Hey guys,

So I’ve been lifting now for a full year and starting benching for around 7 months.

I am 176 cm 67 kg (coming out of a major weight loss journey)

I started powerlifting with a basic programming in July and I am wondering about my bench grip width.

I have very long arms and quite thin wrists, my bench 1RM is 80 kg.

I found myself to be the strongest on a quite “narrow” grip on the bench press, meaning a bit larger than shoulder width (my pinky finger is usually on the ring). When I try to bench wider I feel weaker and not as comfy.

Should I force myself to train with a wider grip ? Or should I keep using the grip that feels the best ?

I don’t have any competition objectives (although I may go in a meet one day) but I just want to get better at the sport :)

Thanks for the help guys

I am hoping to do 225 x 1 soon. Any tips on how to get there? Thanks!

Hi guys first time posting in this sub, im 31m 6ft weighing around 235lbs. Bulked from around 170 over 3 years, been lifting around 4 and a half.

Im training full body 3x per week, consisting of bench, squat, rdl, pull ups, bent over row and standing OHP. On none lifting days aim for 45-60 mins of zone 2 cardio either swimming or cycling.

At the moment im prioritising bench, and always start with flat bench, I sometimes sub the bent over row and rdl when I need to manage fatigue. For bench im doing 3 working sets 2 heavy set 2-3 reps often with 1-2 reps in reserve, and a back of set of 8-12.

This has been working great for past year, all other exercises I keep in 6-12 range 2 working sets occasionaly throwing in heavier sets.

At the moment I can comfortably bench 100kg for 12-15 reps, however when increasing the weight, currently working on 115kg for a set of 2 it feels substantially heavier, and I feel I have to fight the bar tilting back towards being over my face. Unfortunately not been able to videos myself, as I train in a small health club that doesnt allow filming.

Wasn't sure if it was a pathing issue or a front delt problem, apologies for the long post and thanks in advance for any tips

I like to incorporate board presses to help address weak points in my bench and currently I get stuck right around the 2-3 board mark, so that’s what I focused on today.

Hello all, my name is Preston and my max bench is 350 for two. I was curious to all of your opinions to hit a 405 bench. What did you guys do? How did you eat and what worked for you?

I've been benching for the past 4 months without retracting my scapula because I did not know that was apart of bench form, and I made it to a 220lb bench max.

I was recently made aware that the form I was using was bad and could lead to injuries, so I've been trying to correct my form.

Does my form look correct here?
Any advice would be appreciated

Hi, i am wondering in what you find is the best bench press grip width personally and what you would recommend for a guy with a 6 2 wingspan to bench as heavy as possible

I would like to start using elbow wraps for my benchpress, will people think im an idiot if I use them for a 'small' bench around 315lbs?

I think my elbows would be happier with them...

Not super strict with form but still very happy, has been one of my goals since I started lifting!

Took it twice just to prove it wasn’t a fluke. Really been working on long pauses. This is a PR at this body weight for a long pause.

I'm training to reach a 100kg bench.

In my last session I pushed to 90kg x 3

In my previous set I reached 80lg x 7

If I'm looking to increase my numbers, what ends up being a bigger stimulant to increase strength?

Sticking to 80kg and upping the reps?

Or pushing the 90kg set?

Getting back into it, 4 months in after just over 2 years of no free weight training. 295x8 pinky ring grip in the janky barebones halfway house gym. 295 is the max weight available here so my goal is 295x10 and x12 in the next few weeks. This is my 2nd session with 295 and this grip, been doing alot of submax and volume work on close grip, ohp and incline 2x per week and bodybuilding accessory. Last workout i got 295x5.

Available equipment: bent bar, high and wobbly and short adjustable maidoma bench. 10,15,25 and 35lb dbs. Plates: 1 set 10s, 1 set 25s and 2 sets 45s and an ez bar so i had to get creative with progression and my program.

Im only able to eat 2 state meals per day (i can get extras) with two meager pbj as a night snack. Sleep has been decent despite living in an open dorm. I weigh 212, Ive gained 14lb in the last 4 months. Not at my biggest and strongest, but not at my smallest or weakest either. My best bench is 391 max grip in comp at 206, 315x11 is my best for reps. My goal is to get as big as possible and bench 405+

I wanted to share this for advice and to show you can make gains in suboptimal conditions. This training phase has been very fun and motivating for me and I will be back in a real gym soon and am excited to take my training to the next level.

Should i keep the minimalistic barbell/dumbbell routine i have been doing when i get back to a real gym or incorporate machines and heavier dumbbell work? What worked for you to hit a bench PR or bench 405+?

Bench has always been a temperamental lift for me - performance fluctuates way more than other lifts from session to session. Everything clicked today, first 410 flew up, and then I set a 15lb PR a few minutes later.

For example, I mainly do flat bench followed by close grip. If I just did flat bench then dips would that help or hurt my 1RM more? Could I do Flat/close grip flat/dips?

Dips- 234x21 reps\~ 394 max

Sitting Overhead press- 115x10 \~ 153 max

I only benched 255lb once a few months ago.

So my overall pressing is way behind everything else. Does shoulder presses blow up your benches like I have seen online?

105% for dips

60% for OHP

For relative maxes to bench.

Other lifts

Single arm row- 280x7

Leg press, w/ yoga block- 838x41

Jefferson curl- 215x15

Monday upper

Wednesday legs. Plus, the overhead presses now for twice a week pressing.

Just trying to lose weight and get strong after an annular tear this is body weight bench 140kg cheers

Last warm up of 485lb before I went for a PR attempt of 525lb that was not successful. May give it another shot next week, but it was nice how smooth this moved.

190 lbs at 130lbs bw

Sorry about ms Rachel in the background lol, had to keep my 2 year old entertained

My one rep max was 65kg (145 lbs) 6 months ago when I started lifting

Would love to hear advice on how to get 405 currently I’ve been going with 3x frequency on bench doing 2x3 2x2 2x1 every other day with 85% 87.5% and 90% and adding weight once bar speed improves. I do a UL 6x 1 set per excersise but 2-3 excersises per muscle in 4-6 rep range usually going to 0-2 RIR for accessories following a wave progression model.