Wide-Grip Barbell Bench Press

Also called wide grip bench and wide bench press.

Works

Chest, plus shoulders and triceps

Equipment

Barbell

Level

Intermediate

Type

Compound

How to do it

Setup. Lie back on a flat bench with feet firm on the floor. Using a wide, pronated (palms forward) grip that is around 3 inches away from shoulder width (for each hand), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. The bar will be perpendicular to the torso and the floor. This will be your starting position.

1. As you breathe in, come down slowly until you feel the bar on your middle chest.
2. After a second pause, bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out and push the bar using your chest muscles. Lock your arms and squeeze your chest in the contracted position, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up.
3. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.

Cues

• Grip just outside shoulder width.
• Shoulder blades pinned back.
• Bar to the mid chest.
• Press back toward the rack.

Common mistakes

• Grip too wide for your shoulders.
• Elbows flared to 90 degrees.

Where to start

A starting point, not a law. Pick a weight you could lift two or three more times than the top of the range. Tempo is seconds down, pause, up. When every set hits the top of the range, add a little weight.

Go easy, or pick an alternative, if you have a sore shoulder. Pain that's sharp or gets worse set to set means stop.

Easier

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