Bench Press: Hand Spacing 101

by: Josh Bryant

Find Your Optimal Bench Press Grip

Picture this: You’ve just finished wrestling alligators on the Seminole reservation, downed a few shots of moonshine to celebrate, and now you find yourself at a Waffle House, contemplating life’s mysteries over a plate of scattered, smothered, and covered hash browns. Suddenly, the topic of bench press grip width comes up. Because, you know, why not? Welcome to the wild world of strength training, where even the breakfast joint debates can lead to PRs and world records.

Conventional wisdom knows the wider the grip, the less distance you have to push the bar to complete a bench press. This is why many competitive lifters pick a wide grip for the bench press. But lately, some lifters, pioneered by, my client the amazing trail blazing Jeremy Hoornstra, have had greater success with a narrower grip. Lifters that espouse narrow grips say this feels better on their shoulders and gives them better drive off the chest. 

The whole basis of wide-grip bench presses as a supplementary lift is to build drive off the chest. Perhaps not surprisingly, research shows that narrow grips produce similar chest activation but greater triceps activation than a wider grip. Even though less distance is required to push the barbell with a wide-grip bench press, more muscles appear to be activated with a narrow grip. This is certainly something to consider when choosing a grip width because you are pushing the weight off your chest, not a bench press shirt.

Most researchers and lifters believe that bench pressing with a narrow grip helps reduce the potential risk of pec tears and shoulder injuries. EMG studies showed that grip width did not cause a major difference in the recruitment of the pecs, but intensified triceps activity.

The same study demonstrated that bench press grips wider than shoulder width increased the chance of pec tears and shoulder injuries. Shoulder torque is 1.5 times greater with a wide grip than a narrow grip.

So if you’re interested in maximum muscle recruitment and safer lifts, try moving your hands in closer to shoulder width. It may feel uncomfortable or limiting if you’re used to a wider grip but, over time, the triceps will become an even greater contributor to the lift which is particularly valuable when trying to lockout a heavy load.

Unless you’re throwing down in high-stakes powerlifting and ready to roll the dice, there’s really no need to grip the bench press like you’re trying to hug a sumo wrestler.

Build the biggest bench press of your life HERE.