close grip bench press

ethan

ethan

ethan

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Just incorporated them into my routine with a reasonable to getting heavy weight of 140lb-problem is they really do take it out on the wrists. Anybody think using a wrist support/strap would be a good idea as opposed to doing them without?

Before anybody suggests working my forearms and wrists a lot more I must stress that on top of all of this my arms and wrists including the rest of me generally take a battering from the workout which is about 2 hours long 4x a week and so the routine is very intense to begin with and having weak arms and wrists isn't the problem.
 
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ethan said:
Just incorporated them into my routine reasonable to heavy weight of 140lb-problem is they really do take it out on the wrists. Anybody think using a wrist support/strap would be a good idea as opposed to doing them without?
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straps and supports would be pointless. Just dont hold it with hands so close. For me i go about shoulder width. No need to go closer.
 
Morba said:
straps and supports would be pointless. Just dont hold it with hands so close. For me i go about shoulder width. No need to go closer.
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Thanks Morba thats an interesting point as I am doing them about 12 inches apart. I'll try widenning the grip. Thanks :)
 
the closer you go the more stress it will put on the wrist. you dont want the wrist going sideways as the bar comes down, its a completely unnatural movement for it.
I do my rep so that my elbows dont flar out, they go down by my body, which means i have to hold it relatively wide, seems to feel better for me (in the tri).
also means I can lift heavier hehe
 
Morba said:
straps and supports would be pointless. Just dont hold it with hands so close. For me i go about shoulder width. No need to go closer.
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i agree with this
me and my training partner used to hold the bar with ours hands pretty close as we thought the closer our hands are the more pressure you put on your triceps and less on your chest

but was murder on our wrists and sometimes forearm
 
If you try and do it a bit wider, it will allow you to bring your arms down vertically beside your body which should isolate the triceps more. Do doing them at shoulder width or just less is win win :)
 
Try an EZ bar.

Alternatively, something like diamond pushups on a medicine ball (oh noes bodyweight exercise!) are rather tricky and will improve the strength and stabilisation of your wrists to boot.

Ant :cool:
 
WantoN said:
Do it with your feet on a swissball for ball-shrinking difficulty :o

Ant :cool:
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Lol...oh the imagery of struggling to do a rep then looking down and seeing your nads diminish!

I always struggle to keep my elbows in on most triceps exercises. I can't go heavy due to injuries i've had around the elbow area, but when i lift just the bar with a 5kg plate on each end for skull crushers and do it strictly man do i feel the buuurrrrnn!
Yes, i know, i'm hardcore! :D

I'll say the same as the others, not too close for CGBP as close as what's comfortable really, just inside the shoulders for me.
 
bloke at my gym has his hands on top of two medicine balls and feet on bench for the diamonds
reckon id be eating floor..
 
moogie said:
bloke at my gym has his hands on top of two medicine balls and feet on bench for the diamonds
reckon id be eating floor..
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Doesn't sound like a diamond to me :) Sound like a pushup on an unstable/deep platform

Guess he's going for lots of depth on the pushup, but to be honest I'd say the only thing he's really doing is putting a lot of stress on his ant.delts and creating a bit of extra work for the rotator cuffs through stability.

Ant :cool:
 
Bit off topic but theres a guy I've seen at our gym balance on a swissball on his knees. Probaly not as tough as it looks but I still find it impressive!
 
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