Raw Bench Grip

[Deleted]

Hi guys. I have asked this question before on other boards and I have gotten good advice but I wanted to ask it here as well. I have always benched with my index finger on the ring of the bar when benching with a shirt but I always thought I should bring in my grip a bit for raw benching. I guess I have always thought benching with a wide grip raw would hurt my shoulders. Where are you guys gripping the bar when you bench and do you feel using the max legal grip will hurt my shoulders when benching raw?

[jimray]

I always bench raw, and the heavier the weight, the wider I go.

[dopar66]

Hey, Shane.
I'm with Jim on this one, although I'm not as wide as yall. For a guy with my build I have a slightly wide bench grip. After this past weekend, I'm wondering a little about that.... :')

Glad to see you're still around, brother!

God Bless.
Doug

[isbell]

I put the ring on the inside of my first finger. It helps with lockout.

[Deleted]

Being a taller person, I place my index fingers on the ring around the bar.

I was told at a previous meet this is the farthest your grip can be apart. Is this correct? Has anyone else experienced this?

[Deleted]

In past lifter meetings, I have been told your fingers must cover the ring on the bar. I put my ring fingers over the ring on the bar for flat and incline benching. At 5'11" I guess I should look at widening my grip but when I get the notion, a ¼” wider grip feels uncomfortable.

Jim

[abebesheir]

I use a pinkies on the ring grip... but I am only 5'5 with rather short arms.

[Deleted]

I tend to put my middle finger on the ring. As I go heavier, I try to keep that same position but have noticed, by habbit, i do go a bit wider. I end up sometimes putting my index finger over the ring. I dont think it makes a huge difference but does help a little to go a bit wider.

[randyw]

evidently the deal is.....a wider grip makes for a slightly shorter bar path

also, a wider grip makes lockout easy but you do lose a little power off the chest

narrow grip gives a little better leverage off the chest but the lockout is harder

a wide grip does place more stress on the delts


I use middle finger on the ring and I have also used index on ring which is usually the widest legal grip you can use in a meet

I have been thinking of moving my grip in slightly...as my bench is WEAK off the chest...as shown in the meet in Va this past weekend.....my front delts are pitifully weak and therefore the bottom of my bench is my weakness...with the sticking point being like 2" off the chest, lol.....it is possible that I could use a slightly narrower grip as a "band aid" fix but I dont want to do that since I dont see the top guys using a narrow grip......so I guess I am looking at the long term process of strengthening the front delts

[abebesheir]

Randy, I'm not an expert by any means (300 at 198) but I can speak from personal experience. Moving in my grip that extra 2" made a world of difference. Also, a big-time raw bencher that used a close grip... Rick Weil (557 at 181).

[bossman]

Randy,
I use my index finger on the outside nurl. This gives me the best bench for me. It uses 3 major muscle groups, chest, shoulders and triceps. If you go in too close then you will use more tricep and that will peek out much lower than your highest potential bench. Good luck and hope to see you lift with us soon.

As far as the last response, who is Rick Weil? Did I see this correct a 557 bench press at 181 RAW? I can sum this up with 1 word. IMPOSSIBLE, not even on steroids can a man do those numbers at that weight. I would love to see it.

Bossman

[isbell]

I went to the world bench meet last year and I saw you (paul) bench 5 hundred something!
I really watched thinking...I will learn his technique. What I saw was you just lay down, not much arch and truly just with raw strength throw that much weight up!!
I couldnt believe it. Some people just have a gift. Amazing! 220 wgt class too.

[abebesheir]

Paul, Rick Weil was a world record holder in the bench press in the 165 (485) and 181 (556.7) weight classes. He set his records while on steroids (self-admitted) in the mid 80s. If you go to irongame.com and look at Michael Soong's list for top all time 181s I think you'll still see Rick's bench and it was indeed 'without a bench shirt.'
Rick was only 5'5 and had great genetics (he benched 300 at 148 as a teen). All this was undoubtably helped by his steroid use. Rick also did a 600 BP at about 200 bodyweight in an exhibition along with Joe Ladnier...

[randyw]

yes, Rick Weil is probably the greatest bencher of all time, tied with Mike Mcdonald

Rick is the first to do 3x bodyweight on bench....RAW, lol

here are some pictures of him from a french site

www.benchpresschampion.com/CHAMPIONS/RickWeil.htm

I remember being a young kid and seeing those pics in Muscle and Fitness

he used reverse grip a lot in training and by the looks of it he used a somewhat close grip in competition



being the anal retentive type that I am, I used a tranlsation engine to translate most of the routines off of that site, lol.....here are two routines Weil suggests....(some of the translation isnt perfect so you have to read between the lines a little)



Rick Weil proposes us two training programs: the first one of basis for a bencher having a max of 300 lbs (137,5 kg) the second one more pushed for a bencher having a max of 400 lbs (182,5
kg)

Training cycle n°1: based on 16 weeks (2x8) not any max during the cycle, to take force it is necessary to remain between 4 and 7 reps, the number of reps and of maybe adapted series

Week 1: 135x8 185x5 225x5 225x5 225x5
Week 2: 135x8 185x5 235x5 235x5 235x5
Week 3: 135x8 185x5 245x5 245x5 245x5
Week 4: 135x8 185x5 255x5 255x5 255x5
Week 5: 135x8 185x5 265x3 265x3 265x3
Week 6: 135x8 185x5 275x3 275x3 275x3
Week 7: 135x8 185x5 285x2 285x2 285x2
Week 8: 135x8 185x5 295x2 295x2 295x2
Week 9: 135x8 185x5 245x5 245x5 245x5
Week 10: 135x8 185x5 255x5 255x5 255x5
Week 11: 135x8 185x5 265x5 265x5 265x5
Week 12: 135x8 185x5 275x5 275x5 275x5
Week 13: 135x8 185x5 285x3 285x3 285x3
Week 14: 135x8 185x5 295x3 295x3 295x3
Week 15: 135x8 185x5 305x2 305x2 305x2
Week 16: 135x8 185x5 315x3 315x2 315x2

Training cycle n°2: based on 10 weeks, with max and forced repetitions, the forced repetitions allow getting used to heavier loads and to cross bearings the assistance exercises after the
put to bed: developed inclined (3 series of 5 reps), developed with haltères, dips, and triceps to the bench (3 series of the repetition maximum)...

Week 1: warmup 330x5x3 (3 series of 5 reps) 320 x max
Week 2: warmup 335x5x3 320 x max
Week 3: warmup 340x5x3 320 x max
Week 4: warmup 350x3 400x1 425X1 (forced rep) 325 x max
Week 5: warmup 355x3 405x1 430X1 (forced rep) 330 x max
Week 6: warmup 360x3 410x1 435X1 (forced rep) 330 x max
Week 7: warmup 365x3 415x1 440X1 (forced rep) 330 x max
Week 8: warmup 370x3 420x1 445X1 (forced rep) 335 x max
Week 9: warmup 375x3 425x1 450X1 (forced rep) 335 x max
Week 10: warmup 380x3 405x2 430x1