Dave Tate's 6-Week Bench Press Cure

[imnotbncre8ive]

EDIT: nvm.

[PVC]

This is actually a better cue for me than simply pulling the bar straight apart. The bending would actually be as if you were pulling / bending the bar around you, but with your arms kind of straight. but...these cues maybe are a little different for everyone as far as what makes the most sense to you.

I think Tate's "try to pull the bar apart" cue serves to do two things:

1) Grip the bar primarily with the inside of your hands - i.e. that nice little spot formed by making a circle with your thumb and index finger. In SS Rip says that you should angle your hands out slightly for your bench press grip, and you do this by first gripping the bar with just the thumb and index finger, and then wrapping the rest of the fingers around the bar. I like to do it Rip's way, just because I find it to be a more specific and consistent cue than just "try to pull the bar apart".

2) Grip it tight. A tight grip helps maintain tightness throughout the whole body.

To each his own. Whatever cue works for you, run with it.

[OITW]

On the press (not bench), I've often noticed I'm gripping the bar unevenly, with my knuckles not in line from one hand to the other. I also got my grip messed up trying the olympic press from the Starr article, and found the bar moving out toward my fingers. Returning to the SS press, I found the cue of pulling the bar apart really useful today to set the bar properly, and set an admittedly weak PR in the press. Thanks.