe you could be tucking your elbows to your side a little too much???

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have you tried spreading your hands out more or maybe you could be tucking your elbows to your side a little too much???

I think that is or was my problem.

After watching the Milos Sarcev video I'm almost positive.

He stressed keep the elbows up and chest expanded.

Bronco's suggestion was to keep the shoulder blades squeezed together

That seems to be related to expanding the chest.

 

I used Milos suggestions, slow down, pause 1-2 second and slow controlled up.

I also dropped my working weight back down to 135 lbs.

This 3x10 workout was much harder than when I first got my bench 2 months ago and pressed 3x10.

This morning I woke up with something I haven't had since I started lifting: Sore Pectoralis Major muscles

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I dropped down to 100 lbs bench for my last workout.

I'm trying to get the form correct before I lift more.

3x10 reps with a 2 second pause at the bottom.

Touching but not resting on the chest.

Sore Pecs again! I wasn't getting sore after lifting 210 in my old workout.

I'm liking this new method.

I feel that I'm actually working the chest now.

But, is a 2 second pause excessive?

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I never think a pause is excessive because it makes the lift harder...if you immediately want to do more weight then maybe you don't wanna do that but in the end it can really help you...I never had a real pause at the bottom(just tap and go without a bounce) but I did enjoy doing slow negatives with weights I couldn't press all the way out.

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