Benching grip width

[thewickedtruth]

I was playing around with grip width while bench pressing last night and found that the wider my hands are, the less my shoulders hurt and the more i feel a stretch and overall work done in my chest. I'm reluctant to continue it however for fear of a tear. I also can't handle as much weight with a wider grip which seems to point out that alot of my pressing is done with my triceps. How wide is too wide? My grip spanned the bar from collar to collar. 

[pumpster]

I was playing around with grip width while bench pressing last night and found that the wider my hands are, the less my shoulders hurt and the more i feel a stretch and overall work done in my chest. I'm reluctant to continue it however for fear of a tear. I also can't handle as much weight with a wider grip which seems to point out that alot of my pressing is done with my triceps. How wide is too wide? My grip spanned the bar from collar to collar. 

Experimenting like this is key. You're saying that everything about this grip is better for you, therefore continue with this. You can take measures to mitigate the potential downsides.

As long as you take the time to warm up well, including some light sets, and keep the reps moderate not too low with no more than a minute rest between sets, injury's unlikely. If you want to reduce the injury potential even further, you can slow down the rep speed, and/or pre-exhaust with flys. As far as using less weight don't worry about that, you want better development not to set weightlifting records.

In which case everything else is a positive; don't worry about whether it makes sense as much as if it's more effective, which is what it sounds like.

[thewickedtruth]

Yeah it feels great. I feel more in my chest with this grip than ever before and I just wanted to try it out of the blue yesterday. I feel a HUGE stretch all across my pecs to the point where it made me bring up the bigger risk of injury question. Didn't markus ruhl tear his pec using a super wide grip? 

[pumpster]

Yeah it feels great. I feel more in my chest with this grip than ever before and I just wanted to try it out of the blue yesterday. I feel a HUGE stretch all across my pecs to the point where it made me bring up the bigger risk of injury question. Didn't markus ruhl tear his pec using a super wide grip? 

Top guys are not above making mistakes too. He might've been using a huge amount of weight and/or bounced the bar, did it too fast, etc. With something like that you'd want to do everything possible to mitigate excessive stress, in which case it should be ok. For example keeping the reps higher 10-15, using a controlled speed with no bouncing. Another thing would be to pre-exhaust the area with flys, which would both  warm up the area and further lower the amount of weight used, further reducing the stress on the area.

[thewickedtruth]

I always pre-exhaust with the flyes so my pecs get alot of work before my tri's and delts give out. I was handling 300 for controlled sets of 6 easily this way so I'm not disappointed in my weight, but it's not 335 for sets of 10 lol 

[pumpster]

I always pre-exhaust with the flyes so my pecs get alot of work before my tri's and delts give out. I was handling 300 for controlled sets of 6 easily this way so I'm not disappointed in my weight, but it's not 335 for sets of 10 lol 

Whatever dude i tried to help. You asked for opinions. You're welcome.

[Petrucci]

its more or less common sense. Wider grip gets more chest, less triceps and shoulders. Closer grip, well, you get the point!!!!

i was used to do wide grip, because i wanted to have less help of other muscle groups, but my bench was stable and i never could go up in weight...

i thought myself 'well, its a compound movement, so if it works other things, let it be!" i started to use a narrow grip and it did wonders to my weight in bench presses PLUS my shoulders started to grow!!!!

try variations, its always good

[Cap]

I was playing around with grip width while bench pressing last night and found that the wider my hands are, the less my shoulders hurt and the more i feel a stretch and overall work done in my chest. I'm reluctant to continue it however for fear of a tear. I also can't handle as much weight with a wider grip which seems to point out that alot of my pressing is done with my triceps. How wide is too wide? My grip spanned the bar from collar to collar. 

Luke Wood told me his wide grip bench presses focusing on stretch and muscle contraction brought his chest up.  DOn't bench like a meat head and you shouldn't tear anything.

[jpm101]

There is also the wide grip, bar to the neck version of the BP. Usually reserved for the flat bench but can also apply to the incline press. Better, fuller stretch than any regular versions. But a caution must be attached to this exercise. A total warm-up of this movement is advised. And a moderate weight, with full controlled reps should be the way of doing this exercise. Strictly for BB'er, not heavy 2 or 3 rep max out lifters.

Lot of lifters I have known, past & present, only do the BP for their pec/chest work. Start with a collar to collar grip for a few sets. Than a middle grip. And with the final movement, sets are close grip (6 to 10-12 inches) BP's. Pretty much bombs the whole chest area when their done. Good luck.

[pumpster]

a caution must be attached to this exercise. A total warm-up of this movement is advised. And a moderate weight, with full controlled reps should be the way of doing this exercise. Strictly for BB'er, not heavy 2 or 3 rep max out lifters.

He continues to post exactly what i've already said. Funny stuff; at least he's learning. 

[jpm101]

Of course I was referring to the BP to the neck area, which may require a little more attention. Insuring a good warm-up and better stretch, less the shoulder girdle and rotor cuff take abuse, for some trainee's. That's only common sense 101. No one should have a patten on that, as if it was their own idea, of a good warm-up and controlled reps. Hope this helps to explain thing to some folks. Gironda felt this was the only way to do a BB BP. On those rare occasions when he allowed anyone to do a BP in his gym.

 As far as regular BP's go, some favorable results are had when the BP is started from a dead stop at the bottom of the lift. Rather than starting from the top of the lift, depending too much on momentum or even a slight bounce off the chest. Can develop pure strength and starting power and a good influence on muscle development, also. You will be using less weight at first, but  your bench can improve quite a bit from dead stop starts. Usually a one to two second pause at the bottom chest position. Good spotters or a power rack, regular bench rack, "A" frame, whatever, etc, etc, etc. will be needed. Good Luck.