Close-grip!

[TT Eric]

Hey guys, I was wondering how wide is your grip on the bench press close grip?

Eric

[scottlove]

I keep mine about 12" apart, just to keep my wrist out of any funky angles. Same goes for upright rows.

[Praetorian]

Arms should be parallel when extended.

P

[TT Eric]

Thanks Guys! Arms parallel and tucked in is the way I do also, I don't see many people doing this in my circle, they usually go for 6-10''.

Just curious, compared to the regular bench press how 'close' are you in terms of weight ?

My close-grip BP is only about 40-50lbs less vs regular BP.

Eric

[Praetorian]

Best bench press was 585lbs for 5 reps raw. Best close grip was 405lbs for 19 raw...not sure what single would be but dont really care. ;o)

P

[TT Eric]

Woah that's something!! I knew you benched 585, but 405x19!!! It's mind blowing!

Off topic but I'm guessing at this level of strength it must have been impossible for you to train with machines like pulldowns, lying leg curls, etc... ? Clearly not enough weight on those machine for you, even if you add a few 45s pinned on the side. (I'm not fan of machines, I prefer free weights, but some are useful like those ones).

Or even chin-ups ? Before you tore your biceps, how much weight did you add to your waist, if you don't mind sharing ?

Eric

[Praetorian]

I had a special pin made by a machinist friend that I used to add weights to the pull down or leg curl stack. I was always pretty heavy(280) so i didnt have to add much say 60lb dumbbell for chins. After tearing my biceps I no longer do chins because they are too risky. I find for hams i get much better development using stiff legged deads, hypers, glute ham raise...I rarely do curls anymore.

P

[Talo]

P - do you find chins to risky or the fact that you were lifting over 300 lbs the risk factor ?

[Praetorian]

Talo...i did do chins at 280lbs plus a dumbbell but once i tore my biceps i stopped doing them. The stress on the insertion is just too great and because my left biceps was a partial tear and only re-attached to what tendon wasn't torn it could tear again easily. I switched to pulldowns stack only and very smooth and precision reps...usually 15 or so.

P

[TT Eric]

Did the tearing happened when you were doing chins Ted ? And did you had any warning signs or it just happened unexpectedly ?

I have done chin-ups lately with +105lbs, so it put me at 305lbs (I'm 200), everything seems fine to me, but I do not want to go through that if this is the kind of thing that can happen when you don't expect it at all !!

For now I'm doing chin-ups 2 months on, 2 months off, alternating with pulldowns to prevent this.

Eric

[Praetorian]

The left tear started on preacher curls but i didnt realize it at the time...a few days later i did heavy pulldowns with additional weight and tat finished it.

P

[TT Eric]

Thanks Ted!

Eric

[TT Eric]

One more question, do you use false grip on close-grip ?

Eric