Barbell Close Grip Bench Press

1. Lie on a flat bench with your eyes under the bar, feet planted, shoulder blades pulled back and down.
2. Grip the bar at shoulder width or just inside it; going much narrower strains the wrists without extra triceps benefit.
3. Unrack the bar and hold it over your shoulders with arms locked.
4. Inhale, then lower the bar under control to your lower chest, keeping your elbows tucked at roughly 30 to 45 degrees from your torso.
5. Touch the chest lightly without bouncing.
6. Exhale and press the bar up and slightly back toward your shoulders, driving hard through the lockout where the triceps dominate.
7. Keep your glutes on the bench and wrists stacked over your forearms for every rep.

Common Mistakes

• Gripping too narrow: hands inside shoulder width bend the wrists and hammer the elbows; shoulder width already biases the triceps.
• Flaring the elbows: letting the elbows travel wide turns it back into a regular bench press and adds shoulder stress with a close grip.
• Bouncing off the chest: rebounding the bar hides weak triceps and defeats the purpose of training the lockout.
• Cutting range at the top: stopping short of full elbow extension skips the exact portion of the press this variation is meant to strengthen.

Programming Tips

The close grip bench press is the best heavy triceps builder available, because it loads the triceps with compound-level weight that no pushdown or extension can match. Program it as the second press on a push day or as the main lift on a dedicated triceps-focused bench day: 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps sits in the sweet spot. Expect to handle roughly 80 to 90 percent of your regular bench press; the narrower grip shortens the pec contribution and shifts the work to the triceps and front delts.

Grip width is the detail everyone gets wrong. Hands should land about shoulder width, not touching in the middle; an extremely narrow grip adds wrist and elbow strain without extra triceps work. Keep the elbows tucked closer to the torso than in a regular bench and touch the bar slightly lower on the chest. For bench press specialists, this lift directly attacks the lockout portion of the press, which is where most raw benchers fail.

Common Questions

How close should my hands actually be?

Roughly shoulder width, index fingers somewhere around the edge of the bar's smooth center section for most builds. If your wrists or elbows complain, you have gone too narrow; closeness beyond shoulder width buys nothing.

Is this a chest exercise or a triceps exercise?

Both, but the balance tilts toward the triceps compared with a standard grip. The inner chest is still heavily involved, which is why the close grip press builds pressing strength rather than just arm size.

Why do my wrists hurt on close grip bench?

Usually the bar is sitting too high in the palm or the grip is too narrow. Stack the bar over the heel of the palm with the wrist straight, widen your grip slightly, and the pain typically disappears.