Close Grip Decline Bench Press

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
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1

I’ve seen several videos and forum threads that say the close grip incline bench press is a good tricep exercise. I’ve always heard that the decline is useless and the incline has more carry over to the flat bench, but I found a study that examined grip width and bench position. It stated that there is more muscle activation in the triceps when you use a close grip on a decline. Tricep activity during the close grip incline bench press was lower than the flat bench and decline bench.

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I noticed James Strickland (who has a 661lb bench) started doing close grip decline presses a couple months ago, but I haven’t seen any other elite powerlifters do decline presses. Does anyone here do close grip bench press on a decline?

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Can’t bench to save my life but will add into consideration that the “close grip” that Strickland uses for decline bench is his comp grip width on flat too. So for him it’s just normal width decline

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I thought he said he uses an even closer grip when he does the decline, I could be wrong.

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Link to that study…?

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The Effects of Bench Press Variations in Competitive Athletes on Muscle Activity and Performance

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