Press the barbell on the triceps muscle is performed with a narrow grip. This movement is fundamental for athletes who pursue goals for increase in volume and triceps strength.
Essence and basic principles
The press with a narrow grip on the triceps creates a load in all heads of the triceps muscle: lateral, medial and long. The exercise is basic and is included in most training complexes. The triceps barbell press is widely used by athletes with different levels of physical fitness and training experience.
Which muscles are involved
With a narrow setting of the hands, the main load falls on:
- Triceps brachii.
- Pectoral muscles.
- Deltoid muscles (anterior fascicle).
Additionally, the work includes:
- Latissimus dorsi.
- Muscles of the forearms and extensors of the hand.
- Serrated muscles.
Key recommendations
To achieve the maximum effect, when performing this exercise, it is important to strictly follow the recommendations for its technique. Before starting the movement, it is important to pay attention to the position of the athlete's body on the bench.
Lie down on the bench is required as follows:
- The pelvis should be firmly pressed against the supporting surface. This reduces the stress on the lumbar spine. There are techniques for the bench press with a narrow grip, in which the athlete's buttocks come off the bench. This makes it possible to reduce the range of motion. In this case, the inertia forces arising from the push of the bar are included in the work. The combination of these factors contributes to a significant increase in the resistance used. However, beginner athletes should not use these exercise techniques.
- The feet should be firmly pressed to the floor. The angle between the ankle and the surface is about 90 °. Experienced athletes can perform this movement with support on their toes. This creates a greater deflection in the lower back and increases the inertial component when pushing the bar from the bottom point. For novice athletes, performing a movement with a similar stance of the feet is a gross mistake.
- The shoulder blades should be brought together and firmly pressed against the bench... This allows you to form a stable support when lifting the bar up. This recommendation is especially relevant when pressing with a narrow grip. Since the barbell, in this case, has a less stable position in the hands of the practitioner than with the classic bench press.
- The head should be pressed firmly against the bench. Separation of the occipital part from the surface is not allowed. This violation of the technique of performing the exercise occurs due to the excessive weight of the sports equipment. The athlete tries to throw, and not raise the barbell up in a controlled manner. The result of incorrect selection of the weight of the burden can damage the muscles of the neck.
The classic technique for doing the bench press with a narrow grip on the triceps
Having taken the starting position on the bench, taking into account all the above recommendations, the athlete can proceed to the bench press with a narrow grip on the triceps.
The technique for performing the exercise is as follows:
- Position yourself on a horizontal bench in such a way that the vertical plane drawn through the bar is projected onto the athlete's body in the area of his eyes. This will allow you to remove the barbell from the racks as efficiently as possible.
- The hands are placed on the bar at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other. The thumbs of the hands are connected to the index fingers, wrap around the neck from the opposite side and form a kind of lock on the bar. Open grip is prohibited. When working with large weights, the athlete may not be able to hold the weights and drop the barbell on his chest or face.
- From the occupied position, the bar is removed from the bench racks. At the same time, it is important to keep the shoulder blades brought together, and to press the shoulders tightly against the bench. The bar with athletic pancakes is in the plane of the chest.
- From this position, the negative phase of movement begins. The sports equipment is lowered in a controlled manner towards the bottom of the pectoral muscles. The movement should be smooth. Elbows slide along the body. Their breeding across the sides is not allowed. The descent is performed on inhalation.
- The rise is carried out on exhalation. The movement is sharp, but without a jerk. The muscles of the arms, chest and shoulders of the athlete must push the projectile with a powerful contraction. Upon reaching the top point of the trajectory, you should immediately begin lowering the bar down on inhalation. It is forbidden to hold the bar with weights on outstretched straight arms.
When lifting and lowering the barbell with weights, you must pay close attention to the trajectory of the bar. It should be straight.
