Starting Strength

ability to squeeze the bar. Try it yourself for demonstration purposes, with a light weight, please. Many big benches have been done with a thumbless grip, just like many big squats have been done with less-than-perfectly-efficient technique; some people get very good at doing things inefficiently. The point is that since the standard grip is safer and more effective, it should be used by everybody who has thumbs.
    The thumbless grip is an attempt, as previously stated, to get the bar into a better position in the hands. The force generated by the shoulders and triceps is delivered to the bar through the bones of the forearms. The most efficient transmission of power to the bar would be directly from the heels of the palms to the bar, through the forearms positioned vertically, directly under the bar, so that no moment arm exists between the wrists and the bar. Most people look at the bar, see the line of the bar in the air over their eyes, and then place their hands in a position that puts the knuckles in a parallel line with the bar. This position will produce a distance of 1–2 inches between the bar and the wrist – resulting in a lot of unnecessary leverage against the joint, and an inefficient force transmission configuration.
    As discussed in the press chapter, the best way to position the grip efficiently is to set the grip width at the index finger and then rotate the hands into pronation by pointing the thumbs down toward the feet. This motion aligns the bar with the “radial longitudinal crease” and between the “thenar eminence” (the high spot adjacent to the thumb) and the medial palmar (“hypothenar”) eminence on the other side (see Figure 3-10 ). Then, just lay your fingers down on the bar and squeeze the fingertips into the bar. When you take it out of the rack, the bar will be on the heels of your palms, directly over your forearm bones, as shown in Figure 5-11 .

    Figure 5-11. Most people will begin and end the grip process with the bar lying perpendicular to the line of the knuckles (A). The best position is achieved by rotating the hands into pronation (B), and then setting the grip (C). Note the position of the bar in relation to the hand.

This position hooks your thumbs around the bar and removes the wrists from the kinetic chain. Once your hands are in position, tighten your palms so that the bar is well supported and does not move during the rep. The thumbs do not interfere with this process at all. You don’t need the bar down in your fingers, the same way you hold it in a deadlift, since gravity is not trying to pull it out of your fingers. In the bench press and press, the bar is in compression in your hands, not tension. Carrying your deadlift grip habits into the bench press and the press is just not productive.
    It is common for the bar to shift back in your hand, toward the fingers, during the set, so that the bar ends up in a completely different position from where it started. This is the result of not maintaining a tight grip during the set. If the bar shifts much at all, it can change the lifting mechanics by altering the position of the load relative to the muscles driving it up, making a change in elbow or shoulder position during the lift likely. If the bar rolls back in the hands, it has also rolled back relative to the elbows and shoulders, and they have to adjust to maintain their drive. The bar should remain locked firmly in place during the set for efficiency and safety.
    Grip width, within a certain range, is largely a matter of individual preference. Since you are trying to develop general upper-body strength, your form should be generalized, without too much emphasis on any one muscle group and with a lot of work for all of them. The greatest range of motion is obtained with a grip that places the forearms in a vertical position when the bar is on the chest. With a wider grip, the bar doesn’t move as far and locks out before the triceps have done much work, so the pecs and delts end up doing more of what work gets done. But as long as the grip falls somewhere between 22 and 28 inches between index fingers, the purpose is served. This range allows enough leeway for people of all shoulder widths to find a grip they feel strongest with, while preserving the longer range of motion. Too much narrower a grip will, for most people, take pounds off the work set by placing the responsibility for most of the lockout on the comparatively smaller triceps, although most