How wide do you bench? How big is your arch?

Worf

Member
81 cm or the power rings are max distance for index finger spacing in most feds. The Japanese do some pretty wide stuff, side of palms touch the J hooks and twisting the wrist side ways. Huge arches and 8" ROM.

Where do you put your hands? how has this changed over time, what form changes have you made for improving your bench ? How much arch you got? Are you are leg driver?
 
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for me I got rather longish arms so wide grip pinkies just outside the outer rings, and moderate arch (back isn't too hot).
 
I bench where my arms are perpendicular with the floor when the bar is on my chest. I guess you'd call it medium width. Not much arch or leg drive.
That's probably the optimal positioning but most people would go wider or narrower.
 
I've never really played with width much. I have some issues with my right wrist and in the past wider caused issues due to the angle.



I need that wingspan, probably add 50lbs to my deadlift.
You are all legs as your legs appear to be long for your height. Long legs are a bane for deads lol.
 
Raw or equipped? Sorry the young pups here don't remember the glory days of shirted benching ( tongue in cheek) … pinkie to 4th finger on rings for raw, index finger on rings for equipped. Arch as much as you can and if you aren't getting good leg drive you are missing out. Miss the good ole days of metal militia style :)…. 5'6 181 50 y/o. Back in the day hit a 490 equipped and a 355 raw. (yes I could get 150 lbs out of a good denim shirt on a good day) Not by any means national standards but hey it was fun and a hell of a ride.
 
81 cm or the power rings are max distance for index finger spacing in most feds. The Japanese do some pretty wide stuff, side of palms touch the J hooks and twisting the wrist side ways. Huge arches and 8" ROM.

Where do you put your hands? how has this changed over time, what form changes have you made for improving your bench ? How much arch you got? Are you are leg driver?

Ring finger on the ring. So far it has worked for me But, still dealing with some shoulder pain. Don’t know if I should be closer and use triceps more for the lift.
 
Raw or equipped? Sorry the young pups here don't remember the glory days of shirted benching ( tongue in cheek) … pinkie to 4th finger on rings for raw, index finger on rings for equipped. Arch as much as you can and if you aren't getting good leg drive you are missing out. Miss the good ole days of metal militia style :)…. 5'6 181 50 y/o. Back in the day hit a 490 equipped and a 355 raw. (yes I could get 150 lbs out of a good denim shirt on a good day) Not by any means national standards but hey it was fun and a hell of a ride.
You sound like one of those bench-heads! I like it :)
 
My triceps are strong so i go a little closer than most. I have tried several grip widths and use the one that worked best. There is a way to measure between the dimples in your front delts then multiply by 1.5 that is supposed to be optimal width. I did that and had to move a little closer.
 
Ring finger on the ring. So far it has worked for me But, still dealing with some shoulder pain. Don’t know if I should be closer and use triceps more for the lift.
Wont run my mouth too much here but if shoulders are an issue you need to be arching your thoracic spine, locking back your scapula, and attempt to lower the weight with your lats. The first push upward from the bench should be leg drive and lats followed by pecs then closely followed by delts and tris. I trained to use my lats with light kettle bells on bands/bar. Then lowering the weight slow and really trying to isolate the lats in the downward motion. Banded kettle bells really help in stabilizing this movement but it takes a while to really get it down. When you finally feel it... its... aah ha.
 
Ring finger on the ring. So far it has worked for me But, still dealing with some shoulder pain. Don’t know if I should be closer and use triceps more for the lift.

Idk how much of a visual learner you are, but this video helped me a ton to setup my ques and get everything on point.

 
Wont run my mouth too much here but if shoulders are an issue you need to be arching your thoracic spine, locking back your scapula, and attempt to lower the weight with your lats. The first push upward from the bench should be leg drive and lats followed by pecs then closely followed by delts and tris. I trained to use my lats with light kettle bells on bands/bar. Then lowering the weight slow and really trying to isolate the lats in the downward motion. Banded kettle bells really help in stabilizing this movement but it takes a while to really get it down. When you finally feel it... its... aah ha.

Thanks so much, will definitely try it starting tomorrow because I was about to give up
 
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