Close Grip EZ Bar Press Overview
The close grip ez bar press is a triceps push on a bench. You hold an ez bar with your hands close together. The ez bar has bent grips that are kind to your wrists. It works your triceps, the back of your upper arms. It also works your chest and shoulders. You need an ez bar and a flat bench. This move builds strong, thick triceps. The close grip makes the back of your arms do most of the work. The close grip ez bar press is good for most lifters. It fits well on push days or arm days. Use it to add size to your arms. Keep your elbows close for the best results.
What Is The Point of the Close Grip EZ Bar Press?
The close grip ez bar press builds bigger, stronger triceps while reducing wrist strain. It targets your triceps harder than regular bench press for better arm definition.
How To Do The Close Grip EZ Bar Press
- Lie back on a flat bench and grip the EZ bar on the inner curves with your hands about 6 to 8 inches apart. The angled EZ bar sits kinder on your wrists than a straight bar, which is why it works so well for close-grip pressing.
- Set your shoulder blades down and back into the bench before you unrack. This builds a stable base and protects your shoulders, and you want to hold that set position for every rep.
- Plant your feet flat and hard into the floor and squeeze your glutes to stay tight. A stable lower body gives you a platform to press from even on a triceps-focused lift.
- Unrack the bar, ideally with a spotter, and bring it out so it sits directly over your lower chest with your arms straight. This is your starting position.
- Take a big breath into your belly and brace your core. Keep your wrists stacked over your elbows and your grip firm so the bar sits solidly in your hands.
- Lower the bar under control to your lower chest, keeping your elbows tucked close to your sides. The close grip and tucked elbows are what shift the work onto your triceps, so do not let them flare out wide.
- Aim for a 2 to 3 second descent and touch the bar lightly to your lower chest. Do not bounce it, and keep your upper back tight and your wrists straight the whole way down.
- Drive the bar back up in a slightly backward path toward your shoulders, breathing out through the sticking point. Focus on squeezing your triceps to straighten your arms rather than just shoving the bar.
- Lock out just short of fully straight to keep tension on the triceps, then start the next rep. Work in the 6 to 12 rep range for size and strength, and rack the bar safely with control when you finish.
Close Grip EZ Bar Press Form Tips
- Keep your hands close, about 6 to 8 inches apart.
- Keep your elbows tucked close to your body.
- Lower the bar slow to your lower chest.
- Press straight up over your chest.
- Squeeze your triceps hard at the top.
- Keep your wrists straight and strong.
- Keep your feet flat and your hips on the bench.
- Breathe in as you lower. Breathe out as you press.
- Keep your back and head on the bench.
Common Mistakes to Avoid for the Close Grip EZ Bar Press
- Gripping the bar too narrow. Squeezing your hands right together does not hit the triceps any harder and it badly strains your wrists and elbows. Keep your hands about 6 to 8 inches apart on the EZ bar curves, which is close enough to load the triceps without wrecking your joints.
- Flaring your elbows out to the sides. Letting the elbows drift wide turns this into a chest press and takes the tension off your triceps while stressing your shoulders. Tuck your elbows close to your sides on the way down so the triceps stay loaded and the shoulders stay safe.
- Lowering the bar to your upper chest or neck. Bringing the bar high toward your throat forces the elbows to flare and puts you in a weak, risky position. Touch the bar to your lower chest or upper stomach, which keeps the elbows tucked and the path efficient.
- Bouncing the bar off your chest. Using a bounce to rebound out of the bottom steals reps from your triceps and can bruise your sternum. Touch lightly, keep control, and press back up under your own power.
- Bending your wrists back under the bar. A cocked-back wrist leaks force and puts real strain on the joint, which is common on pressing. Keep your wrists straight and stacked over your elbows with the bar low in your palm.
- Losing your shoulder blade set mid-set. If your shoulders round forward as you press, you lose your stable base and put the joint at risk. Re-set your blades down and back into the bench before every rep and hold that tightness hard.
- Going too heavy and letting the elbows blow out. Ego loading a close-grip press forces your elbows wide and your form to fall apart, which beats up your shoulders. Pick a weight you can press with tucked elbows for all your reps, then add small jumps over time.
- Pressing in a purely vertical line. Driving the bar straight up over your face on a close grip leaves you weak and out of position. Press up and slightly back toward your shoulders so the bar path matches your leverage.
- Rushing the lowering phase. Dropping the bar fast wastes the eccentric, one of the best muscle-building parts of the rep, and it strains the elbows. Own a controlled 2 to 3 second descent on every rep.
- Cutting the lockout short every rep. While a slight short lockout keeps tension, never actually reaching near extension undertrains the triceps in their strongest range. Drive to near full extension and squeeze the triceps before starting the next rep.
- Letting your feet dance around. Lazy legs leave you unstable and leak power on the press. Screw your feet into the floor and stay tight from the ground up so you press from a solid base.
- Pressing without a spotter on heavy sets. Getting stuck on a close-grip press with a narrow grip is an easy way to get pinned. Use a spotter or safety pins whenever you push close to your limit.
Close Grip EZ Bar Press Workout Tips
- Use the EZ bar to save your wrists. The angled grip lets your hands sit in a more natural position than a straight bar, which makes close-grip pressing far more comfortable and lets you train the triceps harder.
- Keep your elbows tucked throughout. Driving your elbows close to your sides is the single most important cue for keeping the tension on your triceps and off your shoulders.
- Touch the bar to your lower chest. A lower touch point keeps your elbows tucked and gives you an efficient, strong bar path, unlike touching high near the neck.
- Control the eccentric on every rep. A 2 to 3 second lowering keeps the triceps under tension longer and builds more muscle than dropping the bar fast.
- Squeeze your triceps to lock out. Think about straightening your arms with your triceps rather than just shoving the bar, which sharpens the mind-muscle connection and drives growth.
- Program it as a primary triceps builder. This press lets you overload the triceps with real weight, so put it early in your arm or push day while you are strong and fresh.
- Live in the 6 to 12 rep range. That range balances tension and load well for building triceps size and strength, so aim for 3 to 4 solid sets.
- Add a pause on the chest for some sets. A one-second pause kills the bounce and forces your triceps to do all the work off the bottom, which builds real starting strength.
- Progress with small, steady jumps. Add a little weight or a rep over time rather than big leaps, since clean progressive overload is what grows the triceps long term.
- Carry it over to your bench press. A stronger close-grip press directly improves your lockout on the regular bench, since the triceps finish that lift.
- Keep your wrists straight and grip firm. A tight, stacked wrist keeps power flowing into the bar and protects the joint, so squeeze hard and keep your knuckles up.
- Try it as a superset with pushdowns. Following heavy close-grip presses with a lighter isolation like pushdowns floods the triceps with volume and a great pump.
- Film your press from the side. Video shows whether your elbows are flaring or your bar path is drifting far better than it feels while you are grinding.
- Do not go so narrow that your wrists hurt. If your wrists or elbows ache, widen your grip slightly on the bar, since a moderate close grip trains the triceps just as well with less joint stress.
- Keep your upper back tight and set. A stable shoulder shelf lets you press more safely and powerfully, so hold your blades down and back the whole set.
- Use a spotter for heavy work. A narrow grip makes it easy to get stuck, so having help or safety pins on your top sets keeps you out of trouble.
- Be consistent and patient. Triceps make up most of your arm size, so steady close-grip work over months is what fills out your sleeves.
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