Bench shirt and grip width

[Justin Hurley]

At competitions I have noticed that a majority of shirted lifters use a narrower grip. David Squires a 110kg lifter at the BPO pointed out that because the bench shirt gives such a lift off the chest you need to emphasise the triceps to finish the lift.

I'm trying to get my head around this, so I can play about with my grip when my shirt arrives.

At mid point in the lift the bench shirt is adding less force to the bar, so at mid point you are near enough flying solo with the wieght. I suppose this is another reason why speed is so essential. You also take less emphasis off the chest muscle and put more on the triceps.
With a narrower grip you just have to straighten your arms but don't you also have to make the bar travel further than a wider grip??

My head is in the shed with this one, can anyone simplify it a bit for me???

[AJ Roberts]

Justin im not sure why one would use a narrow grip for a comp lift as it increases your range of motion which has a negative effect on the numbers. One reason i could see some guys using a NG is because they have not trained with a wide grip for long or the fact that they find it uncomfortbale in the shirt. I train my grip at different positions and have found currently my strongest point is not my widest, im about a finger off, but ill keep trying to go wider as in the long run my ROM will be shorter.

Read some more Metal Militia articles they really go into depth on the set up for bench.

[Justin Hurley]

Yeah I need some more time to sit down and read some good articles.

My index finger is on the ring which I think is the max allowed width. Lets hope I can keep it there with a shirt on.

[yank]

My standard training grip is pinky on the ring, but I do mix it up. With a shirt, I widen out my grip to index finger to first finger on the ring. The shirt changes everything.

[Scourge_of_God]

I'd go with the full 81 to start with - ROM starts to become more important when you get in the shirt.

Also a shirt will tear your lats to shreds with a narrow grip.

[scruffy]

Yeah I need some more time to sit down and read some good articles.

My index finger is on the ring which I think is the max allowed width. Lets hope I can keep it there with a shirt on.

you must have one finger insdie the ring, that is all...... you will also find as you wear the shirt it will increase tri strength as you progress,, just remember to wear the shirt on all warm ups to get it bedded in, also against popular belief do not use talc or chalk to help it on, you need it to grip the skin...