How wide you should keep your grip while bench pressing?

[Meso_z]

Without triceps or delts taking over...whats the "sweet spot", any tips?

[The Italian Lifter]

for me is as wide as possible: the ref. is when I feel pain in my wrists, at this point I have to reduce a little bit the wideness (sorry 4 my english)

[Montague]

For me, minimizing triceps involvement is more a matter of elbow direction rather than hand position.
The elbows need to flare out more to the side for maximum chest activation.
Pointing towards your feet will call into play more triceps.

As for keeping delt involvement at bay, some guys prefer to stop the bar maybe 2-inches or so short of touching their chest.
Likewise, you can further reduce triceps involvement later in the movement by stopping the bar at about 4/5 of the way up, or whenever you can "feel" the triceps take over.
You may consider performing the movement inside of a rack with the pins & bars set accordingly.

If you're training for functional strength, then do the conventional all-the-way-down & all-the-way-up.
But, if you're training just to build a nice chest (it sounds that way), then IMO, it's better to keep tension on the pecs rather than transferring it at any point to either ancillary muscles or joints via lockout.

[tomjone20]

I keep mine shoulder-width.  Helps with the explosion from the chest (I do mostly pause-pressing).

[John O]

I like to keep my ring fingers on the ring on the bar.

[tbombz]

actually elbows tucked is the proper way to bench press. your hands shouldnt be too narrow or otherwise yes tris will become involved. going super wide  can work for some guys but it is very easy to let the delts do the work when using that width. just a hair outside of shoulder width is perfect IMO. lower it down to the bottom of the pecs, touching the bar along the linewhere the pecs insert to the rib cage.

[Meso_z]

actually elbows tucked is the proper way to bench press. your hands shouldnt be too narrow or otherwise yes tris will become involved. going super wide  can work for some guys but it is very easy to let the delts do the work when using that width. just a hair outside of shoulder width is perfect IMO. lower it down to the bottom of the pecs, touching the bar along the linewhere the pecs insert to the rib cage.

Wide grip seems too uncomfortable for me..I feel like something is going to tear..the stretch is painful plus you cant go heavy. at least for me.

[Yev33]

In my opinion you should use the bench press as a mass exercise rather than trying to isolate muscle groups with it.  Use a grip that allows you to use the most weight. The powerlifting type grip is the safest over the long term, once you start going over two and a quarter plates a side with a wide elbows flared grip you are beggining for shoulder problems and/or pec tear over time. There are a lot of people that no longer use the bench press for these reasons since there are better alternatives for chest. But if youre trying to add overall mass to your chest/shoulders/tri's then bench press is great, it WILL put on muscle in that area,  where most of it ends up depends on your genetics.

[chaos]

Whatever grip is comfortable for you.

[wes]

Whatever grip is comfortable for you.

BINGO

[chaos]

BINGO

You're not in the Bingo hall old man!!!!!!!!



 

[chess315]

In my opinion you should use the bench press as a mass exercise rather than trying to isolate muscle groups with it.  Use a grip that allows you to use the most weight. The powerlifting type grip is the safest over the long term, once you start going over two and a quarter plates a side with a wide elbows flared grip you are beggining for shoulder problems and/or pec tear over time. There are a lot of people that no longer use the bench press for these reasons since there are better alternatives for chest. But if youre trying to add overall mass to your chest/shoulders/tri's then bench press is great, it WILL put on muscle in that area,  where most of it ends up depends on your genetics.

excellent post a bodybuilding style bench press tends to wreck shoulders

[d0nny2600]

You're not in the Bingo hall old man!!!!!!!!



 

[funk51]

john koijian was one of the best benchers ever without shirts wraps etc. and he used a close grip set records as a teen and dropped out of the pl scene early.

[claymore]

Whatever grip is comfortable for you.

^^This

[abijahmaniaco]

Here's what Bodybuilding Anatomy by Nick Evans says about the barbell bench press:

Hand spacing: The ideal hand spacing is shoulder with or slightly wider. A narrow (close) grip emphasizes the inner pectorals and also targets the triceps. Wider grip target the outer section of the muscle and minimize triceps contribution.

Trajectory: The bar should move vertically up and down from the middle chest (nipple area). Flare your elbows out as the bar is lowered to maximize pectoral isolation.

Range of motion: A shorter rep terminating the press just before lockout keeps tension on the pectorals and reduces the amount of triceps assistance. *my note: jay cutler does this*

Grip: An underhand (supinated) grip on the bar switches the focus to the triceps.

Close-grip bench press: Perform the exercise with hands spaced approximately 6 inches (15 cm) apart. The narrow grip targets the inner pecs and works the triceps.

