How to keep wrist in line bench press ?

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AsrarHussain
AsrarHussain Posts: 1,424 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My right shoulder mobility is not the best so to compensate my wrist is not straight. It bends to the right.
I get a click and pain in my wrist.

Replies

  • ttippie2000
    ttippie2000 Posts: 412 Member
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    Wrist wraps. Inzer, Metal, Rogue all sell versions of this. It's a big strong elastic strap that you wrap TIGHT around your lift just before you lift. It will not contribute to a bigger lift at all. It's just for injury prevention.

    The other thing you might do is check your bench form. If you have shoulder issues then you should protect your shoulder by seeking a bench form that distributes the stress onto other muscle groups. Competition power lifters, some of them can press almost 800 pounds, tend to arch their backs to allow them to engage their lats and triceps in addition to their pectoralis. In this form the deltoids (shoulders) take on more of a supporting role. If you google "Louis Simmons Bench Press Manual" you'll find links to much better and more detailed explanation of what I just outlined.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    make sure you have the right grip and the right set up/form. when i bench my shoulders are down and back, pinched tightly behind me, they barely even move when i bench. Most people don't take the bar in the right place on their chest, they take it way too high, the bar should touch just at the very tip of your sternum. if you touch too high up your chest it puts way too much pressure on your shoulders not in a good way.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    personally [this is me] i would focus more worry on the shoulder itself. depending on what's wrong, of course. but i'd rather bench with a weird wrist and a straight shoulder than do it the other way round.

    maybe that's just because i haven't gotten around to hurting my wrists yet :tongue:
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    1. try reducing the weight,
    2. try alternate form/technique as above
    3. Do an extra round of the shoulder strengthening/mobilizing exercises your PT gave you before Benching(this helps me a lot).... IF you haven't seen PT/Ortho... do that instead.
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
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    I'm more comfortable if I DON'T wrap my thumb round the bar, as my wrist is straighter and my hand is more horizontal.
    Sometimes I need to for control on my last set, but in general I find it improves my wrist position significantly.

    (I also overhead press without my thumbs round the bar, as it gives a better starting position.)

    Also make sure your workout programme has enough work for the small, stabilizing shoulder muscles in. Lateral raises, single dumbbell presses, all those sorts of things. Getting those little muscles working well is really important to successful big lifts without injury.
    Plus stretching and massage for the mobility, or is it a long term problem?
  • ttippie2000
    ttippie2000 Posts: 412 Member
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    cs2thecox wrote: »
    I'm more comfortable if I DON'T wrap my thumb round the bar, as my wrist is straighter and my hand is more horizontal.
    Sometimes I need to for control on my last set, but in general I find it improves my wrist position significantly.
    <snip.

    I saw a guy with a grip like this lose control of the bar with a 500 lb bench at a powerlifting meet. It cracked his sternum when it landed. Not long after, the rules were changed making it mandatory to wrap your thumb around the bar. Safety issue.
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
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    ttippie2000 wrote: »
    cs2thecox wrote: »
    I'm more comfortable if I DON'T wrap my thumb round the bar, as my wrist is straighter and my hand is more horizontal.
    Sometimes I need to for control on my last set, but in general I find it improves my wrist position significantly.
    <snip.

    I saw a guy with a grip like this lose control of the bar with a 500 lb bench at a powerlifting meet. It cracked his sternum when it landed. Not long after, the rules were changed making it mandatory to wrap your thumb around the bar. Safety issue.

    Eeeshk! :s
    I press 45kg for my single rep max though, so...!!
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    ttippie2000 wrote: »
    cs2thecox wrote: »
    I'm more comfortable if I DON'T wrap my thumb round the bar, as my wrist is straighter and my hand is more horizontal.
    Sometimes I need to for control on my last set, but in general I find it improves my wrist position significantly.
    <snip.

    I saw a guy with a grip like this lose control of the bar with a 500 lb bench at a powerlifting meet. It cracked his sternum when it landed. Not long after, the rules were changed making it mandatory to wrap your thumb around the bar. Safety issue.

    There's a reason it's called the suicide grip.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    edited August 2017
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    stanmann571 wrote: »
    There's a reason it's called the suicide grip.

    rippetoe again: "if you insist on using a thumbless grip, you need to do it at home so when the ambulance comes (assuming anyone is there to call 911), it doesn't disrupt anyone else's training". smartass.

    i actually went back into the bench press section of starting strength to find that, and he makes some good points about how to place your hands before even closing them round the bar, and the fact that a full grip tends to recruit more muscle fibres throughout the arms and upper body. i feel like my own thumbs have a deep web and it's not always easy to get them positioned without cocking my wrists a little, but i may need to go back and re-think about that.

    tried to find a short clip of him showing bench grip setup but most of it seems to be about deadlifts and hook grip.
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
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    The biggest thing with bench press is to keep your shoulder blades squeezed together-hard against the bench. Otherwise you will internally rotate your shoulders-and this is how people screw up their shoulders benching.

    As far as wrists, I love my wrist wraps. I don't have any wrist issues but they really do aid in keeping a straight wrist.

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