The movement is carried out from the starting point just below the edge of the pectoralis major muscle and to the top point above the chest. It is strictly forbidden to overwhelm the barbell or take it to the head area.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Classic Triceps Barbell Press
Exercise has a number of advantages and disadvantages. When building a training program, both the first and the second should be taken into account. This will allow you to fully realize the potential of your triceps bench press and achieve the best results possible.
| Benefits | disadvantages |
| A powerful load on the muscles of the extensors of the arms. In this exercise, all triceps heads are under significant tension. In addition, the pectoral and deltoid muscles are included in the work. | The bench press is performed with large working weights. Each element of the kinematic scheme of the exercise experiences significant stress. Therefore, in the presence of one or several weak points (for example, poorly developed hands), it becomes impossible to perform a quality workout. |
| Lifting large weights creates stress in the muscles and nervous system of the entire body. This entails a quality anabolic response. In other words, when using this exercise, the muscles show more dynamic growth rates. | A narrow grip barbell press for triceps engages all the heads of the back of the hand. However, with the classical technique, the lateral bundle experiences more tension than the long one. Therefore, this exercise must be combined with other types of training loads that can compensate for this deficiency. |
| A relatively simple technique. It is possible to get injured during the exercise only if the rules for its implementation are grossly violated. The bench press is safe for beginners thanks to the rigid fixation of the body on the bench. | Load on the elbow and shoulder joints. With the wrong technique of performing the movement (elbows are retracted through the sides), there is a significant load in 2 main working joints. It can damage the rotator cuff of the shoulder, dislocation or subluxation of the joint itself. |
| Complex effect.When performing a triceps press, a large number of muscle fibers of the shoulder girdle are involved. This contributes to the harmonious development of this part of the body. |
Indications for the beginning of use
Pressing a narrow grip on triceps allows you not only to develop strength in the muscles of the arms, but also significantly increase their overall size. The triceps muscle of the shoulder is 2/3 of the total volume of the arm. Therefore, this exercise is indispensable for athletes who aim to increase them.
The narrow grip press improves the results of the classic bench press. This exercise is a separate sports discipline and is held in competitions under the auspices of various powerlifting federations.
Also, the exercise is suitable for training the inner pectoral muscles. To do this, the arms on the bar are slightly wider. In this case, the main load is evenly distributed between the triceps and the adductor pectoral muscles.
Contraindications for use
Despite the relative safety of the triceps bench press, there are several major contraindications.
- It is not recommended to perform the exercise with a large weight in the presence of degenerative disorders in the structure of the elbow and shoulder joints. With arthritis and arthrosis, the athlete will experience pain in the damaged part of the body and subject the affected joint to additional destruction.
- With curvatures of the lumbar and thoracic spine, the bench press is not allowed using the standard technique. At the initial stages of kyphosis and scoliosis, it is possible to perform this exercise, but at the same time it is necessary to perform it in an isolated form. You should raise your feet off the floor and put them on a bench. In this case, the load from the back is removed and transferred entirely to the muscles of the shoulder girdle.
Helpful hints
The narrow grip triceps press is a basic movement that involves a large number of muscles in the shoulder girdle.
In different athletes, due to their anatomical features or training experience, some muscles can be developed much better than others. And not always triceps are among the stronger muscle groups.
In view of this factor and the fact that with the classical technique of performing the movement, the load between the lateral, medial and long heads of the triceps is unevenly distributed, it is advisable to use various variations of the bench press with a narrow grip. During the exercise, it is possible to change the width of the grip, the angle of the bench or the sports equipment.
Bench press with a narrow grip on a bench tilted down
This version of the exercise allows you to solve the problem of insufficient study of the long triceps head. Due to the slight reverse tilt of the bench, the arms are fully extended at the top of the trajectory.
This allows the largest head of the triceps muscle to fully perform its functions of extending the arm.
Bench press, 10-15 ° positive incline
In this position, the back surface of the shoulder undergoes preliminary stretching. It occurs before the start of the exercise. This allows you to increase the range of motion of the triceps muscle and reduce it more intensely when lifting the bar to the top point of the trajectory.
Dumbbell bench press for triceps
When performing exercises with a barbell, the athlete's hands are rigidly fixed on the apparatus. The slightest importance of shifting them to the sides is missing. In this case, small and large stabilizer muscles are turned off from work. The use of dumbbells allows you to diversify the training process and more intensively use, for example, the biceps of the shoulder.
Reverse grip press
It is dangerous to move with free weights. Therefore, it should be performed in a Smith machine. This exercise allows you to load the medial and especially the lateral triceps head in a more isolated manner.This becomes possible due to the peculiarities of the attachment of their muscle fibers, which receive preliminary stretching when the hand is turned towards itself.
