Close-Grip Barbell Bench PressMuscles Worked
The close-grip bench press works your triceps, with your chest and front delts doing a big share of the pressing. A grip about shoulder width with elbows tucked shifts the load toward the triceps, and as a compound lift it lets you train them with more weight than any isolation exercise.
How to do it
- Lie on a flat bench with your eyes under the bar, feet planted and shoulder blades pulled together.
- Grip the bar about shoulder width apart, or slightly narrower, and unrack it over your shoulders with straight arms.
- Lower the bar under control to the lower half of your chest, keeping your elbows tucked close to your sides.
- Touch lightly without bouncing, then press the bar up and slightly back over your shoulders.
- Finish with your arms straight, and rerack the bar when the set is done.
Form tips
- Don't go too narrow: hands much closer than shoulder width put your wrists and elbows in an awkward spot without adding triceps work.
- Keep your wrists stacked over your elbows so the bar sits over your forearms.
- Use a spotter or safety arms when the weight gets heavy.
Why it made the list
No. 5 of 12
Best Tricep Exercises
Heavy compound for triceps. Allows the most absolute load of any tricep exercise.
More tricep exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press sets in KasMaker and watch your triceps, chest, and shoulders fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
