Every time I bench, my wrists hurt. The reason they hurt is because I bend them back when I bench. I know a simple answer to my problem is just don’t bend them back but it isn’t that simple. If I try to not bend them back then I get out of my groove and I feel weird. Furthermore I loose probably 30% of my strength! I don’t know if it is a muscle imbalance in my forarms or what because I would really like to get this problem nipped. I don’t think that I have weak forearms because I have never used straps and I can DL about 400lbs, but maybe it is a muscle that doesn’t involve gripping? I don’t really know.
Some info that may be helpful— I use a westside style benching technique(elbows in), I am 6’5’’ and therefore have long arms, I bench about 250 for a max and am 200lbs. I don’t know if any of that will be helpful but it may.
So basically restating the problem–whenever I bench my wrists hurt and they are basically at a 90 degree angle to my forearms, so if you can picture it my palms are facing the ceiling. Maybe everyone who benches elbows in also have this problem, but I have always hated the bench(weird, huh?) because of it. Thanks
check the ego, lighten up the weight and do it right, or just take a week off of benching and see how u feel when you come back.
exactly what the previous poster said. Your hyperextending your wrist which is destroying it. Drop the weight and do it right or eventually you wont be able to do it at all.
Thanks for the reply and I realize that lowering the weight may be the only solution. I train for athletic purposes and so I only bench with the bar every two weeks or so as it isn’t a really core lift in my training program. But I do think it has its place in my training program. I really don’t have an ego about it. If I cared about how much weight I use than I would not do one arm overhead barbbell snatches. Its just that if I lower the weight I use, the movement will really not be all that effective. I do say 185lbs for 5x5 but if I want to keep my wrists straight than I would have to do 135 5x5. It also seems that when I try to keep my wrists straight, I can’t even keep my elbows in, so that is probably where I am losing most of my strength. What I mean is that when I straighten my wrists I feel like the weight is going to fall forward, I just can’t keep a tight groove. Maybe this is a weakness in the lats? But I can do 5x5 pullups with 25lbs at a bwt of 200lbs?
I think that I have read so much t-mag that I have been very scared of upperbody training, specifically pressing movements. What I mean is that I have focused so much on lower body and olympic lifts that I may have somewhat neglected my upperbody. I squat 385, hang clean 235 and only bench 250 on a good day. I remember reading somewhere that your hang clean should approximate your incline press and if that is so than I do have quite a strength imbalance because my incline is probably like 170 or something.
Maybe I should just do DB bench since it is a more natural movement with freedom of motion, but I feel that I would just be giving up or copping out.
2 words for you my good freind…“wrist wraps”…i like the crain model…big m
Thanks for the suggestions. Big M, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate all of the advice you give on this forum and that you are one knowledgable and strong mofo.
I second what Big M said. Wear the wrist wraps on your heavy sets and on your lighter ones focus on not bending your wrists quite as much. Eventually you won’t need to use the wraps nearly as often.
I know what you mean by getting out of your grove and feeling all wierd. A few years ago I used to bench like that too. I see it a lot in the gym, where guys actually do not wrap their thumbs around the bar so the bar is just resting on their palms. When I was younger the bar rolled out of my hands at full extension onto my chest. 285lbs… I could have been killed if I weren’t in such good shape. I was ok, but the next day it felt like I got hit by a truck and for a couple weeks after. I am deathly afraid to do it that way anymore, especially because I bench a whole lot more than that now. It took a while to get used to it but now I do it right. I had to lower the weight for a while also.
Also I had a friend on the football team trying to get 5 wheels and the bone came through his wrist.
Get used to keeping your wrists straight. Yes you will be weaker until you get used to it. I changed my grip recently and lost 15% off my 1RM. Within three weeks i had got it back up to the same level. Just presevere and it will come. It does sound as though you might have weak lats, what can you bent over row?
You’re losing 30% of your strength because you’re uncomfortable with the form, not cause of any inherent weakness with that bench style. You are going to generate more power by keeping over your forearm as much as possible. It may be uncomfortable at first because you are used to the other grip but work through it and you should see your bench improve quickly.
By letting the bar roll back in your palm you are actually losing force. The force your generate pushes directly up over the forearm so when you let the bar roll back you actually pushing your wrist past the bar first before lifting the bar itself. Keeping the bar directly over the forearm transfers the force more efficiently to the bar thereby letting you lift more.
