Wide-Grip Barbell Bench Press
Trains the Pecs.
- Equipment
- A barbell, a rack and either a flat bench or an adjustable bench
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Set a barbell in a rack over a flat bench with the safety pins just below chest height.
- Lie back and take an overhand grip noticeably wider than shoulder-width — wide enough that the forearms are roughly vertical at the bottom.
- Set your shoulder blades back and down and plant your feet.
- Unrack the bar and hold it over your lower chest with straight arms.
- Lower to the chest, letting the elbows travel out more than on a standard press.
- Press back up without letting the elbows drift toward the head.
Common mistakes
- Going wider than the shoulder is comfortable with. A wide grip shortens the distance the bar travels, which is why it tempts people, and it also puts the shoulder into more horizontal abduction at the bottom than a standard grip does. The grip that works is the widest one that still lets the forearms sit vertical.
- Keeping your standard bench weight. The range is shorter but the shoulder position is less strong; the two do not cancel out.
- Bouncing off the chest. A shorter range makes the bottom arrive faster, and a bounce at the bottom of a wide grip is the least supported point of the movement.
- Skipping the pins because the range is short. The failure mode is the same as any bench press — the bar on the chest with no way to sit up — and where the pins go is part of performing the lift.