Horizontal Push · Intermediate
Close-Grip Bench Press
- Movement pattern
- Horizontal Push
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Equipment
- Barbell, Bench
- Mechanics
- Compound
- Sides
- Bilateral
- Main plane
- Transverse
How to do the Close-Grip Bench Press
Setup
Same flat bench setup, hands set narrower than shoulder-width (commonly just inside shoulder-width, not extremely narrow).
Retracting and pinning the shoulder blades together and down is a deliberate technique that increases the pec's mechanical force angle — it is not automatic. A rep completes with the shoulder blades left protracted (rounded forward) too; that just transfers less force to the chest. Cue it explicitly, do not assume it happens.
Lower the bar to your lower chest/sternum, keeping elbows closer to your body than a standard-grip press.
Keep elbows tracking back rather than flaring out -- the narrow grip already increases wrist/elbow stress, and flaring adds more.
Start the press by contracting your chest first, not by pushing with the shoulders or arms -- which muscle initiates the movement measurably changes how much of the work your chest actually does.
Press up, finishing with the same lockout as a standard bench press.
Common mistakes
Gripping too narrow (hands touching), which stresses the wrists more than it adds triceps benefit.
Flaring the elbows wide, which defeats the point of the close grip and adds unnecessary shoulder strain.
Arching your lower back to shorten the range or move more weight -- it creates dangerous, uneven pressure on the spinal discs and can contribute to a herniated disc. Keep your glutes and upper back on the bench throughout.
Muscles worked
How the knowledge graph models this movement
Shoulder horizontal adduction
Elbow extension
Shoulder flexion