Hey, guys.
Sean Nalewanyj here at www.SeanNal.com-www.BodyTrransformationTruth.com in this video here I’m going to be giving
you 5 key mistakes that most lifters make when it comes to their close grip bench press
form.
The close grip bench is a good basic compound exercise to hit all three heads of the triceps.
It also hits the pecs to a certain degrees as well.
But if your form is off, not only is that going to reduce the overload on your triceps
but even more importantly it’s going o hugely increase your chances for risk and shoulder
injuries as well.
So, the first big mistake is using too narrow of a grip.
It is called the close grip bench press, however what you’ll often see is guys grabbing on
to the bar really closely like you see here.
With their hands maybe only five or six inches apart, and the main problem with this, is
that it places a lot of stress on your wrist as you lower the bar down.
Your goal during the close grip bench should be to have your elbows directly underneath
your wrists.
And when you go too narrow it forces your wrists inward and it puts them in an awkward
position where they end up taking on a good portion of the load.
And on top of that the overly narrow grip also reduces the amount of weight that you
can lift, it decreases the stability of the bar and also reduces you range of motion.
So, the simple solution here is to grip the bar using a shoulder width grip instead.
It might look wider than what you might imagine when you think of a close grip bench, but
a shoulder width grip is narrow enough.
It will still shift the majority of the stress on to your triceps and it will also allow
you to keep your elbows directly underneath your wrist where they should be.
The second mistake is lowering the bar too high up on your chest.
If you lower the bar to your mid-chest or even to your upper-chest, then your elbows
and wrists are not going to fall into the right position.
Your elbows are either going to flare out excessively or you will be able to keep them
tucked in but your wrist will be further back and won’t be stuck on top of your elbows.
So what you want to do is lower the bar beneath your chest, basically you’re right below
your nipple area like you see here.
Again, that’s going to allow you to keep your elbows tucked in and keep your wrists
and your elbows inline with each other.
Mistake number three is failing to retract the scapula.
So just like with the normal barbell press or even a dumbbell press, on the close grip
bench press you want to squeeze your shoulder blades together and keep them that way throughout
the entire lift.
And a good cue for this is to think about putting your shoulder blades into your back
pocket.
Now, what this does is it allows you to stabilize your shoulder joint against the bench.
When your scapula is flat and it’s not retracted, it’s going to place a lot more stress on
your shoulder joint since it has to take on a lot more of the load, because it has nothing
to drive against.
So before you clear the bar make sure to retract your scapula, keep a small arc in your lower
back, press your glutes into the bench and also press your feet into the floor.
And ideally you want, specifically on the close grip bench, to have someone give you
a lift off and help you clear the bar.
Because that’s going to help you maintain that scapula retraction.
If you try to clear the bar yourself, it’s a lot easier to lose that position.
Mistake number four is tucking the elbows in too close to the body.
You’ll see a lot of people performing the close grip bench by bringing their elbows
down directly at their side as close as possible.
But you actually want to flare them out just slightly, maybe around a 30o angle.
And that’s because if your elbows are tucked right in at your sides, you’ll tend to lose
that scapula retraction that we talked about.
Your upper body will roll forward and you’ll lose that proper shoulder positioning.
And the final close grip bench press form mistake is focusing on pressing the bar away
from your body.
Now, that might sound kind of weird, obviously the bar is being pressed away but what you
want to focus on instead, when you’re performing the exercise, is that you’re pushing yourself
away from the bar rather than pressing the bar away from your chest.
And again this just another way to make sure that your shoulder stayed back and in the
proper position.
So, thanks for watching guys.
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Thanks for watching and I’ll talk to you guys again soon.