How to do a narrow grip bench press to build triceps and protect your shoulders

What is a narrow grip bench press

The press with a narrow grip is a basic exercise for pumping the pectoral muscles and triceps, during which the hands are on the bar A. H. Saeterbakken, D. Mo, S. Scott, V. Andersen. The Effects of Bench Press Variations in Competitive Athletes on Muscle Activity and Performance / Journal of human kinetics at a distance of about 40 cm from each other.

If you transfer this grip to the barbell, your index fingers will be located at the beginning of the first notch - where the center smooth part ends. The video below shows a medium grip on the left, and a narrow grip on the right.

Why do a narrow grip bench press

The main advantage of a narrow arm position is shoulder safety. In one scientific work C. Green, P. Comfort. The Affect of Grip Width on Bench Press Performance and Risk of Injury / Strength and Conditioning Journal analyzed the position of the shoulder joints in the bench press and concluded that the wider the grip, the greater the risk of injury.

When you grip the bar wide, at the bottom of the exercise, the shoulders are pulled strongly to the side - almost to a 90 ° angle - and rotate outward. This puts a lot of stress on the acromioclavicular joint, can cause injury to the lower articular-humeral ligament and damage to the pectoral muscles.

If the arms are placed narrower, the shoulders will be retracted at an angle of 45 ° or less, which partially relieves the load on the joint and reduces the risk of damage to its structures.

When it comes to muscle-building, the narrow grip presses work on the chest, back, and shoulders as well as the medium and wide barbell presses. A significant difference is observed only in the activation of the biceps and triceps.

So, in the experiment A. H. Saeterbakken, D. Mo, S. Scott, V. Andersen. The Effects of Bench Press Variations in Competitive Athletes on Muscle Activity and Performance / Journal of human kinetics, with the participation of 12 experienced athletes, found that a narrow grip loads the biceps 30% worse than working with a medium and wide stance.

Even more difference was noticed in another study by A. H. Saeterbakken, N. Stien, H. Pedersen. The Effect of Grip Width on Muscle Strength and Electromyographic Activity in Bench Press among Novice- and Resistance-Trained Men / International journal of environmental research and public health with experienced lifters and novices. Working with wide and medium grips, athletes loaded their biceps by 48-115% better than narrow ones, and untrained participants - by 66.5%.

But for pumping triceps, it is better to put your hands closer. In the same experiment A. H. Saeterbakken, N. Stien, H. Pedersen. The Effect of Grip Width on Muscle Strength and Electromyographic Activity in Bench Press among Novice- and Resistance-Trained Men / International journal of environmental research and public health narrow grip increased triceps arm activation by 10-24% compared to medium and wide stance hands. True, only with experienced athletes. The newcomers did not make a difference.

Moreover, muscle work can be further increased by focusing on them during exercise. Thus, in one experiment J. Calatayud, J. Vinstrup, M. D. Jakobsen. Attentional Focus and Grip Width Influences on Bench Press Resistance Training / Perceptual and motor skills with the participation of 18 experienced athletes, attention to the triceps during the press with a narrow grip increased its activation by 4-6%.

Thus, it is worth moving your arms closer to the center of the bar if you are trying to better load the triceps brachii muscle and protect the joints from overload and injury.

Who doesn't need a narrow grip bench press

Despite the similar activation of the muscles in the bench press with different grips, the medium and wide stance on the bar helps to shake more weight.

Two at once 1. A. H. Saeterbakken, D. Mo, S. Scott, V. Andersen. The Effects of Bench Press Variations in Competitive Athletes on Muscle Activity and Performance / Journal of human kinetics

experiments have shown that with medium and wide grip it turns out to squeeze 5-10% more weight than narrow grip.

Moreover, it works with both athletes and beginners. In the already mentioned scientific work A. H. Saeterbakken, N. Stien, H. Pedersen. The Effect of Grip Width on Muscle Strength and Electromyographic Activity in Bench Press among Novice- and Resistance-Trained Men / International journal of environmental research and public health experienced lifters reap 7% less narrow grip than wide and medium ones, and untrained people - 6, 6-8, 4% less.

Thus, a narrow grip will not work for you if your main goal is to increase the weight on the bar and compete.

Although you can occasionally add such a performance option to your training program in order to better pump triceps and relieve the shoulder joint.

How to do the close grip bench press

Lie on a bench and move so that the bar is over your eyes. Bend in the chest and bring the shoulder blades together, as if squeezing a pencil between them. At the same time, the upper part of the trapezoid and buttocks should remain on the bench.

Bend your knees, move your feet towards your shoulders and press them to the floor. They should provide you with good support during the bench.

Grasp the bar with a straight grip just a little narrower than shoulder-width apart. Use the markings on the fretboard as a guide - place your index fingers on the very edge of the first notch.

Remove the barbell from the racks and move it to a position just above the shoulders. Then bend your elbows and lower the bar in a small arc until it touches your chest. Squeeze it to the starting position over the shoulders and repeat again.

What mistakes should be avoided

Too narrow grip

As we said, a narrow grip in the bench is usually considered a distance of about 40 cm. If you place your hands very close to each other, this will not only reduce the performance, but can also cause pain in the wrists due to excessive bending.

Trying to lower the bar higher

If you are used to touching the middle of your chest with the bar and try to do the same with a narrow grip, your wrists may be at a disadvantage.

Make sure that the hands continue the line of the arms. And if at the same time the bar is lowered to about the level of the diaphragm, there is nothing to worry about.

Elbows pressed to the sides

When pressing with a narrow grip, the elbows will be closer to the sides than when working with a medium to wide arms on the bar. But do not specifically press them to the body.

The pinched position will prevent you from properly loading your muscles and will put unnecessary stress on your shoulder joints. So keep your elbows loose, a short distance from your body.

How to add a narrow grip bench press to your workouts

Press with a narrow grip 3-5 sets of 6-12 times. Pick up the weight so that the last reps are really hard - close to muscle failure.

Keep in mind, however, that a tight grip will reduce your one-rep maximum for an exercise by 5-10%. Therefore, if you change the setting of your hands, to begin with, be careful to add weight on the bar and ask you to hedge.

Include exercise in the program 1-2 times a week. It is better if at least 2-3 days pass between two workouts so that the muscles have time to recover from the load.