The new form will probably be uncomfortable at first. I had a issues when I first started lifting Westside style and tried using their bench forms. In a week I was used to it and my bench began improving.
change your form, take a week off, take some anti-inflammatory otc stuff just in case… if that doesnt help then see a doc before whatever you have gets worse.
yeah, if this has been going on for a while, see a practitioner that does active release or graston to evaluate the soft tissue. i prefer graston for the wrists. take time off. this happened to me this fall and i had to not bench for a couple weeks.
as for wrist wraps…do not use them at first until you get your wrist angle right. what happens (from experience) is you get the added stability of the wraps and you continue with your old form…making the problem worse. once you get the form and your wrists stop hurting, by all means, try the wraps.
ive been reading the forum for a couple of weeks now and have my own thread where I asked for help and I must say that these people are NOT helpful at all. All they do is insult you or give one line smart ass comments. Nobody has given you any help so far here either they seem to be just guessing.
Im not saying the members arent experienced or strong they just suck at relaying the information needed for others to succeed.
Ok for your problem Ive been benching for 3 years and have had chronic wrist pain when im benching and after. Some days I cant bench and other days I dont feel it one bit. The last few months it hasnt hurt at all and I am now benching 290 at 172 pounds. Wrist wraps suck hugetime they wont do anything. What you need to do is try to get a grip where your thumbs are flat on the bar pointing towards each other. It does feel weird and like you arent holding the weight good enough but it wont fall just let it rest on your palms it will never move! If that feels too weird for you then keep doing what you are doing and you will get through the wrist pain its right where your distal ulna and radius meet with the carpals where it hurts right? It will go away just work through it and it will get stronger. Hope this helped out a little
I too bend my wrist back. I backed off and started benching 3 days/week. Your wrist will get stronger. Now I have NO pain.
beef
Wait, wait, wait…
Riverdog–
“The bone came through his wrist”?!?!
That doesn’t sound good!
Drop the weight and get your wrists straight. Once you get the proper technique, the weight will go back up and then some. If you don’t learn the proper technique, you will always be limited by that improper technique.
You might also want to experiment with a wider grip, 6’5" would say you have a pretty good wingspan.
Just because Westside promotes a specific technique doesn’t mean the shoe fits everyone equally well. At 6’5" and 200lbs you’ve got a different body type compared to those guys and it follows the mechanics are going to be different.
Don’t mind snook, he’s just mad because he won’t do the research. snook, before you even TRY to say other members are no help or “suck at relaying the needed information” you need to DO THE RESEARCH YOURSELF. Your other thread is a blatant example of someone who doesn’t WANT to work, just wants the answers handed to them. So don’t come into this thread and try to spread the bullshit that people won’t help you. They just won’t help you when you won’t help yourself.
I really appreciate all of the helpful info. I did not know that I am hurting myself in the long run benching with my wrists back, but now that I think about it, it does make sense that one would be stronger with straight wrists. I am going to force myself to keep my wrists straight from now on, even if it means feeling goofy and using less weight. I will also try a wider grip. Thinking back I used to have a wider grip, but I don’t remember any wrist pain(interesting).
Snook- Thanks for the advice, it will help me out, but I have to disagree with you about the people on this forum. While there is the occasional troll or malcontent, the VAST majority of the posters on this forum offer really great advice, even if it is something you (not you specifically) don’t want to hear.
Creed- When I do bent over rows I will usually do say 135 for 3 sets of 8 reps or so.
Thanks everyone for your advice and I will post an update on my bench (all pressing movements for that matter) once I see some progress with my stupid wrists.
Snook: You are confused. One of the cooler, more knowlegable coaches helped you out on your thread (Dave Tate).
And sure, sometimes Goldie and Patricia dig at people, but that’s 'cause those people haven’t used all of the free and readily available info. I would think that it’s especially irritating for them to see it because they’ve used all of that handy info to become top rung at what they do. If you look back, in fact, they both give great advice and help to people that have already exploited the free info on this mag but just need some additional help.
Basically, if you want help from the forum, you have to have helped yourself to the info the mag has to offer first.
I just got back from the gym and I tinkered with the bench a bit. I found that I feel like the bar is going to roll out of my hands if I keep my wrists straight, especially with any kind of weight on it. Any suggestions? I know I am being a pain but any further help would be greatly appreciated.