As great as they are, regular bench presses also have a reputation of causing joint pain. (fitnessandpower.com)
«Instead of doing regular bench presses, we used a bamboo bar... and we would hang plates on rubber bands off the bar... so it was like trying to bench press a snake!» (thecelebrityworkout.com)
To overcome this problem, alternate between regular bench presses and reverse - grip bench presses or use the reverse - grip variant for the warm - up sets. (fitnessandpower.com)