Hey guys.
So I was doing Close grip benches today and for the first time i felt a slight grinding in my shoulder region, and after the sets my rotator cuff felt quite worked… this is obviously bad, but for the life of me I cant remember how I did it before that it didnt hurt.
Do you have any tips on form for this exercise? Like hand placement (how close together), and on what part of the chest to lower the bar to, and elbows in or out etc?
Thanks greatly.
I place my index fingers on the smooth part of the bar the way DeFranco instructs. Do you tuck your elbows when you bench?
[quote]RailRoader wrote:
I place my index fingers on the smooth part of the bar the way DeFranco instructs. Do you tuck your elbows when you bench? [/quote]
Hey, thanks for the reply. YEah I tuck my elbows in. I tried flaring my elbows out but I didnt see much of a difference, and since elbows tucked in are a little more comfortable for me, I stuck with it.
I’ll try the index fingers on the smooth part, ty.
few questions,
What bar are you using
How close is your grip
Do you do warm up sets
1 reccomandation
use a thumbless grip.
A normal bar, the same that I would use for a bench press. It’s an olympic one right?
Thumbs are about 6" apart… So in actuality I have my entire hand on the smooth section. Is this too close?
Yes. Generally two to three.
Gotcha.
When I do it I also use a thumbless grip and come to about my lower chest. I don’t use too close of a grip though, before I used like a fist space between but it was slightly uncomfortable on my wrists. Now I use a grip about shoulder width apart and tuck my elbows in, now I love the move more than dips.
[quote]Der Candy wrote:
How close is your grip
Thumbs are about 6" apart… So in actuality I have my entire hand on the smooth section. Is this too close?
[/quote]
That will destroy your elbows. Keep your thumbs about 12 inches or so apart.
six inches apart is way to close. move you hands out.
I agree, 6 inches is too close. I read somewhere that Waterbury suggested 12-16 inches.
More agreement here. Once you go within shoulder width (<12"), you’re putting a lot more strain on your wrists and getting almost no extra benefit. If you want to go closer you could try an EZ-curl bar. I often use these to do triceps extensions and then add some close grip presses when I fail on the extensions.
How is your set up? Do you keep your back tight and shoulders blades retracted? Your elbows should be about halfway between being flared and next to your body (about a 45 degree angle on the way down).
Thanks guys.