I seem to keep getting a problem whilst benching were my left will hand shift back putting the bar in middle of the hand rather than closer to the palm. This is putting a lot of pressure on that wrist and I end up with quite a bit of pain. Also the problem seems more prevalent when going for higher reps. Does anyone have any advice on how I can fix this?
You ‘need’ to get the bar over the base of the wrist more. To do what I’m telling you, you need to have a thumbs around the bar grip ok…
This is how I grip the bar. I lay on the bench, then I grab the bar ( whatever width you do best at) with the BACKS of my hand facing each other, thumbs pointing towards my feet, little finger aims back. sort of like an upside down hand shake with the bar. The bar is touching that last knuckle ( the one closest to the thumb nail) then I rotate / tuck my arms / shoulders down and back like your supposed to do right. The bar is now very low on the wrist. If I had no thumb the bar would probably roll off my hand and smash my face. The bar sits about an inch above my wrist joint. This is the spot the bar will be IF you cast your wrists with wrist wraps. This will allow the wrist to stay straighter. I say straighter because you might be cranking your wrists back as a bad habit. The bar may be way behind your elbows and you need to fix that. You may have the elbows tucked and then touch high on your chest. The bar may be naturally making your wrist cock back. I hope I articulated this well enough for you.
Option 2 is buy some wrist wraps and cast the wrist up.
The way you set-up seems to make a lot of sense and I’ll give it a go. Just to clarify by thumbs around the bar do you mean opposed to a suicide grip or as in a hook grip? I don’t think the problem lies with my elbows or how the bar sits because my right wrist will stay straight throughout and without any discomfort but I will check to make sure.
yes, regular ol grip with thumb around the bar only the bar sits as low as possible on the wrist. I’ve also read that this bat position helps activate the triceps better due to sitting on the Ulnar nerve. (ever ride a mtn bike and your fingers go numb after holding the handle bar for a long time?) that’s the same thing only with lifting you won’t hold the bar long enough to effect the fingers.
Get someone to watch you lift. get them to see where the bar is in relation to your arm bone. If everything is straight (vertical), then you should be better off. If you bench raw there will be some angle in your arm but this shouldn’t be excessive otherwise you are doing a messed up extension vs. a press. IE, I’ve seen guys who after I tell them to tuck the elbows a bit they tuck but still touch up on the upper pecs instead of the sternum / upper abs.
Cheers for advice, I’ll see how I get on.