Close grip bench

[Painlayer69]

How far away in weight should my close grip bench be to my regular flat bench? I dont know if im just useing to much triceps in my bench or what.

Any info will help thanx.

[JasonH]

To be honest I don't think it really matters - my close grip bench is only about 50lbs less than my normal flat bench. The trouble is, this is an estimate because I don't do flat benches due to it placing unnecessary stress on my front delts - I do inclines instead to take the pressure off that part of the delts somewhat. My delts don't really come into play too much with close grips because my triceps are always fully extended before I feel it in my delts anyway so I acn get away with doing them on a flat bench.

So to answer your question, don't worry about the flat benches "using too much tricep" because they are all worked to some extent anyway. You might find you are nearly as strong on close grips benches anyway if your triceps are naturally strong - don't worry about it.

[Painlayer69]

Thanx man really appreciate it and actually my close grip is about 50lbs away also. so that helps alot.

[Princess L]

Usually 6-8 inches on the thumbs.  Keep the elbow flaring to a minimum.

[knny187]

Usually 6-8 inches on the thumbs.  Keep the elbow flaring to a minimum.

imo..

More Flaring = more triceps involvement & elbow/wrist strain

Less Flaring (elbows in) = more stress on the chest/shoulders, still triceps are involved but not as effective

[Painlayer69]

By elbow flaring do you guys mean how far the elbows come out at the bottom of the movement??

[knny187]

bingo

more or less, flaring means elbows moving away(pointing away) from the body at the bottome of the movement

[Painlayer69]

Ok thats what i thought it meant just checking.

[pumpster]

imo..

More Flaring = more triceps involvement & elbow/wrist strain

Use an E-Z curl bar, will get mainly the pros not the cons of flared elbow presses.

As far as the distance, trial & error with all variations, then decide which work best for you.

[NoCalBbEr]

bro. dont worry about the weight. worry about feeling the muscles work. I  would go heavy but not  heavy where your using your chest. your going to use less weight b/c the tris are small muscle group compared to the chest. If you go close grip its good advice to keep your elbows in. when you go close grip you  put a lot of stress of the elbows

[MisterMagoo]

imo..

More Flaring = more triceps involvement & elbow/wrist strain

Less Flaring (elbows in) = more stress on the chest/shoulders, still triceps are involved but not as effective

sometimes.

if you tuck your elbows, and the bar hits your chest low then i agree because there's minimal elbow bend and the wrists are above the elbows. but if your elbows are tucked and you hit your nipple line, part of the "press" is nearly an extension. it's why flared elbows work, your elbows aren't right under your wrists.

[Painlayer69]

Yeah man i was just wondering if i was actually useing to much tri's in my bench by asking that quistion, But i do appreciate the advice, I got one quistion though do i want to actually hit my chest with the bar on close grips or not??

[Emmortal]

Yeah man i was just wondering if i was actually useing to much tri's in my bench by asking that quistion, But i do appreciate the advice, I got one quistion though do i want to actually hit my chest with the bar on close grips or not??

I've always brought it down to my chest, but I usually hold it there for a second or two then press up.  I always bring the bar to my sternum which keeps the wrists above the elbows and flare them out when it comes down as Magoo and those guys are saying.

[candidizzle]

im a big believer in "time under tesion", btu i also use rest pause sets after i hit failure. so i would say...dont touch your chest for the bulk of your set, but at the end go ahead and do a one or two second pause on the chest

and i agree with the guy above who said dont worry about weigh... its really about the triceps bro, not about some number of poundages

[Painlayer69]

Well in your guys opinion whats the best way to get the triceps to actually become shapely and bigger??

[candidizzle]

Well in your guys opinion whats the best way to get the triceps to actually become shapely and bigger??

dips !

[Emmortal]

dips !

Dips and close grip presses are the staples of tricep mass exercises.  I usually start out with dips and move into close grip presses.  I like overhead BB extensions and decline skullcrushers as well.

[candidizzle]

check my log bro i always do cg bench and dips ! love em

incline ez crl over head extensions too

[Painlayer69]

Well as of right now my tri routine goes like this.


Close grip benches,10-8-6
skullkrushers,10-10-8
pressdowns,10-8-8

Let me know what you guys think.

[candidizzle]

looks good. you have to play around with the amount of volume on your own. for me i need high volume on arms. other guys rarely ever train armas and thats what wroks best for them.    but those core exercises are good choices to build a routine on .

[MisterMagoo]

Well in your guys opinion whats the best way to get the triceps to actually become shapely and bigger??

heavy pressing. pick a variety. my triceps blew up best by just doing heavy benches, close-grips, and shoulder presses, always to lockout.

it doesn't matter for shit if you're isolating them, the point is if you're putting them under maximal loads, they will grow.

[pumpster]

it doesn't matter for shit if you're isolating them, the point is if you're putting them under maximal loads, they will grow.

Isolation OR compound, bottom line is whether it's hitting the muscle effectively + increasing the load over time using moderate reps.

[pumpster]

im a big believer in "time under tesion", btu i also use rest pause sets after i hit failure. so i would say...dont touch your chest for the bulk of your set, but at the end go ahead and do a one or two second pause on the chest

Good approach.

[MisterMagoo]

Isolation OR compound, bottom line is whether it's hitting the muscle effectively + increasing the load over time using moderate reps.

exactly. but i really think ANYTHING isolation for mass is asinine. it's good to assist a bit, to keep joints healthy and the like, but pick a body part and a heavy fucking compound move is what will do it. presses, squats, pulls, rows. that hits every muscle of the body as hard as it can handle.

[pumpster]

exactly. but i really think ANYTHING isolation for mass is asinine. it's good to assist a bit, to keep joints healthy and the like, but pick a body part and a heavy fucking compound move is what will do it. presses, squats, pulls, rows. that hits every muscle of the body as hard as it can handle.

What matters is whether it works, not the type of exercise. Then work on increasing the weight
. Barbell curls aren't compounds and are almost universally considered the best size builder, as just one example, there are many. Pullovers aren't really a compound and are as good as any lat exercise.