How close is close?

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Scott Birdby Scott Bird | October 20, 2004
Filed in ME BENCH , workouts | 1 comments

Close gripAfter noticing that Kris is using a somewhat wider grip than I am for close-grip bench work (or floor work as the case may be) I had another look at the grip width used in my own lifts.

The standard grip I use is around 28”/71cm, which is still comfortably within the allowable maximum of 32”/81cm. The close grip was somewhere around 12”/30cm, and has been pushed out to 17”/43cm. This allows the forearms to remain vertical; assuming there’s no elbow flaring as in the photograph. Something to keep an eye on next week.

There seems to be quite of range of widths that people favour when doing close-grip work. In part these are determined by the grip used for a standard bench press; a lifter with a chest-width grip may consider a narrow grip to be a mere 8-10 inches (20-25cm). Someone used to a 32” grip could well consider chest-width as narrow.

When working out the ideal width, consider this quote from Rob Wagner, writing in the June 2003 issue of USA Powerlifting :

‘Let me define a narrow and wide grip. In two separate studies, researchers determined narrow grip as the distance between your acromion processes (slide your hand down your trap and the bony bump you hit is the acromion). They then applied this measurement to the hand spacing (distance between index fingers) on the bar. Wide grip was two times the narrow grip distance. Both groups of researchers found that grips that were 1.65 to 2 times their narrow grip were the most effective strength wise. The way you can determine your grip is to measure the distance between your acromion processes. Now measure the distance between your index fingers when you bench. Divide the bench distance by the acromion distance and if your number is between 1.65 and 2.00 you are in an optimal position (Clemons, J. & Aaron, C, 1997; Wagner, et. al, 1992).’

According to this advice my adjusted close-grip width of 17”/43cm is within the optimal range (9”/23cm between acromion processes, which gives 43/23=1.87). Unfortunately a few sets with a this new grip wasn’t enough to really notice a difference; which I suspect had more than a little to do with the flaring elbows.


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ME BENCH
Incline bench press 2×5@20kg,
2×3@30kg,
2×3@40kg,
2@45kg,
1@50kg
Incline bench press (close grip) 4×6@35kg
Triceps kickback 4×6@11.5kg
Dumbell row 4×6@31.5kg (each side)
Barbell shrug 4×6@100kg


Total time : 61 mins

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Discussion

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Comments

1

Very interesting points you brought up. Tried it myself using the following guidelines to locate the acromion:

“To find the acromion, let your arm hang down at your side. With the other hand, feel down the side of your neck and along the top of your shoulder. Just about where the top of your shoulder ends and your arm begins, you will feel a bony point. This is your acromian. Check to make sure that you have found the right spot by continuing to feel the point with your finger while you move your arm around. You will feel that this is the point where the movement of your arm originates.”
http://www.rodcycle.com/fitinst.html

Got 36cm, which would put my ideal pressing width at 59-72cm. Trying it out with a broomstick at home, 59cm is definitively a lot wider than my current close grip resulting in forearms markedly slanted outwards at lockout. This is quite precisely the maximum possible close grip width using Kennelly’s advice (60cm), but for someone (me) who is not even close to using the maximum legal width this is simply too wide to feel even borderline narrow. 72cm must be pretty close to, or even a tad wider than, the wide grip I’m using now.

I cannot help but feel that you must have mismeasured your acromion distance. If it is indeed 23cm, then your ideal pressing width would be 38-46cm. If so your current wide grip of 71cm would be way outside your ideal range. Per Wagner’s quote, your wide grip as defined by the studies would be 46cm and your narrow grip 23cm. If I’m understanding the 1.65-2 formula correctly, it is used to define the grip width that gives best overall leverage. For most people that would definitively be a widish grip with the current party line being “the wider the better”. A narrow/close grip is rarely considered a strong benching position in the first place for most people and the sheer width of 59cm for me makes it seem futile to attempt to situate the close grip within the ideal leverage zone. By contrast, my wide grip is definitively in that zone. A close grip is not even supposed to be a very strong grip; if it were most people would use that in competition. The idea is simply to place more stress on the triceps that are so critical to the lockout (especially important for shirt benchers who get much assistance off the bottom but little at the top). I’m somewhat of an exceptional case, since I can usually bench slightly more with a grip well narrower than 1.65 than with a wide grip, but this might have something to do with the fact that I did years of close grip benching with as good as no wide grip benching before I began powerlifting.

Will measure my own grips on the actual bar in the gym tomorrow.

-Kris

Posted by: Kris | October 21, 2004 7:19 AM

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