Bench Press Grip

[Steve80]

I have a question about width of grip. When I first started lifting I had a more narrow grip ( put thumbs right outside smooth center area of bar). I then changed it to a wider grip ( pinky fingers just inside the out thin smooth circles on the bar). Today I went even wider (thumbs outside the little smooth circle). This made it really easy. Does that all make sense? I hope so.

Ok question. Does it matter how wide or narrow your grip is? Does it affect you chest in any way. If it is wider does it affect a different part of your chest or is it all the same? Is one way more prone to injuries,pulls, tears etc?
I think I like the wider grip just wanna make sure my chest is still being hit properly.

[ascendant]

for starters, the reason the wider grip made your bench easier is because you had a better point of leverage and your range of motion is more limited the wider you go.

as far as what it hits, the wider the grip, the more of the outside of your chest you'll hit. the closer in you go, the more of the inner chest you'll hit. the most important thing to do is add in both for variety and focus on what you think needs the most work.

[boondockSAINT]

The wider you go, the shorter the range of motion and the more the chest is involved. Brining the hands in hits the triceps harder. For what it's worth, in competetion the widest legal grip would be the index finger on the rings. There really is no reason to go any wider than this, and despite shortening the range of motion you are losing leverage. Most people are within an inch of the pinky finger on the ring, whether wider or narrower.

[Papi93]

The wider grip will place more stress on the pecs and the closer grip transfer some of the stress to the triceps.

With a wider grip, you would be more likely to sustain a pec tear. I've only really seen this in lifters who are on anabolics. I've never seen a natural lifter tear a pec, when using the wide grip. Using a closer grip, protects the pecs from injury because the triceps take some of the loading away. Westside Barbell's Dave Tate uses a closer grip for this reason.

Despite what others have said, you can press more weight with the closer grip because the triceps are assisting the pecs more.

[ascendant]

Despite what others have said, you can press more weight with the closer grip because the triceps are assisting the pecs more.

i agree with all you said except for this quote. the evidence lies purely in seeing how heavy you can go with a wide/narrow grip, but i know without question grabbing too close makes you not able to handle nearly as much weight. like i said though, anyone questioning this merely needs to try it for themselves and they'll see what i mean.

[boondockSAINT]

i agree with all you said except for this quote. the evidence lies purely in seeing how heavy you can go with a wide/narrow grip, but i know without question grabbing too close makes you not able to handle nearly as much weight. like i said though, anyone questioning this merely needs to try it for themselves and they'll see what i mean.

yes, every heavy bench in competetion is with the index fingers on the ring, the widest legal grip.

[Steve80]

Thanks guys for the info. I really appreciate it. I think what i will do is very up the grips on my sets. I already do close grip for tri's in addition to my other benching but I do it with my hands touching in the middle. and do it on my friday chest. I hit chest twice a week.

Question 2: Should I keep doing bench with hands touching in the middle for tris, or can I use a grip with my hands right outside the smooth center to hit chest also? Will that still hit the tris as well as touching in the middle?

[boondockSAINT]

Yeah I don't think your hands should be touching dude. I do close grip with my pinky about 4 inches in from the rings. This way you can use heavier weight but still focus on the triceps.

[ascendant]

Yeah I don't think your hands should be touching dude. I do close grip with my pinky about 4 inches in from the rings. This way you can use heavier weight but still focus on the triceps.

i agree that hands touching is a little too close and is probably not good for your wrists either on that movement. also, isn't it tough to balance with your hands right next to each other?

the closest i tend to go is my hands spaced a few inches closer than if they were at my sides, and the furthest is just a little wider than arms at my sides. what's more important than the arm spacing though is keeping those elbows at your sides on the negative rather than bringing them out as you do for chest.

[singern]

i agree that hands touching is a little too close and is probably not good for your wrists either on that movement. also, isn't it tough to balance with your hands right next to each other?
.

You can however do this on Smith machine. I do this for tri's.

[Steve80]

[QUOTE=ascendant]i agree that hands touching is a little too close and is probably not good for your wrists either on that movement. also, isn't it tough to balance with your hands right next to each other?

QUOTE]

Yeah it hard, but works your stabilizers alot which is good. Cant do alot of weight though. I do sets of 135 like that.

[ascendant]

You can however do this on Smith machine. I do this for tri's.

ah yes, wasn't thinking about that when i posted. personally though, i don't use the smith machine, save for a very select few excercises that i simply can't do with any other machine. not a big fan of the smith machine cause of the restriction on the range of motion and because it takes away from the stabilization muscle work. however, as an occasional mix-up, it would be an alright exercise to add. again though, i would think that the stress at that angle on the wrists would just be bad.

[ascendant]

this was once an evil double post. i have since then recognized it for the abomination it was, and had it put down. i apologize for the remnants it left behind.

[ascendant]

Yeah it hard, but works your stabilizers alot which is good. Cant do alot of weight though. I do sets of 135 like that.

i suppose if it doesn't bother your wrists at all, it won't hurt to do occasionally, but i think you'd be better off primarily keeping the hands spaced out further. not being able to go heavy is going to hinder mass gains. working stabilization muscles are great, but not at the expense of reducing the weight in an exercise.

[RuhlFreak55]

The wider you go, the shorter the range of motion and the more the chest is involved. Brining the hands in hits the triceps harder. For what it's worth, in competetion the widest legal grip would be the index finger on the rings. There really is no reason to go any wider than this, and despite shortening the range of motion you are losing leverage. Most people are within an inch of the pinky finger on the ring, whether wider or narrower.

this is exactly what i've always heard and practice

[Steve80]

i suppose if it doesn't bother your wrists at all, it won't hurt to do occasionally, but i think you'd be better off primarily keeping the hands spaced out further. not being able to go heavy is going to hinder mass gains. working stabilization muscles are great, but not at the expense of reducing the weight in an exercise.

I just do that grip when I am doing triceps, not as a chest exercise. When you do close grip for triceps how close do you put your hands?

[heckler45_2000]

for starters, the reason the wider grip made your bench easier is because you had a better point of leverage and your range of motion is more limited the wider you go.

as far as what it hits, the wider the grip, the more of the outside of your chest you'll hit. the closer in you go, the more of the inner chest you'll hit. the most important thing to do is add in both for variety and focus on what you think needs the most work.

Actually muscle fiber stimulation for the chest is more varied by the angle you are using not the hand placement... However, using closer grip will use more triceps...