Fix Your Press - Part 5: Correct Your AWFUL Grip
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(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 03/03/23)
(This is the fifth article in our series on helping you improve your press. Today’s topic - the correct grip width. In this article, you’ll also find a couple of videos related to today’s topic.)
It’s easy to accidentally take a grip on the press that’s far too wide, so let’s fix this quick.
The press utilizes a relatively narrow grip - simply reach out in front of you as if you’re Frankenstein’s monster, and this will give you the shoulder width grip that we’re looking for. Most guys will take their grip right on the edge of the knurl or perhaps a finger width into the knurl, while most gals (and smaller guys) might have an index finger on the smooth part of the barbell with the rest of the fingers on the knurling (see the included video for a visual demonstration).
These landmarks are not set in stone, but they will get you started. To check your press grip width, remember that when you’ve unracked the bar and are ready to press, you want to have vertical forearms when viewed from directly in front of you (you’ll need to record yourself if you don’t have a coach or training partner). If your forearms are angled out, you’ll need to narrow the grip a bit, and if the forearms are angled inward (less common), you’ll need to widen the grip a bit.
To be clear - the grip width for pressing is NOT the same width grip you use for benching, and here’s a quick way to remember the different grip widths for each lift. Note that “bench press” is comprised of two words - simply imagine the words “bench press” (in large print) floating in front of you and place your left hand on one side of “bench press” and your right hand on the other side of “bench press.” On the other hand, “press” only has one word, so if you repeat that process with “press,” you’ll have a significantly narrower grip for the press than for the bench press (the video near the beginning of this article helps greatly with picturing this).
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
-Phil
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