Incline Push-Up Close-Grip
Trains the Triceps.
- Equipment
- A flat bench, an adjustable bench, or a barbell in a rack
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Set your hands on a bench or bar at about hip height, closer than shoulder-width.
- Walk your feet back until your body is in one line from heels to head.
- Brace your stomach and squeeze your glutes.
- Lower your chest toward your hands, keeping the elbows tucked close to your sides.
- Stop when the chest is just above your hands.
- Press back up to straight arms without letting the elbows flare.
Common mistakes
- Letting the elbows flare as it gets hard. Elbows in is what aims the movement at the triceps, and it is the first thing to go on the last repetitions.
- Placing the hands so close that the wrists complain. Hands about a hand's width apart is usually enough; touching thumbs and forefingers puts most wrists into an awkward angle.
- Letting the hips sag. The trunk holds one line whatever the hands are doing.
- Expecting it to feel like the standard version with a different emphasis. The close grip shortens the chest's contribution considerably, so a surface height that works for a normal incline push-up may be too low for this one.