Bench press with reverse grip. Reverse Bench Press

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Performing a bench press reverse grip, you can perfectly work out all the departments of the triceps. At the same time, unlike using a narrow grip, your brushes will not be heavily loaded. For bodybuilders, this is a very effective movement, as it contributes to the hypertrophy of muscle tissues, but it develops strength indicators rather weakly and in power triathlon won't be as helpful.

Some athletes Special attention devote to training the biceps, which is fundamentally not true. This is primarily due to the fact that it is this muscle that occupies most of the mass of the arms. Don't forget to pump your biceps to have really powerful arms.

Since when performing a bench press with a reverse grip, the shoulder girdle is unloaded, the triceps have a large load. Maximum effect can be achieved by combining this movement with hammers. Although part of the muscles is excluded from the movement, it continues to be multi-jointed.

This makes it possible to reduce the load on the joints, due to the even distribution of the load between them. At the same time, the target muscle is pumped better, since the muscles shoulder girdle excluded from work. As a result, you not only pump your triceps with high quality, but also reduce the load on the joints and, as a result, reduce the risk of injury.

Lie down on a bench with your feet on it, thereby excluding them from work. The sports equipment should be taken in the same way as the classic bench press, but at the same time turn the brushes towards you. Lower the projectile slightly below the solar plexus, but you do not need to fix the bar in the lower position. When pushing the projectile up, do not fully unbend your arms in the highest position.

To perform a reverse grip press, you will need the help of a friend, because otherwise you will not be able to remove the projectile from the rack. When performing the movement, the gaze should always be directed upwards, but do not take your head off the bench. Do not spread the elbow joints to the side, but keep them as close to the body as possible. V otherwise part of the load will go to the pectoral muscles.

It is also necessary to ensure that the projectile is always at the level of the solar plexus and does not need to be raised to the head. To eliminate the risk of injury to the elbows, perform a movement with a number of repetitions from 12 to 15.

Anatomical features of the reverse grip press

This movement is as close as possible to anatomical features human body. When performing it, you do not need to twist the brush, which allows you to remove almost all the load from it. Also, with a reverse grip, supination occurs and this allows you to further emphasize the load on the target muscle. This applies not only to triceps, but also to biceps. As a result, the muscles of the hands are in constant tension, and the body is forced to use the glycolysis reaction as actively as possible to obtain energy.

Since almost all the load falls on the hands, the joints are not at risk of injury. Although for this reason you will not be able to work with big weights, but you can significantly increase the intensity. It is this fact that explains the ability of the reverse grip bench press to maximally affect the hypertrophy of muscle tissues. Also, muscle failure occurs precisely in the target muscle group, which is very important when gaining mass. If you are not yet using this movement in your training, then it's time to correct this flaw in your program.

How to perform a bench press with a reverse grip, see the following video:

The reverse grip press is designed for pumping triceps and. Perhaps this is the first time you've heard of this variation of the bench press. Please read this article carefully before starting the exercise.

When to Exercise

When your pectoral muscles are far behind in development against the background of the growth of other muscles.
When you have weak triceps.
To diversify your workout.

When not to do this exercise

If you don't have a safety partner.
If you ever had a shoulder injury.
When your elbows hurt, your biceps are injured.

The reverse grip bench press is extremely rare. Usually enough other exercises, the so-called base. If you decide to complicate your program, give an additional load on your pectoral muscles and triceps, strictly follow the recommendations on the bench press technique. A mistake will cost your health.

Because in this exercise additional load goes to the biceps and front deltoids, we do not recommend training the shoulders and arm flexors on the same day.

Stand Height

Set up the bar racks so that when you are lying down, when you hold on to the bar, your arms are slightly bent. Don't set the bar too high or too low. Lie down on the bench and lift the bar from this position - if it is comfortable to put it back, then you have correctly set the height of the racks.

Insurance

Ask someone to insure you. Have this person by your side when you start harvesting. The exercise is not aimed at lifting maximum weights, technically complex, so you can easily drop the barbell on yourself.

Neck selection and warm-up

Leave the bar blank. Usually the weight of an empty neck is 20 kg. If this is hard for you (for girls, by the way, this is a very solid warm-up weight), take a lighter bar. Never be afraid to start small and ignore the guys that are already big. They also started with light weights. The main thing is gradualness.

