Half seated press

T-maggers,

I’m following Joel’s 5x5 workout and having a problem with the half seated press. It puts a lot of strain on my wrists and generally feels ‘wrong’!

I’ve tried moving my grip from quite close to beyond shoulder width apart, but still get pressure on my wrists regardless. My training partner, whom is shorter than I, also gets this wrist strain. Is this right? Or am I doing some fundamental flaw? Otherwise’s what excerise would be recommended to replace it, I was going to go with decline dumbbell extensions???

Thanks for any help

You’re talking about the Power Rack Tricep Lockout press? How about the back of the seat - have you tried adjusting the angle? Remember you have 80-90 degrees to work with. Also, I don’t put the “death grip” on the bar - I find a comfortable spot in the palm of my hand and my fingers are only tight enough for balance purpose.

I think Poliquin said to use a 12" to 14" grip. At home try taking a tape measure and griping it with that space in between and get a feel for what that looks like so you are ready when you get to the gym. I know some people do this with a 8 to 10" grip and I imagine that is just bruttle on your wrists. Work with it because this, in my opinion, is an excellent tricep exercise.

According to Poliquin, the grip should be about shoulder width.

If substituting the exercise for another, please switch to reverse grip bench presses as this also stresses the lateral head of the triceps.