Also, he doesn't mention this here, but yeah the wider you go the greater the stretch but also the greater the risk to injury.

[Montague]

Here's what Bodybuilding Anatomy by Nick Evans says about the barbell bench press:

Hand spacing: The ideal hand spacing is shoulder with or slightly wider. A narrow (close) grip emphasizes the inner pectorals and also targets the triceps. Wider grip target the outer section of the muscle and minimize triceps contribution.

Trajectory: The bar should move vertically up and down from the middle chest (nipple area). Flare your elbows out as the bar is lowered to maximize pectoral isolation.

Range of motion: A shorter rep terminating the press just before lockout keeps tension on the pectorals and reduces the amount of triceps assistance. *my note: jay cutler does this*

Grip: An underhand (supinated) grip on the bar switches the focus to the triceps.

Close-grip bench press: Perform the exercise with hands spaced approximately 6 inches (15 cm) apart. The narrow grip targets the inner pecs and works the triceps.

Also, he doesn't mention this here, but yeah the wider you go the greater the stretch but also the greater the risk to injury.

This should spiral into a nice 20+ page thread expertly debating the existence of “inner” and “outer” pecs by the coming week’s end.

[Yev33]

Here's what Bodybuilding Anatomy by Nick Evans says about the barbell bench press:

Hand spacing: The ideal hand spacing is shoulder with or slightly wider. A narrow (close) grip emphasizes the inner pectorals and also targets the triceps. Wider grip target the outer section of the muscle and minimize triceps contribution.

Trajectory: The bar should move vertically up and down from the middle chest (nipple area). Flare your elbows out as the bar is lowered to maximize pectoral isolation.

Range of motion: A shorter rep terminating the press just before lockout keeps tension on the pectorals and reduces the amount of triceps assistance. *my note: jay cutler does this*

Grip: An underhand (supinated) grip on the bar switches the focus to the triceps.

Close-grip bench press: Perform the exercise with hands spaced approximately 6 inches (15 cm) apart. The narrow grip targets the inner pecs and works the triceps.

Also, he doesn't mention this here, but yeah the wider you go the greater the stretch but also the greater the risk to injury.

This asshole deserves to pay for every single pec tear, shoulder, and elbow tendon surgery out of his own pocket.

[abijahmaniaco]

milos says this too: wide grip = outer chest, middle grip = middle chest, close grip = inner chest.

This asshole deserves to pay for every single pec tear, shoulder, and elbow tendon surgery out of his own pocket.

uh what?

[abijahmaniaco]

jay suffered a minor pec tear twice doing close grip bench for tris with 405lbs. said it sounded/felt like a sheet of paper ripping. said he would never do the exercise again.

[Yev33]

milos says this too: wide grip = outer chest, middle grip = middle chest, close grip = inner chest.
uh what?

Benching with the elbows flared and close grip benching with that close of a grip will fuck you up if you are strong enough to use a decent amount of weight.

[funk51]

when larry pacifico screwed u[ his shoulder he had to do a closegrip bench to compete he managed 350 and won another world powerlift title.

[Montague]

when larry pacifico screwed u[ his shoulder he had to do a closegrip bench to compete he managed 350 and won another world powerlift title.

Some guys are just built for different things that others are not.

Without triceps or delts taking over...whats the "sweet spot", any tips?

It’s hard to tell from your original post, but I suspect you’re leaning towards building cosmetic muscle rather than functional strength.
If that is the case, then you probably won’t be maxing out with your weights. Instead, you’ll be focusing more on technique and moderate-to-higher-end rep schemes.

Ex:
Neck presses with a wider grip & elbows flared out far provide an unbelievable feeling in the chest - particularly the upper region fibers.
It would be stupid to attempt a single like that, and I can‘t imagine why anyone would, but 8-12 reps towards the end of your workout when you’re all warmed up & stretched out (and a bit weaker) is pretty safe.
I personally love doing these because the form results in your chest doing the majority of the work while minimizing the involvement of ancillary muscles.

[Mega Man]

..........I've researched the bench press grip alot

The closer the grip the more it works the triceps...and the wider the grip the more it works the chest...

So the correct answer is to use the widest grip possible that doesn't put strain anywhere....like your wrists or whatever.....So remember the widest grip possible...without putting strain anywhere.

[BB]

I agree with the pick what's comfortible camp. What's the use of changing a grip for 2% extra pec involvement ofr some horseshit if it kills your shoulders when you do it.

Best advice I ever heard on bench grip was from Bill Seno in his old Pushing for Power booklet. He said to just every once and awhile do a few push ups and figure out which distances feel good to you, and transfer them to the bar.