Wide grip presses?

Golden_Muscle

Hybrid Athlete
I always use a closer than average grip when doing all presses. I have alot more strength like that because im a tricep guy. If I start using a wide grip on my presses, will I gain new size in my pecs even though I will be using less weight?

Thanks.
 
Most likely, yeah. You'd be hitting your pecs harder and differently than you did before.
 
string_bean00 said:
Most likely, yeah. You'd be hitting your pecs harder and differently than you did before.

Even though I will be using less weight?

Im obsessed with strenght as you can see. That might not be a good thing....
 
Your chest has more potential than your arms.

But if you have short arms then maybe a narrower grip will be better. Everybody is different.
 
your hitting your chest from a different angle so you will be recruiting more muscle fibers. You maybe use less weight because the muscle fibers aren't used very often
 
going real wide with HEAVY weight is a recipe for a torn pec imo especially on flat bench . even the powerlifters who train for it usually go with a narrower grip in training than they do when they use their bench shirts which will protect you somewhat .
 
the wider your grip.. the wide your chest gets... If you do close grip, youll see that your pecs are more round then flat.. By opening up your grip, youll develope a wider BIGGER chest... Be careful with the weight... your prone to more injuries by doing wide grip.. but still do
 
Golden_Muscle said:
Even though I will be using less weight?

Im obsessed with strenght as you can see. That might not be a good thing....

Yes.


I'm obsessed with strength as well, but the wider grip will help your chest grow more than the closer grip.

Also, it depends on how wide you're talking -- I generally do ALL barbell presses (except for close grip tricep stuff, obviously) with my pinkie or ring finger on the ring in the bar, and I've found that I can actually move more weight that way vs. a closer grip (i.e. thumb length out from smooth area). If you're talking super wide grip, then yes, that could be a problem (such as a torn pec, like DAWG mentioned).
 
If you're talking about ultra-wide, you stand a bigger chance of hurting your anterior delt. I don't know if light weight will do it, but i know that heavy weights (esp. for a long period of time) will.
 
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