Exercise guide
How to do close-grip bench press
Triceps · inner chest · front delts
Step by step
- Lie on a flat bench and grip the bar at roughly shoulder width — not narrower, or the wrists complain.
- Unrack and hold the bar over the lower chest with straight arms.
- Lower for 2 seconds with the elbows tucked close to your sides, touching the lower chest or upper stomach.
- Press back up, driving to lockout and squeezing the triceps hard at the top.
The cue that matters
CueElbows glued to the ribs on the way down is the whole exercise.
AvoidGripping too narrow. That stresses the wrists without adding any triceps work.
Where this sits in the split
- Push B — exercise 6, 3 × 8–10