Lie down on a bench. The pelvis, back, shoulders and head should lie on the surface of the bench. The legs rest on the floor and are slightly apart, bent at the knees. It is necessary to lie down steadily. The bar should be directly above your eyes.
Take the bar with a classic grip slightly wider than your shoulders. Take it off and do 10 quick reps to warm up. Put the neck back.
If it's hard, look for a lighter bar.

Let's start the exercise

The starting position is the same. We make a small deflection in the lower back (no bridges and other cheating).
We grab the bar with a reverse grip, wrap our thumbs around it (that is, 4 fingers on one side, the thumb on the other) - it’s safer, the bar will not roll onto your chest. Hands exactly shoulder width apart.
We set the legs so that you lie steadily and do not stagger to the sides. We rest our heels on the floor. If you spread your legs wider, the position will be more stable.
A partner helps in removing the barbell. At your command, he removes the bar and releases it. All this time you keep your hands on the bar and control its movement. The partner removes his hands when the neck is at the level of your diaphragm.
Now lower the bar so that your elbows do not diverge to the sides. Slowly lower it to your diaphragm, raise it faster. We repeat 10 times and decide whether to increase the weight or not.
If the weight is normal - do 3 sets of 10 times as the first workout.
If it's easy, we consider that it was a specific warm-up. We select the weight so that you can perform the exercise the desired number of repetitions in correct technique. Experiment.

The most important moments in the bench press and what not to do

Many people want to pump up faster without even understanding part of the meaning of exercising in gym. As a result, they simply twitch their arms, legs, jump and make other students laugh.

Weights

It often happens that friends in the gym shout to you: “What is so little, hang more!” And you, in order not to fall in their eyes, hang more. And tear your ligaments. Therefore, work with the weight that suits you.

What others say is irrelevant. If you are comfortable working with an empty bar, and 25 kg is already very difficult for you, work with an empty one. In the next workout, you will add these 5 kg and perform well this exercise already with the new weight of the rod. Don't look at others, you are rocking your body!

You can lift more by arching the “bridge”, making a powerful jerk, jerking on the bench, but there will be zero sense for your muscles! But there is a lot of harm, up to injury.

Execution speed

With the bench press, the main effort falls on the push of the bar from the chest. Therefore, this part of the exercise must be done faster and on the exhale. The lighter one needs to be stretched for a few seconds.

Thus, we lower the barbell slowly, feel all the muscles that work and inhale. When the bar is on the chest (in our case, in the area of the solar plexus), we exhale and with a powerful push we throw the bar into initial position. Moreover, this movement must be controlled.

A common mistake is a sharp and uncontrolled lowering of the bar. The result - chest injuries and stretching of the triceps, shoulders.

Rod trajectory

You must direct the bar in such a way that it moves strictly vertically. No deviations. Remember, the maximum load from the force of gravity is achieved only at a right angle to the horizon.

If the bar goes on the stomach, you risk tearing the deltas. The load on the shoulders will increase significantly. And instead of the chest, you will “kill” them. If you move the bar to the side of your head, you risk dropping the bar on yourself. The insurer may not have time to react. Here are 3 reasons why you need to perform this bench press option correctly.

Insurance

The person who volunteered to insure you should look at you during the exercise and be there. It is unlikely that he will be able to catch the barbell if you drop it on yourself. But in case you can't squeeze last time in the approach, but will help you finish the exercise and return the barbell to its place.

Due to the fact that such a bench press is performed from the diaphragm, and the racks are located at eye level, you will not be able to put the bar loaded with pancakes on your own without the risk of breaking it.

Proper barbell belay is the minimum helping force. The partner should let you finish the exercise so that you give your best.

Elbow position

If your elbows go to the sides, your back will connect to your chest and triceps. Thus, you will not get the maximum point load on the desired muscles. Elbows should be pressed to the body.

Neck girth difference

To prevent the bar from flying off your neck, you need to grab the bar with 4 fingers on one side, and with your thumb on the other. It's safe. Some coaches say that not all of the triceps work with this grip.

If you grab the neck with all your fingers on one side, they say, then the triceps will be loaded to the maximum. There is no significant difference between these two grips, except for an increased risk of the bar leaving the palms. Therefore, we hold the neck exactly as we advise.

Hand position

We do not push up from the floor, so the brushes do not need to be bent. Keep them as straight as possible. Experiment as you feel more comfortable. So do it.

