Bench press technique part 4

“How to Grip The Bar”

By Ian Smalley

There are several different common areas to grip the bar to maximize bench press techinique. A typical bench bar comes with a smooth ring on each end of the bar which is the standard for describing grip position. Grip positions range from “pinky on the ring”, which would be considered narrow, to “max grip” which is pointer finger on the ring. Anything narrower than pinky on the ring is usually only used for tricep exercises, and anything greater than competition max width would probably only be used for bodybuilding. The difference between the inner most position and the outer most position will translate to as much as 2” on your bench stroke, so usually lifters will choose to adapt there training to using max grip as quickly as possible because of the shorter stroke advantage. For some smaller lifters, or those who are tricep dominant, a grip inside max, say “ring finger on the ring” may be preferable. Experiment with what feels most comfortable with your press and just note how your form changes with different grips.

max bench press grip

Max grip

Bench Press Pinky on Ring

Pinky on Ring

Once you have chosen your grip spacing you then have to position the bar correctly in your hands. While this may sound obvious and ridiculous it’s actually extremely important to bench press technique. The way that the weight sits in your hands determines how your body reacts to the weight as it descends . Believe it or not, an improper hold can leave you with far less leverage off of your chest than if you do it correctly.

First let’s start with how to do it correctly. When you grab the bar start wrapping your hand around the bar from the inside out. Apply your grip pressure with your pointer finger and thumb-(like making the OK sign), followed by your middle finger and so on until the bar is sitting in your palm, and your wrists are dead straight and perpendicular to the floor. This is the position you have to keep throughout the movement because where your hands and wrists go your elbows will follow. To press any weight correctly your elbows must be directly under the bar at all times. One trick to keeping correct grip on the bar is to think about “bending the bar” (see image below). If you crush the bar in your hands as shown it becomes virtually impossible to get in a bad pressing position, at least as far as your arms are concerned.

bending-the-bench-press-bar

Bending the Bench Press Bar

A common bench press technique mistake by many lifters is to let the weight sit back in their hands, allowing their wrists to cock back and the weight to sit more towards the outside of the hand. This can feel more comfortable, especially with wrist wraps on when the weight is in the starting position. The problem is that as the bar descends and you begin to tuck, your wrists have to continue to open up and your elbows will get out in front of the weight. This makes even a lighter weight feel much heavier at the chest/belly. Also, when you begin to Bench press the weight you have to allow your elbows to get back under the bar and in proper alignment to lock the weight out. The result is what’s known as a "heave". You’re basically throwing the weight back towards the rack and hoping that your elbows flare fast enough to get back under it. When the weight is light this is pretty easy, but when you hitting a single, especially in a shirt, you’ll usually just dump on your face. Dumping on your face happens 90% of the time because of trying to heave the weight instead of press the weight. Don’t do it if you like your teeth.

proper-hand-position-for-bench-pressing