Close Grip Bench

A

AKUFADUM

New Member
Greetings Folks,

I got into a discussion with this other guy at the gym on how to perform the CG bench.

I for one when I do it I put my hands roughly about shoulder width on the bar and and the movement I keep my elbows in.

His take on it
That your hands should be touching in the middle of the bar. performing the movement the same way. Well I tried this (while he was watching). And I found that it put a lit of strain on the shoulders and wrists, and I could keep the bar steady.

How does everyone here perform the CG bench?
 
Close grip bench is as how it sounds. Your grip is close. Shoulder width is simply doing a normal bench press.

The idea behind the CG is to target your triceps. The wider your grip on the bar is, the more stretched out your pecs are. Likewise, the less angle, and hence force/load, is put on your arms. Grip is an inverse relationship for bench press for tri's/pec targeting. In both movements, both muscles are being used, but since your idea is to target the triceps, then you will want to be closer.

While putting your hands together isn't a bad idea, you may have a problem with balancing the bar. When I used to do this exercise, I kept room for another hand to grip in between my two hands, so approximately 3-4 inches.
 
thats exactly how i do it, too narrow and the wrists would take a beating. a cambered bar can be very good for this exercise.
 
Once again Exrx misses the mark a bit IMO. Colby is right. a general rule I've seen is a max of 18", but I like to reach out the thumbs and touch them together (here is your 4") and position there. As stated, too narrow and you can mess up a wrist or lose control of the bar. We should NEVER lose control of a weight, except in an abort.

If it's tri's you're after, have you ever tried reverse grip bench? You can go almost as heavy as your bench with them once you get used to it. Just something different that makes the gym squirrels come over and say "Uh, hey, ya know you're doing that wrong...?"
 
wow, never would have thought of doing Bench that way.

Though watching some of the videos on you tube. Strange movement. I am going to give it a shot but somehow I don't think I will feel safe performing that movement.
 
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