UB – PUSH – BENCH PRESS – GRIP WIDTH & ARM ANGLE – RESEARCH

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BENCH PRESS: GRIP WIDTH & ARM ANGLE

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EMG STUDIES

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PECTORALIS MAJOR: UPPER, MIDDLE, LOWER, ANTERIOR DELTOID & TRICEPS LONG HEAD
– Bench Press & Seated Chest Press

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Comparison of Muscle Activity between the Horizontal Bench Press and the Seated Chest Press Exercises Using Several Grips – 2023
José M. Muyor,¹ David Rodríguez-Ridao,¹ and José M. Oliva-Lozano
Procedure
– BP: bench press with a pronated grip at 150% and 50% of biacromial width
– SCP: seated chest press with a neutral grip at ~150% and a pronated grip at ~200% of the biacromial width
– 20 physically active adults; minimum of 4 yrs strength training; performed a set of 8 repetitions at 60% 1RM.
Results
Clavicular Upper Section:
SCP Neutral 150% Width 30 . BP Pronated 50% Width 26 . SCP Pronated 200% Width 27 . BP Pronated 150% Grip Width 25
Sternal Middle Section:
SCP Neutral 150% Width 31 . BP Pronated 150% Grip Width 29 . SCP Pronated 200% Width 28 . BP Pronated 50% Width 22
Costal Lower Section:
SCP Neutral 150% Width 27 . BP Pronated 50% Width 27 . SCP Pronated 200% Width 25 . BP Pronated 150% Grip Width 19
Anterior Deltoid:
SCP Neutral 150% Width 27 . BP Pronated 50% Width 24 . BP Pronated 150% Grip Width 23 . SCP Pronated 200% Width 23
Triceps Long Head:
BP Pronated 50% Width 16 . SCP Neutral 150% Width 14 . SCP Pronated 200% Width 13 . BP Pronated 150% Grip 11

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PECTORALIS MAJOR: UPPER, MIDDLE & TRICEPS LONG HEAD
– Bench Press Narrow, Medium, Wide Grips

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Effect of Grip Width on Strength and EMG in the Bench Press – 2021 – Saeterbakken
Procedure
(1) The RT group had to bench press at least 125% of their body mass
(2) The NT group had to bench press less than 80% of their body weight
(3) The NT group could not have conducted resistance training regularly in the last six months (i.e., twice or more per week)
Grip Width
The distance between the arm pits was measured and defined as:
(1) Narrow grip: distance between arm pits
(2) Medium grip width: half the distance between narrow and wide grip.
(3) Wide grip: 81 cm or 32 inches; the widest grip allowed in bench press competition
– the 6-RM in each of the three grip widths was achieved within a maximum of 3 attempts
Results for the RT – Resistance Trained Group
RT – Clavicular Pectoralis Major: medium 105  ·  narrow 103  · wide 99
RT – Sternocostal Pectoralis Major: narrow 125  · medium 118 · wide 113
+ RT – Triceps Long Head: narrow 77 ·  medium 76 · wide 68
+ RT – Anterior Deltoid: medium 115 · narrow 111 · wide 111

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PECTORALIS MAJOR, ANTERIOR DELTOIDS, TRICEPS LATERAL & MEDIAL HEADS
– Bench Press Narrow, Medium, Wider Grips

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Wide, Medium, and Narrow Grip Width Effects on the Sticking Region during 1RM Bench – 2020 – Larsen, Gomo, van den Tillaar
· Strength Log Summary .
Procedure
– 14 bench press-trained recreational males ≥ 3 years of training performed 1-RM
– 1x bi-acromial distance = shoulder width
Results
1. wider grip – 1.7x bi-acromial distance: 80% pectoralis/delts . 20% triceps
2. medium grip – 1.4x bi-acromial distance: 75% pectoralis/delts . 25% triceps
3. close grip – 1x bi-acromial distance: 65% pectoralis/delts . 35% triceps

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PECTORALIS MAJOR: UPPER, MIDDLE, LOWER & TRICEPS LONG HEAD
– Bench Press Incline, Flat, Decline with Narrow and Wide Grips

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Effect of 12 Variations of Bench Press on 3 Heads of the Pectoral Major – 2020 – Roy, Sercia – PDF File .
Procedures
· 13 healthy men with more than a year of resistance training experience
Grip Width
(1) C = Close or Narrow: 100% biacromial = shoulder width
(2) W = Wide: 200% biacromial or 2x shoulder width
Type of Grip
· P = Pronated and S = Supinated
Bench Angles
(1) D = Decline -15º
(2) H = Horizontal or Flat
(3) I = Incline +30º
Results – MVIC
Note: I didn’t include supinated grip results; they place too much stress to the elbows and wrists; perhaps semi-supinated on the angled-handle bar
Clavicular Head of the Pectoralis Major: IPC 70%  ·  IPW 70%  ·  HPC 68%  · HPW 50%  ·  DPC 50%  ·  DPW 45%
Sternocostal Head of the Pectoralis Major: HPW 70%  ·  DPW 60%  ·  HPC 55%  ·  IPW 55%  ·  DPC 50%  ·  IPC 45%
Abdominal Head of the Pectoralis Major: HPW 65%  ·  DPW 65%  ·  DPC 50%  ·  HPC 50% ·   IPW 40%  ·  IPC 25%
+ Long Head of the Triceps Brachii: DPC 50%  ·  HPC 40% ·  IPC 35% ·   HPW 35%  ·  DPW 35%  ·  IPW 30%

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PECTORALIS MAJOR: UPPER, MIDDLE & TRICEPS LONG HEAD
– Bench Press Incline, Flat, Decline with Wide and Narrow Grip

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Variations of the Bench Press on the EMG Activity of 5 Shoulder Muscles – 1995 – Barnett
Procedure
– 6 male weight trainers ≥ 2 years of training; 4 conditions of trunk inclination and 2 of hand spacing @80%1RM
Bench Angle
(1) decline minus 18%
(2) flat
(3) incline 40%
(4) vertical: military press seated on flat bench
Grip Width
(1) wide = 200% biacromial or shoulder width
(2) narrow = 100% biacromial or shoulder width
Results
Pectoralis major – Clavicular Head: incline 55 · flat 50 · decline 35 (grip width unknown)
Pectoralis major – Sternocostal Head: wide flat 54 · narrow flat 50 · narrow decline 45 · wide decline 40 · wide incline 40  · narrow incline 30
+ Anterior Deltoid: wide/narrow vertical 90 · wide incline 85 · narrow incline 80 · narrow flat 70 · wide flat 50 · narrow decline 55 · wide decline 40
+ Triceps brachii – Long Head: flat 70 · decline 65 · vertical 40  · incline 38 (grip width unknown)

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