If your shoulders hurt, but you want to pump your chest

The shoulder is a very complex system. Therefore, she most often suffers from haste, improper technique or too much working weight.

If the deltas are stretched and painful, you can’t press the bar in this way! Wait for the pain to go away. And even after that, you can’t perform a reverse grip bench press for a while.

If the neck is only 20 kg

This section is mainly for girls and physically unprepared men.

Grab dumbbells instead of barbells! Their weights vary. You can take 3 kg, or you can take 6. Choose your weight and exercise in the same way as with a barbell.

The only difficulty is each hand on its own. Therefore, try to keep the movements performed synchronously. It is advisable to have a partner nearby.

Execution in Smith

We do not see any point in this exercise, since the weight of the neck in Smith can reach 30 kg. For many, this weight will be heavy, and this variation of the barbell bench press is impractical. The same applies to trained people. You're better off benching outside Smith.

Who is doing this exercise

Most often, this type of bench is used by athletes who want to increase their performance in the bench. They are professionals, they have been practicing for a long time, they press very often and a lot. Therefore, they can be seen various techniques bench press, including reverse grip.

In a normal workout, this exercise does not make sense. It is also meaningless for beginners.

It is well known that training with a barbell contributes to the effective development muscle mass of the whole body. In addition to standard or basic exercises with a barbell that involve a large number of muscle groups, there are exercises aimed at developing certain muscle fibers. One such exercise is the reverse grip bench press.

Bench press studies with reverse and classic grips

More recently, many coaches and weightlifters were convinced that in order to develop muscle groups in the upper chest, it is necessary to perform exercises with a barbell or dumbbells on incline bench, because in this position of the athlete, these muscles are better worked out.

However, studies on this issue have shown that on an incline bench, the chest muscles receive only 5% more load, compared to similar exercises with a barbell on a flat bench. At the same time, on an incline bench, the rear deltas are 80% more involved. Thus, the difference in the effectiveness of the bench press lying on a flat and inclined bench, regarding the study upper muscles chest, is insignificant.

At the same time, studies conducted by a Canadian university showed that the reverse grip bench press provides the chest muscles with 30% more work than the same bench press on a flat bench with a classic grip.

What are the Benefits of Reverse Bench Press? Which muscles get the most work? It should be said that, first of all, these are chest muscle groups. The greatest load falls on the large clavicular pectoral muscles, a slightly smaller load is received by the superficial pectoralis major muscles and muscle fibers of the lower chest. However, not only the chest is well worked out when performing this exercise. What muscles work with the bench press with a reverse grip yet? Their list is given below:

frontal deltas, which are the muscles of the shoulders;
middle trapezoid, that is, a group of muscle fibers located on the back between the shoulder blades;
triceps, which are worked out with any kind of bench press;
flexors of the hand, located above the hand itself in the forearm.

Thus, the bench press with a reverse grip can be performed not only in order to pump up a large and strong chest, but also for the development of the muscles of the arms and upper back of the athlete.

Exercise technique

How to perform a reverse grip bench press to achieve the desired results? Below is a list of the sequence of actions when performing this exercise with a barbell:

First, the athlete needs to lie on a flat bench with his back so that the barbell is on supports above his head.
The back and buttocks should lie on the bench, and the feet should be completely on the floor, creating support, and maintaining the balance of the athlete.
Then the athlete needs to take it with a reverse grip, while the palms of the hands should be directed back. The width of the grip is recommended to be chosen so that it slightly exceeds the width of the athlete's shoulders.
After that, the athlete needs to raise the bar until the arms are fully extended in elbow joints. At the highest point sports equipment must be directly above the athlete's head.
Before lowering the bar, the athlete must take a deep breath. Lower the bar slowly until it touches the lower part of the chest.
Then the bar is lifted, while the athlete exhales at the heaviest point of lifting the projectile.
At the top point, hold the bar for 1 second, then, after inhaling, lower it and repeat the above steps again.

The reverse grip bench press technique on a flat bench is not difficult, and this exercise can be performed even by a beginner in weightlifting who has mastered the normal grip bench press technique.

Features of the bench press on an inclined bench

This exercise is performed on a bench inclined to the horizon at an angle of 30-45 °. As the position of the body changes, the load on the pectoral muscles also changes in the direction of its increase. For this reason, it is recommended that athletes work with slightly lighter weights on the incline bench press than on a flat (horizontal) bench.

