Question on lifting belt for bench and wrist wraps

[pyaarawala]

Lifting belt for bench:

What is Rippetoe's take on using a belt for the bench press? Is there any benefit? I use it on squats, deads, and the press but for some reason on the bench there are multiple opinions on it. I've tried it w/ the belt and w/out, and they both seem about the same. But if Rippetoe advises it I will get used to benching w/ the belt.

Wrist wraps:

I've been having classic forearm pain during (and especially after) and set of straight bar curls. I've been told using wrist wraps will solve this issue completely, is this true? I figured the wraps might be a good investment to use on the overhead press and bench press as well, is this true?

[Sean Herbison]

But if Rippetoe advises it I will get used to benching w/ the belt.

Don't get me wrong, Rip's a great resource, and gives a lot of good (free) advice. But don't just blindly follow what he says, if it doesn't make sense for you to do it. This is true of anyone's advice. Most of us here bench beltless.

I've been having classic forearm pain during (and especially after) and set of straight bar curls. I've been told using wrist wraps will solve this issue completely, is this true?

No.

I figured the wraps might be a good investment to use on the overhead press and bench press as well, is this true?

Yes.

[Sean Herbison]

Oh, and that said, if you are going to blindly follow someone's advice, you could do worse than listening to Rip.

[pyaarawala]

Thanks for the reply. Just recently I decided to listen to only one reputable person because for a long time, I've been listening to all sorts of people. First started off with Rip, then some guys on the bb.com forums, then the EliteFTS people, then Dan Green, and they're just so many different ideologies and forms used by so many different people, it's hard to see which one is the best for my goals.

But for now, on form for the lifts I want to follow only Rip's teaching just to keep it simple. Especially since the form he teaches is to use the most muscle mass through a safe ROM for optimal strength and hypertrophy. Unlike some others that teach form just to pass at a powerlifting meet or something.

I'll get the wrist wraps and begin curling w/ them after a couple weeks of rest w/ no curling. Hopefully that'll work. And I'll pass on the belt if most people here don't use it.

[Les Hahn]

Thanks for the reply. Just recently I decided to listen to only one reputable person because for a long time, I've been listening to all sorts of people. First started off with Rip, then some guys on the bb.com forums, then the EliteFTS people, then Dan Green, and they're just so many different ideologies and forms used by so many different people, it's hard to see which one is the best for my goals.

But for now, on form for the lifts I want to follow only Rip's teaching just to keep it simple. Especially since the form he teaches is to use the most muscle mass through a safe ROM for optimal strength and hypertrophy. Unlike some others that teach form just to pass at a powerlifting meet or something.

I'll get the wrist wraps and begin curling w/ them after a couple weeks of rest w/ no curling. Hopefully that'll work. And I'll pass on the belt if most people here don't use it.

If your wrists/arms still hurt, try doing dumbbell hammer curls. Those seem (for me) not to hurt as much.

I like benching in a belt too. I just feel tighter. Both ways work, so just try them and see what works better for you. I don't think either one is going to have a huge difference, so this is something you can just figure out for yourself.

[Karl Schudt]

Why are you doing curls? Do you have to do them?

[elVarouza]

I second dumbbell hammer curls. They're the only type of curl I can reliably do that doesn't hurt my elbows or wrists.

Why are you doing curls? Do you have to do them?

I think curls are important to have a balanced physique. I even think they're useful when starting the novice program. I did the novice program until the end and did plenty of chinups after switching to something else. I eventually was able to do 3x5 chins with +55lbs attached at a BW of 225lbs (280lbs total weight) but my arms still looked like twigs. I'm not talking about 'my arms weren't hayoooge enough for the beach', I mean the rest of my body was big but my arms looked like dangly little twigs attached to a a huge torso. I think I could bench 300 around then too. Even though I could hit chins with 280lbs total weight it was hard to straight bar curl 65x10. Adding curls helped balance out my arms and also helped my elbows not hurt from all the low bar squatting.

For those reasons I now recommend that people do curls even on the novice progression. However, you have to be smart enough to not overdo them because they will affect your bench and press if you go too heavy or frequent on the curls.

[Karl Schudt]

The reason I ask is that if he is having forearm pain from curls, but curls aren't absolutely necessary, then he could dispense with them and avoid the forearm pain. Or, perhaps, he's doing too many, if he is doing them for elbow health.

I only do chins, and my biceps are HYUGE! Lucky me.

[John Bono]

I'm going to second Les' advice about belting up when benching. If you are the sort who makes a hard arch and a lot of leg drive while benching, the belt helps enormously. It seems counterintuitive to belt up when benching, but in my experience, it is probably worth about 10% or more added to what I normally bench.

[Manimal]

I had some carpal tunnel like symptoms after my first time through starting strength. I had to take 6 months off to heal. I got a pair of inzer wrist wraps and wear them for all of my working sets. I love the extra feeling of support and have no wrist pain anymore. I will say the biggest contributor to my lack of pain was fixing my form. Reread the sections on benching and pressing and watch a couple videos on proper wrist position.