well today i did a close grip bench press for the first time in a while, for a bit i was doing them in the smith (didnt like them like that very much) and when i got into my new summer gym i tried doing them on a decline bench, but that wasnt feeling good either.
anyways today when i did them i couldnt get into the groove, i felt like my triceps werent hit very much, felt more like my shoulders doing all the work. I was trying to tuck my elbows in on the descent but i couldnt seem to do it very well they wanted to flare out naturally, if anyone has any coaching ques on how to do this please share them, i know it sounds simple enough but i dont seem to be getting it right.
some other questions on my mind are:
how far down should i take the bar?
approximately where should the bar lie over my body when performing the movment?
should i try a thumbless grip? i hear it better stimulates the triceps
i need a way to perform this movement that blasts my tris and also doesnt bother my shoulders
Cephalic Carnage is the triceps-go to guy so im hoping he can chime in with some helpful feedback
don’t make your grip too narrow, at a point all it does is stress the wrists. I generally wear wrist wraps when i do them too. I space my hands wide enough I can comfortably take the bar all the way to my chest.
suicide allows for more elbow tuck because it frees the wrists a bit. If you are tucking your elbows well already, it shouldn’t make a difference.
it just takes some time working it to get down a groove.
don’t make your grip too narrow, at a point all it does is stress the wrists. I generally wear wrist wraps when i do them too. I space my hands wide enough I can comfortably take the bar all the way to my chest.
suicide allows for more elbow tuck because it frees the wrists a bit. If you are tucking your elbows well already, it shouldn’t make a difference.
it just takes some time working it to get down a groove.[/quote]
For the first one:
What would you consider to be too narrow? Or is that more of a funny individual biomechanical “you’ll just know” kind of thing?
don’t make your grip too narrow, at a point all it does is stress the wrists. I generally wear wrist wraps when i do them too. I space my hands wide enough I can comfortably take the bar all the way to my chest.
suicide allows for more elbow tuck because it frees the wrists a bit. If you are tucking your elbows well already, it shouldn’t make a difference.
it just takes some time working it to get down a groove.[/quote]
For the first one:
What would you consider to be too narrow? Or is that more of a funny individual biomechanical “you’ll just know” kind of thing?[/quote]
I think its mostly a joint mobility thing. I used to space my hands to where I could just about touch thumbs. Now I set up just in on the smooth part of the bar. It hits my tris just as hard, but saves my wrist.
i think you should try shoulder width or an inch or two outward. look up dave tates bench press cure article. and row the bar down to your body. the elbow tucking cue sometimes messed me up.
Also you can take it even further by moving your ass almost off the bench to keep the chest high. You can also put a rolled up towel under the small of your back.
i actually do retract the hell out of my scapula already…had many shoulder problems pressing early on, however i’ve pretty much conquered them with a proper warm up (deisel crew shit), learning how to press safer, and smart periodization (down week every 6-8 weeks of hard training), also foam rolling and the over head broom stretch are the shit for shoulder health
my grip was actually quite wide today, ive experimented with different grips and i like wider better
as far as tucking, i can’t seem to keep the elbows tucked very effectively, they want to flare out all over the place, it’s pretty annoying, i remember last year i got into a good groove with a decline close grip bench, but on the last few reps i could never stay tucked
If you watch the Frank McGrath training videos he seems to tuck his elbows in a fair amount, i mean they flare out a tiny bit, but its what i consider to be tucked, looks like he is stimulating his triceps quite well
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
If you watch the Frank McGrath training videos he seems to tuck his elbows in a fair amount, i mean they flare out a tiny bit, but its what i consider to be tucked, looks like he is stimulating his triceps quite well
That is not what I’d calling tucking. His elbows are wider than his hands, how could that be tucked?
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
If you watch the Frank McGrath training videos he seems to tuck his elbows in a fair amount, i mean they flare out a tiny bit, but its what i consider to be tucked, looks like he is stimulating his triceps quite well
That is not what I’d calling tucking. His elbows are wider than his hands, how could that be tucked? [/quote]
well i don’t know if its possible to have elbows narrower then hands on a close grip! i might not be the tightst tuck you’eve ever in a video, but doesnt flare em too much
we’ll have to see what cephalic carnage says…aka the god of the tricep haha
i think CC will say fuck the CGBP and go with SWRGB (shoulder width reverse grip bench) in a Smith. it puts a lot less stress on the shoulders and if you push up and away (toward the feet) you can really hit the long head
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
If you watch the Frank McGrath training videos he seems to tuck his elbows in a fair amount, i mean they flare out a tiny bit, but its what i consider to be tucked, looks like he is stimulating his triceps quite well
That is not what I’d calling tucking. His elbows are wider than his hands, how could that be tucked? [/quote]
Damn thats one thing I never noticed since ive made the transition to always cgbp might have to force the elbows back out a bit.
Greg Panora doesnt tuck either. He seems to be doing ok for himself lol …
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
If you watch the Frank McGrath training videos he seems to tuck his elbows in a fair amount, i mean they flare out a tiny bit, but its what i consider to be tucked, looks like he is stimulating his triceps quite well
That is not what I’d calling tucking. His elbows are wider than his hands, how could that be tucked? [/quote]
Damn thats one thing I never noticed since ive made the transition to always cgbp might have to force the elbows back out a bit.
Greg Panora doesnt tuck either. He seems to be doing ok for himself lol …
[/quote]
Okay, let me clarify what I was talking about when I’m discussing tuck. I consider not tucked to be upper arms at 90% to the torso. Anything else I consider to have some degree of tuck. When Tate and powerlifters talk about tucked elbows they do not mean upper arms all the way in against the torso. Typically, I consider elbows to be good and tucked around a 45 deg. angle, which is what I typically shoot for on bench pressing movements.
Next, several of the videos people are looking at are guys maxing out. Maxing out is a different technique game that trying to stimulate tris and not risk your joints.
Oh, and panora there only untucks his elbows for the lockout.
