Close Grip Bench Press

[sirsquatalot]

In your templates you program CG benching as a supplementary exercise for the competition bench or press. I naturally bench with a very narrow grip (just outside the start of the knurling due to short arms and being strongest in that position). So if CG is programmed, should i grip even narrower? Or on the contrary grip wider instead, since i can handle less weight this way? Or use a completly different exercise?

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Eh, couple different ways to go here. My comp bench grip is a thumb's width wider than the start of the knurling and I think close grip bench (index fingers on the knurling) is useful for my bench press. If your grip is narrower, I might recommend training a wider grip in place of close grip bench- provided it doesn't tear your shoulders up.

[sirsquatalot]

Eh, couple different ways to go here. My comp bench grip is a thumb's width wider than the start of the knurling and I think close grip bench (index fingers on the knurling) is useful for my bench press. If your grip is narrower, I might recommend training a wider grip in place of close grip bench- provided it doesn't tear your shoulders up.

No, shoulder mobility is not an issue. I used to have to the same comp bench grip width than you do, but then my bench press progress stalled and i did a block of only close grip benching, in doing so quickly surpassing my old comp bench numbers. So i gradually moved my comp bench grip in to almost the same width than my close grip bench (difference is now half an inch on each side and feels negligible). I will try if your recommendation of using a wider grip bench as a supplementary exercise will make a difference in my bench training, but i worry that it will not contribute to the overhead press. My press is stagnating for a while now and currently the focus of my upper body training. I consider using your 12 week press template for this purpose in the future, which is why i am mostly asking this question.