Close Grip Barbell Bench Press

Muscles worked

Two muscle groups share the work: the pectoralis major, which drives the upper arm forward and across the body and the triceps brachii, which straightens the elbow, and through its long head helps pull the arm back at the shoulder.

Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the deltoids stabilise the shoulder and add force at the top of the range.

Every exercise for:ChestTricepsShoulders

How this movement works

The working muscles shorten as they drive the load away from you, and more than one joint changes angle to do it. Load spreads down a chain instead of sitting on one muscle, which is why a compound push handles more weight than any single-joint alternative — and why joint position, not the muscle, is usually what fails first.

It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.

What you need

A barbell locks both hands to one bar, so neither side can drift and the load climbs in plate-sized steps. That makes it the simplest way to add weight and the least forgiving thing to bail out of.

Every exercise using:Barbell

These train the chest and triceps too, using equipment this one does not:

• Cross Over - With Bandsband
• Decline Chest Pressmachine
• Decline Dumbbell Bench Pressdumbbell + bench
• Dumbbell Bent Arm Pulloverbench + dumbbell
• Extended Range One-Arm Kettlebell Floor Presskettlebell

Difficulty

Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.

Of the 105 chest exercises in this database, 63 are listed at beginner level.