Weight Training Tips and Articles

Try Reverse Grip Bench Presses For The Triceps

April 11, 2008 on 5:29 am | In Proper Lifting Form, Weight Training Exercises, Arms, Triceps, Build Muscle |

  One of the most popular triceps exercises is the close grip bench press. With your hands close together it forces you to use the triceps more than the pecs on the bench press. However, if you bring the bar all the way down to your chest you may eventually feel pain in the insides of your wrists. To combat this you can stop the weight short of the chest or you can try reverse grip bench presses.

  To do reverse grip bench presses for the triceps you simply lay on the bench and grip the bar with an underhand, rather than overhand, grip. To get more focus on the triceps you should grip the bar a bit wider than you do for normal bench presses. Then you do reps just like you would if you were bench pressing, lowering the weight to the chest and lifting it to arms length. You’ll definitely feel it in the triceps when you do this.

  Reverse grip bench presses are an underused exercise. You’ll hardly ever see anybody doing them at the gym. This is probably because they do take some getting used to. Don’t expect to be able to do near as much weight as you do when you’re bench pressing. In fact, you should start very light and get used to doing reverse grip benches during your tricep workouts before you start going heavier. Once you get used to them, you may find that the reverse grip bench presses are a better triceps exercise for you than close grip benches.