VFers pondering chest question

N

Nancy C

Guest
Cathe, what is your take on this chest question. I figure, part of the reason we are an educated crowd is due to many of your tips and instructions in your videos..so why not ask you;-).

A bunch of us at VF are wondering about a chest exercise in a new video that is similar to the close grip tri press you have in CTX. It's a long set of chest presses and as the set progresses, you end up changing your hand placement throughout..so you go from a wide grip press, into a mid range grip and lastly..the close grip press. I've been, out of habit from CTX;-), moving the bar lower over my ribcage for the closer grip press to target the tris more because I know it will make it more challenging. Plus...it just ads a little more variety.

I guess the question is, if I do it as is and leave my hands higher up on the chest like in a regular chest press bar position...are the triceps still going to be the main focus and cheat me out of a good chest workout with the hands close together and if it is..should I just not bother with the higher postion and then move the bar lower to really get the full benefit out of the tri/chest press? (Which, I'm sort of doing now) OR...is that close grip/higher bar really working the chest..with a little help from the tris?

I realize this is a question regarding another persons workout...I mean no disrespect to them and this certainly isn't meant to judge or diss the workout, but I value your insight into this area and I am just interested on how to really get the most out of this exercise...even if it means doing my own thing and changing things up. Besides..I just love this kind of stuff..nothing better than learning how the body works;-).

Looking forward to your new tapes:7 and hope all is going smoothly with the new gym...tell Chris to replace those old Reebok cycles with V-bikes when you guys move;-).

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Hi Nancy! How are you?

It really is hard to answer that without seeing the actual movement and how it is performed. But rather than look any deeper into the contents of this video(since we both know that it would be inappropriate of me to comment on that;-)), I'll instead point out that anytime you are doing a flat bench press, you will be targeting BOTH the chest and triceps. Certain hand positions and placement angles will influence and recruit muscles a little differently (ex. close grip hits the triceps and inner chest a little more specifically).

But in addition to placing your hands differently and aiming the bar at different angles, it is also very important to analyze the exercise and understand how and why the exercise is performed in certain ways. That is what enhances the full benefits of those position changes.

I, personally, like to aim the bar toward the lower chest during a close grip bench press because I find it allows you to keep your arms close to your sides as you go through the movement. I find that having your arms close to your sides (ie. so that the inside of your arms lightly brush against the sides of your body as you lift and lower the bar)helps to keep the weight stable and centered over the tricep as you go through the movement. This "arm-close-to-the-side-" position also places less stress on your wrist since your wrist is now in alignment with your forearm, which creates a stronger base and allows you to handle heavier weight.

I find that aiming the bar higher over the chest, makes it much harder to keep my elbows at my sides, causing the elbows to flare out sideways. Flared out elbows, leads to increased wrist stress and a less sturdy base for heavy push power.

This is not to say that you will get no results if your hands are aiming across the mid chest, but just that when the aim is up this high it could diminish the full potential of various muscle recruitment and overall benefits.

I hope this helps you and I'll see you next workout;-).
 
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