An examination of the grip for the press and bench press

[Mark Rippetoe]

By Jordan Feigenbaum. Detailed, pedantic, in keeping with the way we do things here.

http://startingstrength.com/index.ph...ipping_matters

[Mac Ward]

Good article, Jordan.

How much did you have to pay the arm model on the third page? Clearly a perfect specimen.

[Brian Harlin]

Anyone else have to answer the, "what are you doing?" Question because you were palpating your forearm and hand for half an hour while going back and forth from your phone while sitting on the couch?

[morbidlyfat]

Pretty good stuff. I suppose it is left as an exercise to the reader to determine how applicable this is to the chin-up and pull-up grips.

Very slightly disappointed there is no discussion of the occasionally-mentioned thumb-over 'suicide' grip, but perhaps its inadequacies are sufficiently self-evident.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Pretty good stuff. I suppose it is left as an exercise to the reader to determine how applicable this is to the chin-up and pull-up grips.

The chin/pull up are bit different due to the arm being under tension, not compressive forces, though you'd want to minimize the moment force between where the place where you hold and the wrist, elbow, and shoulder in order to have the most efficient grip. You're sacrificing a bit of joint congruity at the elbow in the chin up and using more muscular force to make up for not pronating, but your biceps brachii, the strongest supinator in the body, is more than up for this task.

Very slightly disappointed there is no discussion of the occasionally-mentioned thumb-over 'suicide' grip, but perhaps its inadequacies are sufficiently self-evident.

If you think about it, a false grip requires you to carry the bar/implement with greater wrist extension so as to not drop the bar out of the hand since you no longer have the thumb contributing to what is known as the "power grip". Concomitantly, the flexor group of the forearm will contribute less to holding the bar in place in addition to providing less force about the wrist and elbow, therefore getting trained less. This is mainly due to passive insufficiency. People will say, "But I press better with a false grip", to which I reply, let me teach you the "correct" grip (which they don't already know) and then do it for a month. You'll be stronger.

[Milo's Ghost]

Very slightly disappointed there is no discussion of the occasionally-mentioned thumb-over 'suicide' grip, but perhaps its inadequacies are sufficiently self-evident.

I played football with a guy in HS who not only didn't put his thumb around the bar, he didn't even put the rest of his fingers around it. He basically rested it in his palm, next to his closed fingers. He was the strongest dude on the team, too. And he'd do this with our strength coach and head FB coach standing right next to him. Even as a 16-year-old I thought this was less than ideal. Far as I know he's still alive, tho.

[tertius]

I am apparently a mutant.

I can flex my wrist fully and make a fist (though it is admittedly hard), and also extend my wrist fully, and straighten my fingers.

Of course, back in my martial arts days, teachers liked to use me to show off finger techniques, because the crazy way my fingers bend would invariably cause the entire room to squirm well before I even felt anything.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

I am apparently a mutant.

I can flex my wrist fully and make a fist (though it is admittedly hard), and also extend my wrist fully, and straighten my fingers.

Of course, back in my martial arts days, teachers liked to use me to show off finger techniques, because the crazy way my fingers bend would invariably cause the entire room to squirm well before I even felt anything.

It is not uncommon for people to be able to acquire these positions, but it is extremely rare that people can do these with maximal force of the musculature, due to passive insufficiency.

[quad]

Do you mean that while doing chinups I am supposed to hold the bar close to my wrist?
I thought that I should put the bar close to my fingers because that's where it ends anyway for callous prevention.

[tertius]

It is not uncommon for people to be able to acquire these positions, but it is extremely rare that people can do these with maximal force of the musculature, due to passive insufficiency.

This is sort of the premise of most joint locking techniques, really.