Widened Grip, Now Wrists Stay Straight

[Gary Gibson]

Those of you who've seen my squat videos probably have noticed that my wrists tend to bend and the bar tends to roll down.

Well, yesterday I just widened my grip a bit so that my forearms were 45 degrees to my torso instead of almost parallel with my torso. The effect was immediate and pronounced. At the new angle, the wrists were simply in no position to roll under the bar.

I was able to keep my traps all hunched up and my upper/mid back tight AND I found it much easier to keep my head/neck neutral and still not turn the squat into a goodmorning. I suspect this is mostly because I was able to keep the bar in place much better; without the bar rolling down, the was much less tendency to bend over more to accommodate the changed (lower) bar position and therefore less tendency to have to good morning my way out of the bottom.

[jameson]

I've noticed a similar result when widening my own grip. My elbows were in pain so I went with a much wider hand position and wrapped my thumb around. I was still able to keep my upper back tight, and yes, it helped with my goodmorning squat, too (as the bar was rolling down my back). I'm sure there are many reasons for this, and I keep a narrow grip on my warmups to try to work them out.

Anyway, we all like to talk about ourselves... Glad you found something that works for you - maybe you'll reach your squat numbers sooner than you thought with your new grip.

Best,
J.