I was asked recently about the close-grip bench pushups that I have as my chest finisher in Old Man, Young Muscle.
Biomechanics indicates that it’s more of a front-delt-head exercise, similar to a dumbbell under-grip bench press.
That’s true, but I use it as a contracted-position move for chest because it’s the best I can do in my limited home gym without cables.
Close-grip pushups give me tension throughout the range of motion on my pecs, even at the top. That’s because I’m pushing in with my hands. If I don’t squeeze in, my hands slip off and I slam my face into the bench…
That’s called face-saving motivation to keep squeezing from top to bottom…
If I had cables, I’d opt for cable flyes. That exercise would better isolate my pecs, provide continuous tension, and inflict a wicked peak contraction…
But I’m stuck with a couple of sets of close-grip bench pushups, which does double duty, also training my front delts along with chest…
It also activates the “pec-delt tie-in,” the clavicular fibers of the upper chest, which you can see up by my collarbone in this photo…
Chest has always been one of my slacker muscle groups. But with efficiency of effort and only five sets per workout, I’ve got my pecs looking respectable—and I don’t do any incline presses…
Biomechanics expert and 2019 Drug-Free Mr. Universe Doug Brignole says that incline presses are an inefficient exercise—at least for the upper chest…
If you notice the arc in which the upper arms travel, it’s like there’s a rope pulling each humorous, or upper-arm bone, toward the chin. That’s more front-delt work than anything, according to Doug…
I agree. You may fire some clavicular fibers, but you get more with a flat or decline bench press. Why? Because the upper-arm bone is moving directly toward the pectoral muscle’s origin on the breastbone, not toward the chin.
Luckily, my bare-bones setup allows me to do dumbbell decline presses. That’s the ideal chest exercise that I emphasize…
And to complete the Positions-of-Flexion chain, I finish with a couple of sets of either close-grip bench pushups for the contracted position or flat-bench dumbbell flyes for stretch…
Those add-on POF moves produce unique fiber activation for new layers of mass creation.
You can see the three-exercise POF recommendations for all major muscle groups and complete workouts in Old Man, Young Muscle.
Plus, you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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Proper fasting will NOT have you burning muscle—just the opposite as your body fat decreases and your testosterone and growth hormone increase. [Webber, J., et al. (1994). Br J Nutr.]
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