I have been reading up on a powerlifter named Anthony Clark and he Bench Presses over 700lbs with a reverse grip. I have been experimenting with this style in the gym for the past two weeks and I like the style alot more than traditional bench press and I am stronger benching this way. My question though is… is this a good legitimate style of benching and why does it allow me to bench more and much more comfortably. ThaNKS
Clark died a while back, (not that that had anything to do with his style of benching) so he’s not a current ‘superstar’.
I think if you want to utilise the reverse grip style in competition, you may find it difficult to find a fed that allows it now, I believe most feds believe it to be dangerous or at least very difficult to spot (thus making it more risky).
It helps you tuck your elbows more, taking stress off of your shoulders and putting it on your tris. It would suck to drop the bar on your face.
one time doing these, i went nicce and low on the chest but for some reason the groove on them is really weird for me and it came flying up and over my face! luckily my pops was there to catch and we set it down. Two minutes later i hit the weight:)
Super deep tuck and a real upperhand if you have strong tri’s. I’m sure it’s tough as hell to spot though and perfect hand position to bust some teeth
Make sure you train it in a power rack. Mistakes with reverse grip bench can mean death or serious injury.
They are a lot more deltoid and tricep dominant than a regular bench press. The disadvantage is that it is much tougher to take it out of the rack on your own. Also, like Nate said, the groove is much smaller and if you get out of it even an inch you can fail with an “easy” weight.
As a tip, I have found that using a much slower negative than usual will help you stay in the groove and tends to give me the most consistency on all the reps.
In answer to your question, it is a “legitimate” form of benching in every PL organization I know of other than USAPL/IPF, if you’re asking about competition. Other than that, it is a legitimate exercise, and a great bench variation.