Powerlifting Tips For Bench Pressing With Long Arms

[@feetham]

Shortening the range of motion is not the be all and end all for Long boi benchers, but it is important to shift some load to the lats like you said. I have had more success with a very narrow grip ~17" between my hands and fairly tucked elbows (to load the lats). less shoulder pain/discomfort, more range of motion, and more weight. Edit: 6'2" with 6"6" wingspan.

[@drinkinouttacups2665]

Same. Not sure where 17" puts the hands but a bit in from the rings works fine for me even pinky on the ring causes problems fast

[@SetTheCurve]

I'm not 100% on board yet with the wider grip for long arms. My arms are probably 4" longer than most men my height so I have this problem big time. I noticed a huge benefit learning to use my lats to push, and the wider I get the more my chest must take over. With relatively narrow grip, you can almost bench with the same muscles that you would do a dip with, which starts with your lats. Since I can do 20 dips in a row at 200lbs, but I can only do 8 reps of bench at that same weight, that just goes to show how much getting those lats involved is important. Before I learned to use my lats to push, my narrow grip was weak so I would flare out my elbows to get my chest maximally involved. Now my wide grip bench is much weaker. I'm willing to consider that I may be doing my wide grip wrong so I'll test out some reps and see if I can get the lats into a wide grip, but these seem counter to each other. I think one thing I might have mentioned as a tip for long armed people is to improve back flexibility to get a better arch. The more you can turn your bench into a decline bench the stronger and more stable you'll feel. Anyway, the main takeaway I got from this video is to prioritize the stretch reflex/rebound over the chest nudge, which is something I hadn't fully considered.

[@ThaFitnessInfluencerSlayer]

Prioritize close grip to build strength and bring in your regular bench a little more. This "widen your grip" for long arm ppl has to stop. It's madness. It's the total opposite

[@ImTheBlade65]

Agreed! I'm 6'4" 225 lbs and 56 years old. By narrowing my grip it allows me to really squeeze my lats crazy hard. The narrower grip also makes it more natural to bench lower, much lower on my chest. I now bring the bar down to my diaphragm. Keeping my elbows directly under my wrists. With the wide grip approach, my bench was miserably small at only 225 lbs for 2 or 3 reps. A year after training with the narrow grip, I now do 315 for 6 reps and 365 for a single. Taller trainees do indeed have some significant challenges and cannot be trained the same as shorter peeps.

[@rihards1767]

I aggree to this! I am 5'10 with 6'0 wingspan and I come from calisthenics backround. When doing dips, i always create a tightness from my lats and pushing scapula down. By doing that, i can feel that my lats and pecs create a tightness synergistically and i can get a much better push from the bottom. When trying little bit wider grip on bench or even pushups, it feels very off, like force vectors from arms are directed in a V shape outwards (Exactly the opposite of what chest should be doing - pushing INwards).

[@zyncarla]

I’m 6’3 with a 6’7 wingspan and bench 455 pinky on the ring. Which is pretty narrow, any wider and my shoulders start to really feel it

[@permabulkenjoyer2002]

Agreed to 100%. It seems like cutting the range of motion is the answer to everything nowadays....

[@akshayebenezar]

Wow, this was actually useful. I got that flaring early problem too.

[@Wo1fLarsen]

6' 4" with long arms. These tips will help.

[@jamesbarnes5769]

Same here man

[@braxtonv3566]

As someone built with orangutan arms I really appreciate this video 😂 helped me out a lot!!!

[@xandercharlie3525]

I realize it is pretty randomly asking but do anyone know a good place to stream newly released series online ?

[@bloodynose5970]

Same man. Like, I can almost touch my knees while standing straight

[@wpowolfpackinternational8346]

Added to my training 💪

[@anthonypearson5929]

Thanks boss. I have monkey arms.

[@closegripbenchpress489]

me too. but a bigger torso too so i bench more than i can squat and i deadlift 2times what i bench (80kg) at 60kg bw

[@sloppyjonuts9162]

Close Grip Bench press same here 5’5 -5’7 ish big ass chest ribcage & back ...been lifting 1 on 1 with a higher up lifter at a hardcore gym..for about 4 months..already can bench 225 for maybe 2-3 sets of 3 reps!!!!!!my goal is 315 by Christmas!!

