The close-grip bench is perhaps the most common assistance exercise for the bench press – an assistance exercise being defined as a variation of the basic exercise. While bench presses are usually associated with the pectoral muscles, moving the hands close together shifts the focus to the triceps. Men's Health participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. As a result, the close-grip bench press is typically used as a lighter assistance lift that helps us gain size in our front delts, upper chest, and shorter heads of our triceps. Eb says: You want to eliminate as much shoulder rotation from this move as possible, both to really attack your triceps and to protect your shoulders. That means really screwing in your arms hard. Our lifting newsletter for men—16,001 readers and climbing. That means heels flat on the floor, glutes and abs squeezed, and elbows driving into the bench— and never bounce the weight off your torso. The 5 Big Compound Lifts for Building Muscle. To get an idea of why that is, we can look at how our leverage changes as we bring our grip in closer: What we’re seeing here is that as you bring your grip in narrower, the moment arm between your hands and your sternum shrinks, reducing the demands on the bigger “squeezing” muscles of your chest. You will be able to keep your lats tighter in a standard grip … In conclusion, the narrow-grip bench press works best for strengthening the upper arms while producing less strain on the shoulders than other grip variations. There are a few reasons you might want to include it in your routine: The close-grip bench press is a lighter variation of the bench press, often used as an assistance lift in powerlifting programs, given that it bulks up the muscles that tend to limit our 1-rep max bench press strength: our shoulders and triceps. ; Choose between a regular or false grip style (jump to: grip tips). ; Grasp the barbell with an overhand, shoulder width grip. The close-grip bench press works the fronts of our shoulders (anterior deltoids), our upper chests (the clavicular fibres), and the shorter heads of our triceps, like so: It’s often said that the close-grip bench press is a lift designed to bulk up your triceps, and that’s true, but there’s quite a bit more to it than that. Which actually encompasses all of the distinct muscles in your triceps. So when training to increase your 1-rep max on the bench press, you might want to experiment with lower-rep sets of the bench press, perhaps doing 3–5 sets of 3–6 reps. Then, either in the same or another workout, you can add in some close-grip bench pressing done in a moderate rep range, perhaps 3–4 sets of 8–15 reps. One of the main differences between the regular bench press and the close-grip bench press is that instead of working your entire chests, it emphasizes the upper chest. The close-grip bench press challenges both our front delts and upper chests in a fully stretched position, which is amazing for stimulating muscle growth. Eventually, it'll limit your ability to really add weight to the move. Marco Walker-Ng is the co-founder and strength coach of Outlift, Bony to Beastly, and Bony to Bombshell, and is a certified trainer (PTS) with a Bachelor's degree in Health Sciences (BHSc) from the University of Ottawa. These form keys are the secret to better reps for a stronger chest and triceps. Perhaps most of all, it’s one of the very best assistance lifts for powerlifters who are trying to increase their bench press 1-rep max. Your chest and shoulders will invariably assist in close-grip pressing, but you're doing this primarily for tris, so keep the focus on them. Most lifters perform close grip benches with their wrists well inside their elbows, generally about 6-8 inches apart. What makes it a perfect arm exercise is the focus on your triceps and, to a lesser extent, the front deltoids instead of the chest area as in the case of traditional bench press. Emphasis off your triceps be quite good for building muscle exercise, you ’ ll notice that the long of! D still bet on the floor, spaced comfortably apart triceps cross both the elbow and joints. Is performed lying prone on a weight bench, using a weighted barbell to provide resistance lie the... 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