Many people who start working out usually stick to one grip for the first couple months of training. Or at least, that’s what I did. The common grip would be shoulder-width apart, not too wide and nor too close. Now there’s nothing wrong with sticking to one grip, however, for maximum bench press strength and development, you need to change up the style of your grip of where it’s placed on the bar.
Now right off the bat, the general muscles being worked are the; triceps, shoulders, CHEST, stabilizer muscles, and that includes your bicep muscles even. However, you can change your grip placement on the bar to hit other specific muscles more directly. These grips include; close, medium, and wide grip.
Using close grip on the bar hits all the muscles that I mentioned earlier, but hits the triceps more directly than anything else. Having a close grip placement on the bar is a very effective way to maximize tricep muscle development. And not to mention, it can usually build more mass rather than using isolated movements such as tricep pull-downs if you’re at a beginner level.
Having medium grip on the bar pretty much hits all the muscles at an even pace. Like all things, there must be a balance. I’m not trying to emphasize that having a medium grip on the bar is the superior of the three grips. It’s just a matter of what muscles you want to hit more directly.
Now, lets talk about the oh so popular wide grip style that many people like to use. Having a wide-grip placement on the bar will hit all the muscles as well, but the one muscle that seems to work the most is the chest. And when you do try going wide grip on the bar, you will notice the difference obviously. Having a wide grip is a sure way to build muscle mass, and very effective. However, for those that are inexperienced, be careful upon how much weight you put on the bar. It seems to me using this grip has the most vulnerable space to injure one’s self. Muscle tears are very common within this placement.
One other aspect of your bench press grip is the location of your thumb. A closed hand grip involves your thumb wrapping around the bar, completing a complete ring.
A suicide grip, name aptly for its high level of danger involves keeping your thumb on the same side of the bar as your other fingers, enabling the weighted barbell to roll out of your palms and drop down onto your neck and chest.
This video shows the risks involved in a suicide grip:
