Written by Patrick Dale, PT, ex-Marine

Close Grip Bench Press Alternatives

If you want to build bigger, stronger triceps, the close (or narrow) grip bench press is hard to beat (1). Unlike many triceps isolation exercises, this popular movement allows you to lift heavy weights, which is why it’s a staple of powerlifting and powerbuilding training.

The narrower grip is also very shoulder-friendly, which is why a lot of lifters gravitate toward it when regular bench presses start to bother their joints.

However, like any exercise, even the mighty close grip bench press will start to lose its potency if you do it too long or too often. Like eating the same meal every day, doing the same exercises over and over can become boring and make your workouts less productive.

The good news is that you don’t have to limit yourself to doing nothing but close grip bench presses for your triceps, and there several similarly effective exercises you can do instead.

In this article, we reveal the nine best close grip bench press alternatives that’ll keep those triceps gains coming for years to come!  

The close grip bench press is a compound exercise. That means it involves two or more joints and several muscles working together in synergy. Compound exercises are generally more functional than isolation exercises, better for building strength, and more time-efficient, too.

Needless to say, to be considered a viable alternative to the close grip bench press, any exercise must work the same muscles, so it’s worth mentioning what muscles are trained by close grip bench presses:

Triceps brachii means three-headed arm muscle. Known simply as the triceps for short, this muscle makes up around 60% of your upper arm mass. The functions of the triceps are elbow extension and shoulder extension. Because of the loads involved, close grip bench presses are an excellent exercise for building and strengthening the triceps.

The deltoids, or delts for short, are your main shoulder muscles. There are three sets of fibers, called heads, in the deltoids: anterior (front), medial (side), and posterior (rear). While all three heads are active during close grip bench presses, the anterior head does most of the work and the other two act mostly as stabilizers.

Like regular bench presses, the close grip bench press provides your chest with a decent workout. However, the pecs are somewhat less active in the close grip variation. So, if you want to emphasize your pecs, you should do bench presses with a regular grip or choose an alternative exercise.

Add some variety to your triceps workouts with these nine proven alternatives to the close grip bench press.

A lot of trainers have a genuine dislike for the Smith machine, stating that it’s non-functional. But what if hypertrophy is your goal? In that case, the Smith machine can be very functional indeed.

The bar is guided on rods, and you can set the weight catchers, so the bar won’t come crashing down on your chest if you cannot complete a rep. This means you are free to train to failure in complete safety while putting all your energy into driving the bar up and not trying to balance it.

With all that in mind, it’s clear that the close grip Smith machine bench press is an excellent alternative to doing this exercise with freeweights.

Pro tip: Use a false or thumbless grip (aka the suicide grip), so you can rotate your hands outward slightly to pull your elbows closer to your sides. This will maximize triceps engagement and increase shoulder stability.

While this exercise is definitely unusual, it’s a very effective way to train your triceps, deltoids, and inner chest. Like all Smith machine exercises, it’s an excellent choice for building muscle in relative safety, even if it’s not as “functional” as most freeweight and bodyweight pushing exercises.

Pro tip: This exercise works best with medium reps and a moderate weight, e.g., 8-12 reps with around 65-75% of your 1RM. This is not such a good exercise for very heavy weights. Instead, chase the pump and do your best to maximize your mind-muscle connection.

No bench? No problem! You can do close grip presses while lying on the floor, i.e., a close grip floor press. This exercise is even more shoulder-friendly than the close grip bench press and forces you to lower the weight under control for bigger strength gains.

Pro tip: Experiment by doing this exercise with your legs bent or straight to see which you prefer. Bent legs, feet flat on the floor, is a little more lower back-friendly, more stable, and may allow you to lift more weight.

Before bench presses became popular in the 1950s, the dip was the most widely performed chest and triceps exercise in most gyms. Dips might only be a bodyweight exercise, but they’re still a fantastic strength and mass builder.

There are a couple of ways to do dips, so make sure you perform this variation to maximize triceps activation.

Pro tip: Make triceps dips even better for building strength by wearing a dipping belt or weighted vest loaded with 10-50% of your body weight. Lower (1 to 5) reps with heavy weights are the best way to build strength.

You don’t need a barbell to do close grip bench presses. This dumbbell variation is just as effective and provides your chest with a more challenging workout. Also, with dumbbells, you can just lower the weights to the side if you hit muscular failure and cannot do any more reps.

Pro tip: Do not ease up on the inward pressure; keep pushing the dumbbells together for the entire duration of your set. Try doing this exercise on a slight decline to increase triceps engagement.

