Does grip width change?

[JCavin]

Te last few months I've become more flexible in my shoulders, but I find myself more comfortable with a slowly widening grip on squats and bench.

Does the width of your grip change over time or is just a matter of me finding what is personally more comfortable?

[Karl Schudt]

Squat is different from bench. It ought to tend to the narrow side, because it builds a better shelf for the bar. On the bench, you should generally have vertical forearms at the bottom position, but grip widths vary. Oldster, for example, likes a quite narrow grip, and I think Gillian benches pretty narrow too. I've gone a bit wider recently and am so far having good results. Too wide and you leave out the triceps. Too narrow, and you leave out the pecs. Just right, and you're awesome.

[JCavin]

Thanks Karl. I think what I'll do with the bench is just do some singles with a manageable weight and vary the grip to see what I prefer

[JCavin]

After a few weeks of playing with my grip I've settled on about an inch inside the rings. This is more narrow than it was previously.

I filmed my set today and I have a question. Because te triceps are involved more, the bar tends to travel more toward my ribs. It's not much, but it isn't a straight line like it was previously. To me this makes sense because te elbows have to travel down a bit instead of flaring like they would with a wider grip. I'm assuming this is normal?

it feels much stronger this way. In fact it feels similar to doing a decline. That could be because I'm arching better now too.