A feature of the technique for performing this type of bench press is that the grip width should be slightly smaller than when exercising on a flat bench. At the lowest point, the bar of the bar should be above top chest, and not above the bottom, as is the case with the exercise on a flat bench.

Barbell Weight and Reps

The weight of the bar when performing the bench press with a reverse grip should be chosen so that an athlete with a power output of 85-90% can perform 8-12 repetitions. It is these numbers that will make training as effective as possible.

Choosing too small weights, when the athlete easily performs 20 or more repetitions, is ineffective for increasing chest muscle mass, and weights that the athlete lifts with difficulty 3-4 times create a risk of injury, especially the frontal deltas, which experience significant loads during this type of bench press.

Exercise Precautions

Since the reverse grip bench press is a more risky exercise than the traditional bench press due to its technique, it is recommended that you perform it in the presence of a partner in order to use his help in case of emergency.

In addition, during the exercise, keep thumbs hands tightly around the neck of the bar, giving more confidence to the grip.

Professional athletes strive to work the triceps in every possible way. Firstly, it is involved in all chest press exercises, and secondly, it allows you to achieve even more arm volume. - a great solution for point work of all three triceps bundles.

Benefits of the Reverse Bench Press

The reverse grip works the triceps, but also engages the upper chest and anterior deltoid. Also, the exercise is the least traumatic. The fact is that with a reverse grip it is quite difficult to spread the elbows to the sides by inertia, thereby shifting the load from the target muscles to the joints. The reverse grip bench press is ideal for athletes with a shoulder injury - the joint is completely fixed. The work is carried out by about 70% due to the triceps, and the rest falls on the upper chest + front deltas. In addition, the exercise does not use narrow grip, which is quite detrimental to the wrists.

Reverse grip press: execution technique

The exercise must be done with extreme care and attention. Technics:

IP - lying on the bench. Rest your feet, avoid arching the lower back;
We take the neck with a grip slightly wider than the shoulders - almost the same as in the classic bench press;
We lower the neck just below the solar plexus. ATTENTION - do not fix at the bottom point and in no case touch the body with the barbell;
We push the barbell on the exhale, at the end point we leave the elbows slightly bent;
We repeat the required number of times.

The chest should not be touched due to the fact that with a reverse grip this position jeopardizes shoulder joint. You should stop about 1.5-2 cm from the body.

Features of the reverse grip press

Has a number of features:

When performing the bench press, be sure to involve a partner. When working with a decent weight, you simply cannot remove the barbell from the installation;
On the initial stage work only with the weight of the neck, maximum + 5-10 kg. You need to work out the technique, get used to the grip;
The elbows should be pressed to the body to relieve the load from the chest.

When doing the exercise, try to look up. When returning the bar to its original position, we recommend resorting to the help of a partner, since in such a slope you can injure your shoulders, elbows, and wrists. In general, take care of the joints - they will still come in handy.

Who, when and how much

The main purpose of the reverse grip bench press is not to set any strength records. Your task is to develop triceps, load the muscle as much as possible, increase its volume and get a good relief.

Exercise should be done:

To whom

Beginners and pros.

When

Do a bench press with a reverse grip in the middle of a workout, after.

how many

On average, 3 sets of 12-15 reps each.

In order to load the pectoral muscles to the maximum - you can use a wider grip and aim to spread your elbows wider.

Masses to you and relief!

Lie down on horizontal bench. Using a narrow supinated grip, remove the barbell from the racks and lift it straight up above you. Arms are perpendicular to the floor. This will be your starting position.
As you inhale, slowly lower the bar down, bending your elbows. Continue moving until the bar touches the middle of the chest. Hint: Unlike the regular bench press, keep your elbows close to your torso.
After a short pause, as you exhale, lift the bar up, returning it to its original position, straightening your arms and straining your triceps. Pause, slowly lower the bar. Hint: going down should take twice as long as going up.
Complete the required number of repetitions.
After completing the exercise, place the barbell on the racks.

Attention: if you are doing the exercise for the first time, use the help of a partner. If a partner is not available, be careful when choosing a weight. Watch the movement of the bar, do not let it go forward.

Variations: You can also do this exercise using an EZ bar or dumbbells.