The technique for performing the reverse grip press does not differ from the classic triceps press. The difference lies in the position of the hands on the barbell. They are positioned in such a way that the palm is turned towards the student.
Using the Smith machine
The Smith strength machine is a frame with a barbell moving along vertically oriented guides. This feature allows you to perform all of the listed variations of the bench press on the triceps, while simultaneously changing the angle of attack.
Since the bar is securely fixed, and the athlete does not need to control its position in space, it becomes possible to change the position of the athlete's body relative to the sports equipment.
For example, it is possible to lie in such a way that at the highest point the bar is over the lower part of the chest and not over the collarbone. This will allow you to more intensively engage the long head of the triceps.
The number of repetitions and weight of the weights
The number of repetitions and the load are selected depending on the goal. If the main task that the athlete solves in training is the increase in strength indicators, then the number of repetitions should not exceed 5. The weight of the bar, in this case, should be at least 80-85% of the maximum (the weight that the athlete can lift 1 time).
To build volume and shape the triceps, an average number of repetitions is used from 8 to 12. The weight of the bar, in this case, should not exceed 70-80% of the limit.
How to get the most out of your exercise
By following a few simple tips, you can get more benefit:
- Do not linger at the bottom point. The main task facing the athlete in this exercise is to keep the target muscle group under constant tension. If you lower the barbell to the chest for a few seconds, then the triceps will have time to relax and it will become impossible to lift the sports equipment with the force of the hands. You will have to engage more powerful chest muscles.
- The triceps muscle of most athletes responds well to progressive stress. This can be achieved using the Pyramid training method. It provides for a stepwise increase in working weight and a decrease in the number of repetitions.
- The close grip press is a basic movement. It should be done at the beginning of your workout.
Main complex
An important factor in drawing up a training program is the correct coordination of muscle groups on the days of the week. Since during the bench press on the triceps, a significant part of the load falls on the pectoral and deltoid muscles, this exercise should not be combined with a day of chest or shoulder training.
When building a training complex, it is worth considering the involvement or workload of each of the triceps muscle bundles during each of the selected exercises.
A good combination are:
- Bench press for triceps on a horizontal bench with the classic setting of hands on the bar (8-12 repetitions).
- Extension of arms on a vertical block... This movement must be performed by taking 1-1.5 steps from the virtual line of the simulator handle. This will create additional stretch in the triceps and load the long head of the triceps muscle (12-15 reps).
To gain weight and increase strength indicators, the following combination of exercises is used:
- Dips from the uneven bars... You can perform exercises both with your own weight and using weights. In the first case, the number is performed the maximum number of repetitions, in the second - from 6 to 8 times.
- Press on a bench with a positive bias 10-15 °. 10-12 repetitions are performed in 3-4 approaches.
The following set of triceps exercises is considered the main one:
- Reverse grip push-ups (10-12 repetitions * 3). When performing the movement, it is important that the elbow at the lowest point of amplitude does not fall below the shoulder.This movement is natural and the risk of injury is minimal.
- Bench press on triceps in classical technique execution (8-10 repetitions * 3).
- French Incline Press (12-15 repetitions * 3). When performing the exercise, you need to monitor the position of the elbows. Their position should not change when bending the arms. For extension, both a straight bar and a curved bar can be used
Fixing the result
The narrow grip triceps press creates powerful stress on the muscles of the entire shoulder girdle... In order to help the body recover after training and speed up the process of obtaining results, it is necessary to stretch after each session.
To do this, you need to raise your elbow vertically up, bend your arm and take it back. You can help yourself with your free hand. The limb bent at the joint must be fixed in the indicated position for 5-6 seconds. Then repeat the same operation with the other hand.
When to expect the effect
The speed of obtaining the result directly depends on the experience of the athlete. Those who come to the gym for the first time can count on a visually tangible effect of doing triceps press at the end of 2-3 months. Strength gains will be much faster.
The press with a narrow grip can significantly improve the strength characteristics of the athlete.
Various versions of its execution compensate for each other's shortcomings and contribute to the formation of a harmoniously developed triceps muscle of the shoulder... To prevent injury, you should strictly follow the triceps press technique and carry out a full warm-up before each workout.
Video on the topic: press with a narrow grip: execution technique
Technique for performing the exercise "press the bar with a narrow grip":