Close Grip vs Regular Bench Press: Which Grip to Use?

1. Close grip bench press muscles worked: what changes?

A close grip bench press is a bench press with your hands closer together, about shoulder width apart. You still lie on the bench and lower the bar to your chest the same way. Only where your hands go changes.

Your chest works about the same with any grip. Studies that compared close, regular and wide grips on the bench press found that your chest worked about the same with all three (Saeterbakken et al., 2021; Muyor et al., 2023).

What changes is your triceps (the muscle on the back of your upper arm). Your triceps worked harder with a regular or close grip than with a wide grip (Saeterbakken et al., 2021; Larsen et al., 2021).

So use a regular grip for your main bench press.

2. What changes with grip width, and which to pick

Your chest gets about the same work with any grip, but a few other things change.

How to pick:

• It's your first time: use a regular grip. You can lift more with it than with a close grip.
• You want a little more triceps work: after your regular grip sets, move your hands in and do one more set. A close grip puts less load on your shoulders, so it works well as a last set.
• Your shoulders feel uncomfortable: move your hands in a little. A close grip put less load on the shoulder joint than wider grips in one study (Larsen et al., 2021). If it still hurts, your form may be the problem. Read Shoulder Pain During Bench Press.
• You feel it all in your arms, not your chest: your form is more likely the problem than your grip width. Read Why Can't I Feel My Chest When Benching?.
• A wide grip feels best to you: you can keep using it. You can lift about the same weight as with a regular grip, and your chest gets about the same work (Larsen et al., 2021).

• Bench Press (hands wider)
• Close Grip Bench Press

3. Proper bench press form for each grip width

Use your shoulders as the guide for where to put your hands.

• Regular grip: grip the bar with each hand one fist's width outside your shoulder. When the bar touches your chest, your forearms should point straight up at the ceiling.
• Close grip: from your regular grip, move each hand in by one fist's width, so your hands are about shoulder width apart. Keep your elbows close to your sides as you lower the bar.
• Wide grip: from your regular grip, move each hand out by one fist's width.

With any grip, wrap your thumbs all the way around the bar and lower it to your lower chest, just above the bottom of your breastbone. If your wrists hurt with a close grip, move your hands out a little. If your shoulders feel uncomfortable with a wide grip, go back to your regular grip.

4. Learn more: What if you flip your grip?

So far this has been about how far apart your hands are. You can also flip your hands so your palms face you. This is called a reverse grip bench press.

A reverse grip puts more work on your upper chest and biceps.

A reverse grip is harder to handle. The bar can roll toward your face or out of your hands. If you try it:

1. Use an empty bar or a light weight.
2. Have someone spot you, or use a Smith machine, where the bar is fixed to a track.
3. Wrap your thumbs all the way around the bar.

If a reverse grip bench press feels hard to control, try an Incline Bench Press instead. Both work your upper chest, but in different ways. A reverse grip bench press flips your hands on a flat bench. An incline bench press keeps your normal grip and raises the back of the bench to about 30 to 45 degrees. Since only the bench angle changes, you can use the same grip and form as your regular bench press, without worrying about the bar slipping out of your hands.

Frequently asked questions