Lack of rigidity in the core, legs, and upper body can impair overall success in the press. The appropriateness of a particular width grip should be based on an individual basis. Green. A: The traditional bench press usually refers to a flat-bench press performed with a grip that’s shoulder-width or wider. 2. Active 5 years, 2 months ago. Grip Width. Clemons, J.M. There are 3 main types of grip widths commonly used in the bench press. The Bench Press Grip Width Does Not Affect the Number of Repetitions Performed at Different Velocity Loss Thresholds Alejandro Pérez-Castilla 1,* , Ivan Jukic 2, G. Gregory Haff 3,4 and Amador García-Ramos 1,5 Citation: Pérez-Castilla, A.; Jukic, I.; Haff, G.G. A reverse-grip bench is exactly what it sounds like: you grip the bar with your palms facing towards you. Maximal intended velocity training induces greater gains in bench press performance than deliberately slower half-velocity training. While this is true, a lot has to change depending on where you place your grip. The effects of grip width on sticking region in bench press. In layman’s terms, you’ll lose that all-too-important neutral wrist position by causing your wrists and forearms to excessively bend either inward or outward. A thumb’s width off the edge of the knurl is a good place to start for grip width. In Session 2, they used three different standardized grip widths (100%, 150%, and 200% of biacromial width distance) in random order at 50% of 1RM while also engaged in three different attention focus conditions (external focus on the bench press, internal focus on pectoralis major muscles, and internal focus on triceps brachii muscles). Using an excessively wide grip while bench pressing will result in radial deviation, while a grip that’s too narrow causes ulnar deviation. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 1997. Fine, bench with a closer grip. Too wide or too narrow of a grip width … At full extension, the narrow grip allows a great squeeze in the inner pecs. Before you get lost trying to compose an elaborate chest workout routine, keep in mind that there is a much simpler way to target all of these muscles more effectively while performing the bench press: change your grip width. Bench Press Grip Width. Incorrect Grip Width The set up is one of the most critical aspects of a strong and stable overhead press. Research has demonstrated that a wide grip (> 1.5 biacromial width) may increase the risk of shoulder injury, including anterior shoulder instability, atraumatic osteolysis of distal clavicle, and pectoralis major rupture. I've been incorporating this grip during my volume days to get used to the technique, but after a couple weeks, it just still doesn't feel right. Too much narrower a grip will, for most people, take pounds off the work set by placing the responsibility for most of the lockout on the comparatively smaller triceps,although most lifters can close-grip a fairly high percentage of their standard-grip bench press. Bodybuilders, athletes, and recreational lifters select a grip width during the bench press that they believe will produce a greater force output. Women tend to place their hands about shoulder width apart and men tend to grab the bar wide. Personally I train with a close grip for the majority of my phases, using a mid-g How wide the grip should be is dependent on lifter anthropometry. Subjects were 24 experienced male weight trainers. Here we’ll break down the four essential set-ups any self-respecting dench dude needs to know. Jagessar. In theory, varying your grip width heightens muscular hypertrophy and increases strength, but some health professionals say … Gomo. 11(2): p. 82-87. Grip width (narrow, mid, and wide) and the level of supination/pronation was varied to determine how these factors influence myoelectric amplitude during the flat bench press. This game allows a wider grip than the max-81-cm-between-forefingers of competitive bench pressing. LEHMAN, G.J., THE INFLUENCE OF GRIP WIDTH AND FOREARM PRONATION/SUPINATION ON UPPER-BODY MYOELECTRIC ACTIVITY DURING THE FLAT BENCH PRESS. The wide-grip bench press, a variation of the staple bodybuilding exercise, seems to have an equal amount of proponents and detractors. The primary muscular emphasis is on the chest. The grip we use when we bench ultimately determines which muscles work the hardest. In real life, grip width also has a profound effect on what muscles are placed under most stress. Meaning that taking a different approach to your press positioning could seriously accelerate chest development. Bench press lifting performance increases as grip width is increased up to approximately twice the biacromial width (shoulder width as defined by the distance between acromion processes) performance (Madsen 1984, Wagner 1992, Clemens 1997, Gilbert 2003). I have a long reach and was wondering what the optimal position is for my grip during bench press. Close (shoulder width), mid-grip, and a wide-grip (think powerlifting width). Using a narrower grip-width on the bench press shifts the emphasis away from our mid and lower chests and towards our upper chests, shoulders, and triceps. Varying your grip width when bench pressing will definitely change which muscle groups are doing the majority of the work for the lift. It allows you to get much tighter in the upper back, providing better stability through the shoulders and providing more protection for them. The Affect of Grip Width on Bench Press Performance and Risk of Injury. Bench Grip Width As a person with longish arms, I've recently tried playing around with the max legal grip-wdith to reduce the ROM. Therefore, a coach or individual should utilise grip variations such as a narrow or even moderate grip bench press during training, to reduce stress on shoulders and pectoralis major [2,3]. If you've been benching with a wider grip, you'll take an ego hit because obviously you won't be benching as much as you had been before this switch. Once you've determined the distance between your index fingers, it's time to transfer it to the Bench Press. The Reverse-grip Bench Press The thumbless grip, also known as the “suicide grip… For those performing a full body workout, a single basic compound chest movement such as the bench press will generally be sufficient, envolving both sternal and clavicular heads of the pectoralis major, as well as the anterior deltoids, and triceps.. and C. Aaron, Effect of Grip Width on the Myoelectric Activity of the Prime Movers in the Bench Press. It should be categorized as more of a hybrid motion much like the close-grip bench press and dip that can be used for more triceps involvement depending … Remember, impingement is going to happen at a particular degree of shoulder rotation given a certain amount of shoulder abduction (shoulder abduction is the degree to which the elbows are flared; 90 degrees being completely parallel to the bar). To get an idea of why that is, we can look at how our leverage changes as we bring our grip in closer: The ideal bench press grip width is one that facilitates perfectly vertical forearms when the bar touches the chest. If your hands are 10-12 inches apart, this is the width you would use if you wanted to do a close-grip bench press when training your arms. The Close-Grip vs Regular Bench Press. The close-grip bench press, on the other hand, typically refers to any grip that’s narrower than shoulder width, which greatly increases the emphasis on the triceps. Viewed 4k times 9. Bench press performance was assessed at six different grip widths (G1–G6). summary . Grip Width. ; García-Ramos, A. That in and of itself is not the problem. Bench press grip width? The reverse grip bench press is a great movement to work the chest and arms. Grip width and muscle activity. This distance is your theoretical perfect grip width for the Barbell Bench Press setup. I currently bench with my ring finger lined up on the band. Most people just assume that you can grab the barbell anywhere and be able to bench press. Bench Press Recommendations. A good rule of thumb is that the forearms should be perpendicular to the ground at the bottom of the bench press. 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