[@closegripbenchpress489]

@@sloppyjonuts9162 i think youll reach 315 quicker unless somethings happends to you. also i close grip mainly close grip never going to wide grip in my life

[@sloppyjonuts9162]

Close Grip Bench press thanks!! I hope sooo that’s all I think about /daydream ...is a big bench!!!!! oh so you don’t put pinky on the ring then? Or even “ring-finger” on the ring

[@closegripbenchpress489]

@@sloppyjonuts9162 my bar is smaller than the regular one my hands are 1-2cm away from touching my chest. like extremely close like 2 fingers away from the smooth part

[@NeilBooth]

Thanks, I'm 6ft tall but my wingspan is 6ft5. So benching was always my worst movement

[@t-bonesteak1502]

Is this really Action Bronson?

[@Davaughn_Johnson]

About to start training wide grip

[@BIack0ut23]

When i put my arms 45 degress from my bodY the bar comes down on my stomach

[@BigBenchas]

You'll be a little higher touch point it sounds!

[@ThaFitnessInfluencerSlayer]

Prioritize close grip to build strength and bring in your regular bench a little more. This "widen your grip" for long arm ppl has to stop. It's madness. It's the total opposite

[@foxdogs1st]

I just read article that said close grip better for long arms. 😆

[@ThaFitnessInfluencerSlayer]

@@foxdogs1st Exactly! I was "injured" for a while doing that wide grip BS. Fyi I'm like maybe 5inches away from touching my knees while standing😂

[@foxdogs1st]

@@ThaFitnessInfluencerSlayer 😆 wow, I measured my wingspan at 71.5" and I'm only 69" tall so I believe I have long arms. Normal ratio is 1:1 I believe 🤔💭

[@ThaFitnessInfluencerSlayer]

@@foxdogs1st I'm not sure of my wingspan or ratios but one thing I do know is that universally, we all should be doing more close grip work especially us orangutan-humans 😂 And bring in that regular grip a few inches. Imo high incline bench and flyes are almost useless too. Pullovers over flyes and OHP instead of incline😎

[@khole15]

close grip for people with really long arms is not good for the soulders at all, go wide

[@strengthadventure2694]

Good vid. Thanks.

[@juiceboxerman]

Would you say a soft touch is far more beneficial for a longer arm bencher as opposed to sinking the bar?

[@farhanhussain_]

Tip #1: retracted shoulders. It is one of the main reasons that benching ruins shoulders over time. Shoulder blades pinched entire time, locked, while arms keep moving up & down. It breaks the natural rhythm of motion where shoulder blades follow the upper arm. This is the reason push-up never damage the shoulders but benching does it. Tip # 2: wider grip It creates unwanted moment arms between wrists, elbows, and shoulders, causing unwanted stress. Moreover, your force applied to the bar is broken down into vertical and horizontal components. Basic physics. Only vertical force vector drives the bar up while the horizontal force vector is lost, no contribution in moving the bar up. These are the reasons that benching is not much appreciated for long term health of shoulders. Many of the world record benchers also have sustained many injuries and gone through many surgeries. Don't forget this fact.

[@peterzamfirescu3603]

Every athlete gets injuries it is the harsh reality of every sport

[@farhanhussain_]

@@peterzamfirescu3603 but we can take measures to minimize injury risks; whether it is sports, gym, office, or any other area of life.

[@davidselawsky6620]

Finally. Someone who diesnt just think if your short u have trex arms. Everyong has diff length limbs.

[@BigBenchas]

Absolutely!

[@presidenttrumpgaming2243]

Your bench is super wide

[@user-vn9js9yn1j]

Big brother no homo but damn I'm quite surprised wirh your down there

[@ohno837]

This is not good info…this guy has long arms but also a fat stomach which reduces his range of motion…if you have king arms and your rib cage is smaller and not like a leg of beer..you don’t let your arms go past the midline of your body..if you do your shoulder will get messed up as not it’s no longer a chest exercise. You can still bench heavy but no competitions as you won’t and shouldn’t Touch Bar to your chest…