# bench, does wider grip make it easy?



## powerhousepeter (Dec 4, 2010)

saw a guy today benching 4 plates, and to be honest he was over big, so i really watched his technique and form because im trying to imrove my bench, and noticed his grip was quite wide, i always thought a wider grip put more stress on shoulder joint?

also may be wrong but does a wider grip shorten the the range of the movement to the chest?


----------



## Ash1981 (Jun 16, 2009)

imo if you have long arms like me then narrower grip is better.

big barrell chested lads with short levers will be able to go wider with there grip


----------



## powerhousepeter (Dec 4, 2010)

ash1981 said:


> imo if you have long arms like me then narrower grip is better.
> 
> big barrell chested lads with short levers will be able to go wider with there grip


yeah ive always gone narrower grip but i have short arms so i may try this see if i see any difference


----------



## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

Arm length can make a difference as to which grip works best, but generally its accepted that the optimum grip width to hit the pecs (on flat benching) is where your forearms point directly straight up (forearms are perpendicular to the ground) when the bar is just resting on your nipple line.


----------



## tombsc (May 29, 2008)

I find if I am struggling on the last reps of a set, moving my grip narrower makes it easier.


----------



## Jayden (Feb 10, 2011)

i always found wider grip was easier..


----------



## Barker (Oct 1, 2009)

ash1981 said:


> imo if you have long arms like me then narrower grip is better.
> 
> big barrell chested lads with short levers will be able to go wider with there grip


Complete opposite in my opinion. Longer arms should go wider, shorter should go narrower, just makes more sense. If you have long arms and are going narrower than someone with short arms then you're going to be using a lot more triceps.


----------



## MRSTRONG (Apr 18, 2009)

Barker said:


> Complete opposite in my opinion. Longer arms should go wider, shorter should go narrower, just makes more sense. If you have long arms and are going narrower than someone with short arms then you're going to be using a lot more triceps.


thats exactly the reason why 

narrow grip = more triceps = more weight pushed = ego bench press lol


----------



## Guest (Apr 15, 2011)

A wider grip decreases the rom of the bar. But! it also increases the ROM of shoulder rotation which can hinder the lift. It also depends how you bench, ie, arched, PL style to sterum/to nips/neck with flared elbows, Or wrong as i like to call it.

If your wide with short arms, a wide grip could put significant Lbs on a bench. Skinny with long arms, it may reduce it. People will say long arms = go wider. But its not as simple as that.


----------



## a.notherguy (Nov 17, 2008)

wide grip makes it easier for me (im about 5'7")

my mate find its easier with a narrower grip (hes about 6'2")


----------



## Ash1981 (Jun 16, 2009)

Each to there own then. I'm 6ft, long arms, if I spread my arms wider then it brings my delts in too much.

Everyone is different


----------



## Barker (Oct 1, 2009)

uhan said:


> thats exactly the reason why
> 
> narrow grip = more triceps = more weight pushed = ego bench press lol


How does narrow grip mean you can push more weight?

Its a longer range of motion to start off with... and pretty sure when ive done close grip bench i couldnt do anywhere near what i do with normal bench...


----------



## apple (Feb 16, 2011)

wide as you can go imo ..........wide grip incline bench press .............


----------



## Sionnach (Apr 19, 2010)

wider grip is hitting the outer pec more, whereas narrow grip is hitting the inner pec more, it depends on what your looking to see results wise.


----------



## Big Dawg (Feb 24, 2008)

Barker said:


> How does narrow grip mean you can push more weight?
> 
> Its a longer range of motion to start off with... and pretty sure when ive done close grip bench i couldnt do anywhere near what i do with normal bench...


Well a lot of powerlifters favour a close grip when benching mate. When the goal is to move the weight from point A to point B, a closer grip gets more triceps involvement which means you can move more weight. It might be a longer range of motion but see how much you can bench press with a stupidly wide grip which is predominantly front delts. Answer = not a lot!


----------



## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

rippedgreg said:


> wider grip is hitting the outer pec more, whereas narrow grip is hitting the inner pec more, it depends on what your looking to see results wise.


thats a load of balls


----------



## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

AlasTTTair said:


> Well a lot of powerlifters favour a close grip when benching mate. When the goal is to move the weight from point A to point B, a closer grip gets more triceps involvement which means you can move more weight. It might be a longer range of motion but see how much you can bench press with a stupidly wide grip which is predominantly front delts. Answer = not a lot!


a powerlifting bench press is different to that of a person benching for chest growth - completely different movement entirely.


----------



## MRSTRONG (Apr 18, 2009)

Barker said:


> How does narrow grip mean you can push more weight?
> 
> Its a longer range of motion to start off with... and pretty sure when ive done close grip bench i couldnt do anywhere near what i do with normal bench...


answer was in the quote buddy ....narrow grip = more triceps = more weight pushed .


----------



## DJay (Feb 6, 2011)

Winder shifts the weight onto pecs while narrower onto triceps.

Depending on the muscles you are trying to hit can be easier but it has less ROM. Personally i use a wider grip because my pecs lack mass/strength while my triceps are probably oversized proportionally.


----------



## HVYDUTY100 (Sep 4, 2010)

i dont do it to wide or to narrow just in the middle works best for me. wherever feels best for the individual thats what its down to.


----------



## HVYDUTY100 (Sep 4, 2010)

rippedgreg said:


> wider grip is hitting the outer pec more, whereas narrow grip is hitting the inner pec more, it depends on what your looking to see results wise.


 dont agree with that mate


----------



## Big Dawg (Feb 24, 2008)

fatmanstan! said:


> a powerlifting bench press is different to that of a person benching for chest growth - completely different movement entirely.


How does that contradict what I said? Yes it's a different movement in that the weight is brought down much lower (i.e. below the pectoral) and usually the grip is closer. I really don't understand why you're mentioning it - like I said, closer grip = more tricep = more weight pushed.


----------



## Big Dawg (Feb 24, 2008)

rippedgreg said:


> wider grip is hitting the outer pec more, whereas narrow grip is hitting the inner pec more, it depends on what your looking to see results wise.


There's no such thing as an inner and outer pec; there's only pec major and pec minor. Please stop perpetuating myths because a newbie will end up reading it and repeating it to his friends; then we'll just have more misinformed people.


----------



## Geonix (Apr 4, 2011)

flaring elbows.


----------



## james12345 (Jan 13, 2010)

BBer - Do whatever is comfortible for you, and whatever you feel puts the most stress on the muscle you want to work.

PLer - Do whatever you can shift the most weight with.


----------



## kindizzo (Mar 19, 2011)

uhan said:


> thats exactly the reason why
> 
> narrow grip = more triceps = more weight pushed = ego bench press lol


exactly


----------



## kindizzo (Mar 19, 2011)

AlasTTTair said:


> There's no such thing as an inner and outer pec; there's only pec major and pec minor. Please stop perpetuating myths because a newbie will end up reading it and repeating it to his friends; then we'll just have more misinformed people.


Agreed, however its not a bad way explaining to novices and is kind of true


----------



## Big Dawg (Feb 24, 2008)

kindizzo said:


> Agreed, however its not a bad way explaining to novices and is kind of true


No, it is a bad way of explaining it to newbies and it is untrue. How does confusing them help?


----------



## MRSTRONG (Apr 18, 2009)

kindizzo said:


> Agreed, however its not a bad way explaining to novices and is kind of true


best way of explaining it to novices is pec minor (upper) pec major (lower ) as thats exactly what it is .


----------

