Weak wrist when bench pressing.

[Fatboy]

Hello everyone,

First let me say thank you to all of you that have posted as I have been reading this forum for some time now and have got some great tips and inspiration from it.

Basically I have started a new program at the gym. I have been having trouble with the bench press and finding the correct hand/wrist position. What I find is if I am holding the bar with my thumbs over the bar then my wrists bend in and I cannot keep them in a neutral position. With Thumbs underneath the bar I feel more in control but heard that that's not a very good technique. I have had too many injuries over the years and the last thing I need is to hurt my wrist at the gym.

I'm only benching 40kg as at the age of 30 I'm a beginner. I have spoken to my instructor and he said to keep my wrists neutral. I'm thinking maybe some wrist strengthening exercises might help or maybe I'm starting at a weight that is too heavy?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Fatboy.

[Kevy_boi]

ive had that.. lol i found the best way around it was doing heavy bi-cep curls took awhile bt the strength soon came

[trainharder]

ive had that.. lol i found the best way around it was doing heavy bi-cep curls took awhile bt the strength soon came

wow there must be a lot of strength in those monster arms big boi

did it take you a while to build up those guns??????????

[Kevy_boi]

bout 10 yrs give or take a month..

[trainharder]

have you thought of applying for a pro card?

[Kevy_boi]

dnt think im ready for it yet... mayb in 12 more yrs i'll think about it

[Methpuffer]

trainharder will you be competing in female figure this year?

[Daniil]

My wrists used to hurt as well, but I just kept benching (as well as increasing weight with time) and my wrists got used to the loads. If you are really bothered by the pain, get some wrist straps, although light weight with wrist straps looks pretty dumb.

[Daniil]

My wrists used to hurt as well, but I just kept bench pressing (as well as increasing weight with time) and my wrists got used to the loads.

If you are really bothered by the pain, get some wrist straps, although light weight with wrist straps looks pretty dumb.

Oh and never press with your thumb underneath the bar. It's stupid and may get you injured.

[vegas_warrior_nz]

I bought myself some Everlast gloves that come with a wrist strap attached to them, I actually bought them for deadllifts as it hurts my hands but then when i used them on bench it gave my wrists some support.

The only advice I would give you if you do use gloves and have your thumbs over bar MAKE SURE you hold it tight with your fingers or it could roll out and fall to your chest.

I also find that I get less injuries with bench if I do not lock out elbows at the top of the movement, keep a good bend in them and the weight on. I think that helped my wrists and also my anterior delts.

Hope that helps

[Fatboy]

Thanks a lot for the advice. I'll take it on board.

Cheers

fatboy.

[Mrbig]

dont bench at all its a dumb exercise that 99% of ppl use az an ego lift and only a few actually get results from it incline bench is fine but not flat bench its dumb

[Android]

scrap bench press if it's giving you grief.

use dumbbells instead then you can you position your wrists how they naturally like to be positioned without aggravating the problem.

return to bench press occasionally to see if there's any improvement.

You'll find over time various parts of the body tweak a bit on certain things, just avoid the exercise and come back to it at a later date, no biggie.

[NZPT]

good advice from android, you say you are a begginer. Posibbly give machines/cables a go for a while longer builder a better base.

NZPT

[Daniil]

dont bench at all its a dumb exercise that 99% of ppl use az an ego lift and only a few actually get results from it incline bench is fine but not flat bench its dumb

Wow, one of the worst advices ever. I bet you'd also suggest not to do deadlifts and squats.

Android, on the other side, gave a good advice.

[Luigi]

dont bench at all its a dumb exercise that 99% of ppl use az an ego lift and only a few actually get results from it incline bench is fine but not flat bench its dumb

Wow, one of the worst advices ever. I bet you'd also suggest not to do deadlifts and squats.

Android, on the other side, gave a good advice.

i think you will find a lot of people do not do flat bench..... i dont, i agree with mr big on this.

[Mrbig]

dont bench at all its a dumb exercise that 99% of ppl use az an ego lift and only a few actually get results from it incline bench is fine but not flat bench its dumb

Wow, one of the worst advices ever. I bet you'd also suggest not to do deadlifts and squats.

Android, on the other side, gave a good advice.

f*ck you do you even have a chest I bet you have only been training a week and think your guna be mr olympia in a year squats and deadlifts are completly different flat bench is useless at bullding the chest unless you can do it properly which 99% of ppl cant which is why you have guys going round saying they bench so much but have a chest that resembles a 10 year old boy

[tikalosh]

i'm with mrbig too, never done much flat benching, incline and flat DBs ftw

[startinfromscratch]

bump.

i asked this same q months ago, couldnt progress f*ck all on bbell bench, tried allsorts. Took everyones advice and did all inc/flat/dc benching with db's.

now progressing steadily, wont ever go back to bbell bench..

just my 2 cents..

[Darwinstef]

dont bench at all its a dumb exercise that 99% of ppl use az an ego lift and only a few actually get results from it incline bench is fine but not flat bench its dumb

At the risk of another hostile reply I have to disagree as well. Its good to mix it up and I throw the flat bench in every so often. Personally I think its a great chest exercise and I always get a good workout from it.

I also use dumbbells and machine...variety is all good

Oh yeah, my second sin, I have my thumb underneath :pfft:

[Mrbig]

i dont mean dont ever do it but leave it until you have mastered the mind muscle connection so you can get the most out of the excercise I didnt do flat barbel bench for my first year all I did was dumbells but then switched it and could really feel it but now I dont do flat bench and dont miss it dont get me wrong who wouldnt love to bench 200kg+ but id rather look like I bench 200 and stick with 140-160 for reps

[agent86]

Flat benches have only caused me grief and have caused me 3 serious shoulder injuries. Even on dumbells I make sure the bench is slightly inclined.

Flat bench pute a lot of stress is put on the front delts but is still thought off as the bodybuilders main exercise. It's not!

As for the wrist problems,you might want to try wrist supports. Also some gyms have a chest machine which actually comes in to the middle as you press. This might take the stress off the wrists as a flat bar will tend to rotate your wrists at an unnatural angle as the bar is lowered.

Use the rule "natural selection". Do those exercises that don't injure you or aggravate existing injuries.

[Darwinstef]

There is some young guys at my gym that load up 160kg on the bar. They can't get one rep out without the spotter just about breaking his back getting it back up hahaha.....those would be the people you are referring to I would imagine

[Mrbig]

yup those are them fuckin idiots thea everywea at every gym makes me laff when they get stuck under the bar and the 3 spotters struggle to get it off the guy benching

[agent86]

I knew someone who tried benching 3 plates on each side but it got stuck on his chest. He had no spotter so rolled it down to his hips breaking his ribs in the process.