My close grip bench & regular grip problem

[fruitpunch24]

Ive been doing alot more close grip benching to increase strenght in my tri's. My problem is my close grip bench is almost or just as strong as my regular bench is. Whats up with that? most people i know of are stronger with there normal grip. My hand position for my close grip is maybe an inch closer than shoulder with, or my thumbs is right were the knurling on that barbell starts. Anyone else experience this?

 

[ambulldog]

when i was younger and lifting very heavy mine were close to equal also. you may try narrowing the grip to pinkies on the knurl. i guess its safe to say your tris arent weak lol

 

[n8te]

I use open grip and my thumbs touch tips, its real close but kills my tris

visual: its like doing "thumbs up" with both hands then rotate each in and move them close to where your thumbs touch. I hope that helps

 

[fruitpunch24]

Heck Ya man thanks! But i go pretty heavy on close grip up too 315lbs (well heavy to me anyway). But if i go to were my thumbs are touching my elbows hurt lik heck so i go some what wider. I guess if i go lighter i can move my grip closer, im focusing more on strenght now tho. i switched my grip to thumbless, i guess thats what you mean by open grip. Its scary as heck when ya go heavy though, especially after watching barbells fall on people on youtube lol. Whatever it takes to go heavy i guess

 

[brownstown89]

aye bro i ahve the same problem.. at first i thought i was weak half way but my 2 board wide grip press is close to my close grip full range of motion max... Basically when u close grip with a REAL close grip (both hands on smooth) your arms lock up at the bottom and force you to get the bar back up creating a huge spring affect of your chest... If you notice when your close grip benching that close ur arms lockout a little bit above actually touching ur chest.

 

[SRS2000]

It's not all that uncommon. For now do some training with various grips so you don't have any glaring weaknesses. Avoid the extremes of grip width. I've seen plenty of people injure their shoulders with a very wide grip and a super narrow grip can put alot of stress on the elbows and wrists. If you decide to do a competition at some point, simply lift with the grip that you are strongest with.

 

[youngandfree]

Ive been doing alot more close grip benching to increase strenght in my tri's. My problem is my close grip bench is almost or just as strong as my regular bench is. Whats up with that? most people i know of are stronger with there normal grip. My hand position for my close grip is maybe an inch closer than shoulder with, or my thumbs is right were the knurling on that barbell starts. Anyone else experience this?

You answered your question in your first sentence. You have been doing a lot more close grip bench so that's why the two exercises are close to equal. Its not a problem. Your regular go should go up when you refocus on it since your this have gotten a lot stronger.

 

[2k2ser]

My Close-Grip is 1 or 2 fingers on the smooth in the center of the bar. You're pushing alot more weight than me already! Try a wider grip for regular bench and then you might notice something.

 

[Sweekaters]

It's really just about your leverages. What works for a lot of other people might not work for you. I know Konstantin uses a close grip and has an insane bench. It's not really a problem, just train what you're good at.

 

[brownstown89]

also if u train with a clsoe grip a swiss bar should REALLY help increase ur max

 

[MongoSS]

not too unusual. I only have about a 30lb difference between my close grip and regular bench. I also dont have a very wide normal bench grip though. I wouldnt worry about it too much. I would evaluate your technique on your normal grip benches. i.e. how much you tuch your elbows, how much pec involvement you have etc. You may need to do more pec isolation to increase strength. Also do not worry about moving your close grip in, too many people to overly narrow close grip bench presses your hands should never be close to touching, and you should be within shoulder width and focus on pinching your arms to your sides.