Close Grip Bench Press
The close grip bench press moves the emphasis from the chest to the triceps. It's a great tricep builder while also working the chest.
The benefits of the close grip bench press
It's a great tricep strength and mass builder. It has a high potential for progressive overload. It has a much higher ceiling for loading than an exercise like push down or kickbacks.
It's easier on the shoulders than the bench press. A lot of people who can't bench press often without some shoulder discomfort find they can bench with a close grip without causing any problems.
The Set Up:
Set the pins so that you don't have to reach up to unrack the bar, and it's not too low that you're wasting energy when you unrack the bar. Set you first set your shoulders in the position so the bar is somewhere between forehead and mouth. You want to be in a position that you don't have reach too far behind when you unrack the bar, but also not too close that you could hit the rack while you're pressing.
Push your feet into the floor, squeeze your glutes, and squeeze your shoulders back and together. Before you unrack the bar take a deep breath into your stomach like you would with the squat.
Unracking the bar
Grip the bar around shoulder-width apart, and low in your hands (not up towards your fingers). Unrack the bar so it's over your shoulders. Try to bend the bar in half. Obviously, you won't actually bend the bar in half, but doing this will help get your lats while keeping your shoulders retracted and remain tight. Don't lose the position that you created during the set up.
The descent
Go fairly slow on the descent (two to three seconds). A common mistake you'll see beginners do is they'll divebomb on the decent and lose their control and then use a bad bar path. Because of the narrow grip, the bar will touch a little lower on the body compared to the bench press, and the arms will be closer to the body.
Pressing the bar
Press the bar back to the starting position. Keep your chest up and push your shoulders into the bench as you press the bar. You can use leg drive if you want, but prefer not to and just keep constant tension through my legs.
The main differences between the bench press and close grip bench press.
If you have experience with the bench press you'll soon pick up how to do the close grip bench press as there are more similarities than differences.
The benefits of the close grip bench press
It's a great tricep strength and mass builder. It has a high potential for progressive overload. It has a much higher ceiling for loading than an exercise like push down or kickbacks.
It's easier on the shoulders than the bench press. A lot of people who can't bench press often without some shoulder discomfort find they can bench with a close grip without causing any problems.
The Set Up:
Set the pins so that you don't have to reach up to unrack the bar, and it's not too low that you're wasting energy when you unrack the bar. Set you first set your shoulders in the position so the bar is somewhere between forehead and mouth. You want to be in a position that you don't have reach too far behind when you unrack the bar, but also not too close that you could hit the rack while you're pressing.
Push your feet into the floor, squeeze your glutes, and squeeze your shoulders back and together. Before you unrack the bar take a deep breath into your stomach like you would with the squat.
Unracking the bar
Grip the bar around shoulder-width apart, and low in your hands (not up towards your fingers). Unrack the bar so it's over your shoulders. Try to bend the bar in half. Obviously, you won't actually bend the bar in half, but doing this will help get your lats while keeping your shoulders retracted and remain tight. Don't lose the position that you created during the set up.
The descent
Go fairly slow on the descent (two to three seconds). A common mistake you'll see beginners do is they'll divebomb on the decent and lose their control and then use a bad bar path. Because of the narrow grip, the bar will touch a little lower on the body compared to the bench press, and the arms will be closer to the body.
Pressing the bar
Press the bar back to the starting position. Keep your chest up and push your shoulders into the bench as you press the bar. You can use leg drive if you want, but prefer not to and just keep constant tension through my legs.
The main differences between the bench press and close grip bench press.
- A closer grip
- Touch lower on the body at the bottom of the rep
- Arms closer to the body
- You don't use any, or as much leg drive.
If you have experience with the bench press you'll soon pick up how to do the close grip bench press as there are more similarities than differences.