Bodybuilding Quick Tips

A small but beautiful bodybuilding tip

Quick Tip 6 - Vary your grip!

Success is in the palm(s) of your hand(s)...

When doing any barbell work try and vary the width of your grip every now and again. This has a couple of benefits:

1. Varying the width of your grip alters the motion and range of the exercise in question, and can alter the effect of the exercise on the target muscles. For instance in bench pressing, the wider your grip the more your pectorals become the prime muscle used. As your grip narrows you use more and more delts and triceps in the movement. Varying the grip shakes things up a bit and can help improve your results.

2. You may find a grip width that actually suits your body better. Each of us has a different body layout to everyone else - your should width is different, the length of your arms, even the length of your forearms as a fraction of your upper arms is different. It's no wonder then that what works for one person might not for another. For some people a wider grip is more 'natural' and comfortable than a narrower grip and the risk of injury is actually reduced by using a grip that fits with your biomechanics.

Don't vary every workout or every set - try and find what works for you but then vary it every now and again for a workout or a few sets just to hit the muscles slightly differently and hopefully shock them into new growth.

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Post-workout nutrition is vital to preventing over-training. Consider getting yourself a good quality post workout protein and carbohydrate based protein powder - see our Post-workout Guide for more information.