According to the American Council on Exercise, the diamond or triangle push-up is one of the best triceps exercises around (2). It’s an excellent choice for home lifters as you do this exercise without additional equipment. However, it can be a little hard on your wrists, elbows, and shoulders, so don’t do too much of this exercise too soon.

Pro tip: Bend your legs and rest on your knees to make this exercise easier. To make it harder, raise your feet and place them on a chair or exercise bench, or wear a weighted vest.

If diamond push-ups bother your wrists, this variation could be the solution. Placing your hands on parallel dumbbells means you can keep your wrists straight, eliminating most of the joint stress. Hex dumbbells are best because they’re less likely to roll.

Pro tip: You can also do this exercise using raised push-up handles or with a push-up board.

The JM press is named after powerlifter JM Blakely, one of the best bench pressers in history. In fact, this was the only triceps exercise he used to bench 300kg (660lbs) at a bodyweight of 140kg (308lbs) to win the WPC world champs back in 1998.

This exercise is part skull crusher and part close grip bench press. If you want triceps that are bodybuilder big and powerlifter strong, this is the exercise you should use!

Pro tip: Use a false or thumbless grip (aka the suicide grip), so you can rotate your hands toward your little fingers and pull your elbows closer to your sides to maximize triceps engagement and shoulder stability.

The Tate press was invented by legendary powerlifting coach Dave Tate. One of the founders of Westside Barbell, arguably the most successful powerlifting gym in the world, the Tate press is an unusual exercise that’s part chest press and part triceps extension. WSB powerlifters do this exercise to beef up their triceps for a bigger bench press.

Pro tip: You can do this exercise on a flat or incline bench and also lying on the floor. Don’t go too heavy too soon with this exercise; it’s much harder than it looks!

Your rep range depends on your goal and what equipment you have available. For example, if you are training for strength, you should mainly use heavy weights and low reps, i.e., 1-5 reps per set with 85% or more of your 1RM.

If you are training for hypertrophy or muscle growth, higher reps and lighter weights work best, e.g., anywhere from 6-30 reps per set (3).

Of course, if you only have access to light weights or are doing bodyweight exercises, you’ll just have to train to failure regardless of how many reps you do. Taking your sets close to failure will increase muscle size and improve your strength, although strength gains will be somewhat less than when lifting heavy weights.

While isolation exercises allow you to target your triceps more precisely, compound exercises let you lift more weight. Both approaches can help trigger hypertrophy, so it makes sense to use compound and isolation exercises to maximize muscle growth.

That said, if you are short of time, focusing on compound exercises is a more efficient way to train as you can work your triceps alongside your other upper body pushing muscles.

Elbow joint and tendon pain suggest that you are either doing something wrong, overdoing it by using too much weight, or have an underlying joint problem or injury. You may also benefit from stretching your triceps.

But, regardless of the cause, you should NOT ignore pain, as what starts as an annoying ache can soon become a chronic injury.

So, dial down the weight, tighten up your form, and see if the pain dissipates. If the exercise still hurts your elbows, ditch that movement and try something else. Not all exercises are suitable for all lifters. If pain persists, get it checked out by a medical professional in case you have an injury that needs corrective treatment.

The close grip barbell bench press is a very satisfying exercise to do. It’ll help you build bigger, stronger triceps and, best of all, will increase your regular barbell bench press performance.

But, it’s not the only compound exercise you can do for your triceps, and doing it for too long or too often could make it less effective.

So, shake up your triceps workouts with these nine close-grip bench press alternatives. Each one is just as effective but is also different enough to help you avoid training plateaus and progress ruts.

1- Research Gate: The Close-Grip Bench Press https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318289674_The_Close-Grip_Bench_Press

2- American Council on Exercise (ACE): ACE Study Identifies the Best Triceps Exercises https://www.acefitness.org

3- PubMed: Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: A systematic review and meta-analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33497853/

Patrick Dale is an ex-British Royal Marine, gym owner, and fitness qualifications tutor and assessor. In addition, Patrick is a freelance writer who has authored three fitness and exercise books, dozens of e-books, thousands of articles, and several fitness videos. He’s not just an armchair fitness expert; Patrick practices what he preaches! He has competed at a high level in numerous sports, including rugby, triathlon, rock climbing, trampolining, powerlifting, and, most recently, stand up paddleboarding. When not lecturing, training, researching, or writing, Patrick is busy enjoying the sunny climate of Cyprus, where he has lived for the last 20-years.

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