Bench Accident

[Laver]

To anyone who has ever watched bench press accidents on youtube, and wondered what the results were, here you go.

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2010/02/23/story-newark-weight-lifter-crushed.html?sid=102

The hard truth.

[Eddy]

A very unlucky dude. When going really heavy it's always a good idea to have a spotter.

[SoaringSwine]

Sounds like he was using the suicide grip.

[Tonka]

Sounds like he was using the suicide grip.

Yep, thats exactly what I thought when I read the article and this statement "And somehow the bar slipped from his hands and fell about two and a half feet and struck him across the face," confirmed he was using the thumbless grip.

The statement his father made As experienced a weight-trainer as Harmon is, his father said his mistake was lifting without someone to spot him., this would not have made a difference. `It happens all to fast and when a bar slips out of the hand, even side spotters would have little chance trying to catch falling weight let alone a center spotter.

Why people use this grip when bench pressing completely baffles me!

I wish this young man a speedy recovery, never good hearing about these sorts of things but its an all too familiar gym accident unfortunately.

[drizzt]

Why people use this grip when bench pressing completely baffles me!

Ditto. Out of interest, what are the (perceived?) advantages to this grip?

[Tonka]

Ditto. Out of interest, what are the (perceived?) advantages to this grip?

The only advantage (I shouldnt be writing this) to this grip is the bar sits lower down in the palm of the hand directly over the wrist and in turn, the wrist should stay directly inline with the elbow making for better tricep efficiency when pressing. However when closing the thumb it takes some getting used to the bar sitting on the thumb joint and aligning it directly over the wrist but after 2-3 sessions it becomes second nature.

[tinytraps]

Dave Tate did an article on the false grip after a college footbal star dropped the bar on his chest using it.

In some pl feds in the states the false grip is allowed. IIRC you could get your hands wider( within the max grip) using the suicide grip, there was probablly other stuff but why risk it? :?

[tinytraps]

Dave Tate did an article on the false grip after a college footbal star dropped the bar on his chest using it.

In some pl feds in the states the false grip is allowed. IIRC you could get your hands wider( within the max grip) using the suicide grip, there was probablly other stuff but why risk it? :?

[drizzt]

The only advantage (I shouldnt be writing this) to this grip is the bar sits lower down in the palm of the hand directly over the wrist and in turn, the wrist should stay directly inline with the elbow making for better tricep efficiency when pressing

Thanks Tonka, I thought it may have been something like that - but was thinking it'd be such a fine line for what surely wouldn't be too much gain, that there must be other reasons! :-s

Definitely not worth it, one bit of sweat on the palm could mean disaster :shock: