November 15, 2004

2 responses to Upping the ante on the decline

1. Jamie Says:
   November 17th, 2004 at 3:13 am

   Hello. I watched your video on decline bench. I am thinking of adding decline to my routine. I noticed that your grip is quite narrow. Should I grip narrow as well, or is it a personal preference?
   jamie@celestialstudios.ca

2. Kris Says:
   November 17th, 2004 at 8:49 am

   That would depend on what your weaknesses are and what other things you would do. Close-grips work the triceps more and thus tend to aid bench strength in the mid-range to lockout. Shirt benchers do most accessory work with a close-grip since the shirt gives most help off the bottom with very little towards lockout. Raw benchers can generally use more wide-grips to work the pecs a bit more, especially if the weak point is at the chest (ultra wide helps here too as long as your joints can take it). Basically, unenlightened beings such as myself would at least do something with a narrow grip every week to hit the tris hard, but this could just as well be an extension movement such as JMs. Close grips are also easier on my joints.

   I read in your blog that your bench weakness is off the chest - does this mean your problem is getting the bar off your chest after touch? If it is a bit higher (bar gets off chest, goes up a bit and gets stuck) the problem might be delts or triceps depending on how high it goes. I always thought I had a chest problem too until I videotaped my bench and noted that the sticking point was a lot higher than it felt.

   Hope this helps.

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