Close grip bench press

[dmk777]

Hi everyone I've been doing close grip bench press as the heavy builder yet I was talking to a guy in my gym who thinks dips are the better builder.
Personally I find any sort of dips put pressure on my shoulders unless I'm hitting them wrong.
What's your thoughts on favourite builder for tri?
Zed taught me the French press I love them but I'm finding it hard gaining from 12k as it tortures my elbows.

Cheers guys

Donna

 

[zedhed]

Hey sista,
Do what works for you!
Yes french press will put pressure on your elbows as it is supposed to work your triceps. Unfortunatly that is the nature of the beast. Anything (at least for me) that directly works your triceps is gonna put pressure on your elbows.

Now I love dips but I have to work up slowly and let my bod from the waist up acclimate to the load. Right now, the last time I did dips I was doing my bod weight (240Lbs) plus 70 Lbs. Also I have had a torn rotater and detached labrum on my right side that I had surgically repaired. (what Im saying is even with that, still dipping sista)
So what I am telling you here is that you most likely can do them but it takes time to work up in weight and thats just fine.
Dips are for you upper bod what squats are for your lower bod!
I have found that dips just do not give me the direct triceps development tho that french press does.

Now on doing close grip bench. Be careful of your shoulders. If you are feeling strain then widen out your grip just a bit.
Last time I tried these I just got fustrated cuz I had to have my grip so wide it was almost like a normal bench press for me.
Sometime soon I will try them again and see if anything has changed for me. It may have cuz that was a long time ago...1 year+.

 

[dmk777]

Hey sista,
Do what works for you!
Yes french press will put pressure on your elbows as it is supposed to work your triceps. Unfortunatly that is the nature of the beast. Anything (at least for me) that directly works your triceps is gonna put pressure on your elbows.

Now I love dips but I have to work up slowly and let my bod from the waist up acclimate to the load. Right now, the last time I did dips I was doing my bod weight (240Lbs) plus 70 Lbs. Also I have had a torn rotater and detached labrum on my right side that I had surgically repaired. (what Im saying is even with that, still dipping sista)
So what I am telling you here is that you most likely can do them but it takes time to work up in weight and thats just fine.
Dips are for you upper bod what squats are for your lower bod!
I have found that dips just do not give me the direct triceps development tho that french press does.

Now on doing close grip bench. Be careful of your shoulders. If you are feeling strain then widen out your grip just a bit.
Last time I tried these I just got fustrated cuz I had to have my grip so wide it was almost like a normal bench press for me.
Sometime soon I will try them again and see if anything has changed for me. It may have cuz that was a long time ago...1 year+.

Hey Z ! May be I just need practice on dips , as for French db I love them I feel them torture my tris but dam they murder my elbows I can may b mix it up a bit , good god your dips r phenomenal lol love it.
Your right with do what you think is right tho because everyone is different ,
As for the close grips I'm confutable with them ATM but thought if there's a bigger builder may b I would try that.

Thanks mr Z

 

[zedhed]

More on dips for you suga!
Ok just got done with my workout.
Dips @ bod weight + 80 lbs!
I just now found out that if I lean forward at all it puts major stress on my shoulder. I seem to do this on my first reps every time.
So suga you see how you are doing them and in your mind take notes and compart.
In general, be as vert as you can for tries and shoulders. To target more chest tip your chin down on your chest and bring your feet and legs out in front of you keeping them str8.
And thanks for the compliment too suga!!

 

[trex74]

what about pushups? do you think those would be gentler on the joints?
I have experienced the elbow strain from french press as well as skullcrushers, and i had to stop those. dips for some reason put a lot of painful strain on one of my wrists that i guess i injured at some point. wah wah wah
I don't really do any direct tri work because mine are my top performers, and grow on their own it seems.
Curious though if a bodyweight exercise would help.

 

[dmk777]

Hey guys Zed I will get on and make notes I must doing something wrong because the whole thing just don't feel right and your welcome you kind with the compliments too!

Hey TRex I am a big fan of push ups I do them whenever I can't make it to gym thing is even with weight attached doesn't seem to hit tri's as hard as the others .
Thanks
Donna

 

[zedhed]

Hey sista on your french press.
Maybe try this. Drop weight to half of what you were using. Do 2 sets for as many reps as you can possibly do. For some reason a lot of times when you are getting joint stress this really will get you through it.
IMO the way it work is this, it sets your joints and connective tissues up for the stress of heavy reps.
So give it a shot and see what if anythinb it does for you.
I have used this time after time with dam near 100% success.
And let me know how it does for you.
Can also try it with dips. Just do them at body weight.
RADAR taught me this.

 

[dmk777]

Hi yeah I will defo give that a go it sounds like that could be the answer to it as after training I've noticed a slight pain feels like tendon fri tri to elbow ,
Thank you Zed I'm excited to try this.
Donna

 

[RottenWillow]

yeah for whatever reason tris have always been a pissy one for me too. Either the exercise doesn't feel comfortable for me, or I stop responding to it after a fairly short length of time. Dips are good but I don't have a dip bar in my home gym. You do have to be real sharp on your form though or they put more stress on the rotator cuffs than the tris.

Generally, lying extensions (aka "skull crushers") and medium grip bench have worked best for me.

 

[Rebecca D]

To prevent shoulder pain I do bench dips instead of regular dips, lower the weight and increase reps on french press, and use dumbbells instead of a barbell for close-grip bench press. This means you aren't doing as much weight, but at my age preventing injury is much more important.

Rebecca D