Bench Press Grip Width: How Wide Should Your Hands Be?

Quick answer: For most lifters, set your hands at about 1.4 to 1.5 times the distance between your shoulder bones, which puts your forearms roughly vertical at the bottom. Research found wide and medium grips lift about the same weight, a narrow grip costs around 6% of your one-rep max, and grips beyond 1.5 shoulder widths raise shoulder joint loading.

Two people bench in the same gym on the same day. One grips the rings, one grips two thumbs inside the rings, and both of them are certain the other is doing it wrong.

The research has a fairly boring answer, which is usually a sign that it is the right one.

How is bench press grip width actually measured?

In biacromial widths, not in finger widths from the rings. Your biacromial width is the distance between the bony points on top of each shoulder. Researchers express grip as a multiple of that number, so a "1.5 biacromial width" grip means your hands are one and a half times as far apart as your shoulders.

This matters because rings are a fixed distance apart on a standard bar and your shoulders are not. Two lifters gripping the rings can be at very different relative widths.

To find yours, have someone measure shoulder point to shoulder point, then multiply. A 40cm biacromial width times 1.5 gives a 60cm grip, measured between your index fingers.

Does grip width change how much you can bench?

Slightly, and only at the narrow end. A biomechanical study by Larsen, Gomo and van den Tillaar in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living took 14 recreationally trained men with at least three years of bench experience through one-rep max attempts at three grips: wide (1.7 biacromial), medium (1.4) and narrow (1.0).

The results:

• Wide grip: 109.8 ± 24.5 kg
• Medium grip: 108.9 ± 26.4 kg
• Narrow grip: 103.7 ± 24 kg

Wide and medium were statistically indistinguishable from each other, and both beat the narrow grip. So the difference between a wide grip and a medium grip is nothing, and the difference between either and a genuinely narrow grip is around 5 to 6 kg on a bench in the region of 110 kg.

If you want to see what a change like that does to your estimated maxes, run your best set through the free one rep max calculator.

Does a wider grip work your chest more?

The EMG evidence says no. In the same study, the only muscle that differed significantly between grips was the triceps medialis, which was more active with the medium and narrow grips than with the wide grip. Pectoralis major and anterior deltoid activity did not differ significantly between the three widths.

That result is worth sitting with, because "wide grip for chest, close grip for triceps" is one of the most repeated pieces of gym advice there is. The triceps half of it holds up. The chest half does not.

If you want more triceps involvement, our guide to the close grip bench press covers the version built for it.

Is a wide grip bench press bad for your shoulders?

Past about 1.5 biacromial widths, the loading climbs. A 2024 study in Frontiers in Physiology by Noteboom and colleagues modelled 21 bench press techniques, combining grip widths of 1, 1.5 and 2 biacromial widths with three shoulder abduction angles and three scapula positions.

Wider grips significantly increased the total force through the shoulder joint and compression at the acromioclavicular joint, particularly when going from 1.5 to 2 biacromial widths. Grips below 1.5 reduced backward shear force at the shoulder and lowered rotator cuff activity.

The authors' recommendation was direct: use grip widths below 1.5 biacromial widths to reduce injury risk, while acknowledging a trade-off with performance goals.

Their other finding is arguably more useful. Retracted scapulae, meaning shoulder blades pulled back and down before you unrack, significantly decreased total shoulder joint force through the movement. That is free, it costs no weight on the bar, and most people do it badly.

What that means in practice

A 5 kg advantage from a wider grip is small. A repeated increase in shoulder joint loading across a training career is not obviously worth it, unless you are a competitive powerlifter whose sport is measured in kilograms.

For everyone else, the medium grip sits in a sensible place: no measurable strength cost against a wide grip, less shoulder loading, and more triceps work than a wide grip gives you.

How do you find your own grip width?

1. Measure, do not eyeball. Shoulder point to shoulder point, multiplied by 1.4 to 1.5, measured between index fingers on the bar.
2. Check your forearms at the bottom. Lower the empty bar to your chest and have someone look from the side and the front. Your forearms should be close to vertical, with the wrist stacked over the elbow.
3. Mark it on the bar. Count knurl rings or measure from the smooth centre once, then use the same reference every session. A grip that drifts a centimetre a week is an untracked variable.
4. Retract your shoulder blades before you unrack, every set. Pull them back and down against the bench and keep them there. This is the cheapest injury reduction in the study.
5. Test one change at a time, for four weeks. Change grip or change program, never both. Our guide to how to bench press covers the rest of the setup.

Why your log needs to know your grip

Grip width is a variable, and untracked variables are how people end up confused about their own bench press.

You move your hands out a little in February, add 5 kg in March, and conclude the program worked. Or your grip drifts in while your shoulder aches, your numbers stall, and the program takes the blame.

Both of those are avoidable with one extra word in the log. Bench 90kg 5/5/4 medium grip costs you a second.

Gym Note Plus exists for people who already write lines like that:

• Type the set with its notes attached, grip, pauses, feel, whatever matters
• Every exercise gets its own trend line, so a grip change shows up as a step in the chart
• Estimated 1RM calculated from the text, no fields to tap
• Last session on screen before you unrack

Paste your last workout into the free notes to workout translator and see what your shorthand becomes.

The difference between a wide grip and a medium grip is about one kilogram. The difference between a tracked grip and an untracked one is every conclusion you draw about your bench.

Frequently Asked Questions

How wide should your grip be on the bench press?

Set your hands at roughly 1.4 to 1.5 times your biacromial width, the distance between the bony points of your shoulders. In the Larsen 2021 study, a 1.4 biacromial grip matched a 1.7 grip for one-rep max, and a 2024 modelling study recommended staying below 1.5 to limit shoulder joint loading.

Does a wider bench press grip work the chest more?

No. Larsen and colleagues found no significant difference in pectoralis major or anterior deltoid activity between narrow, medium and wide grips during one-rep max bench pressing. The only muscle that differed was the triceps medialis, which was more active with the medium and narrow grips.

Is a wide grip bench press bad for your shoulders?

Grips wider than 1.5 biacromial widths increase total glenohumeral joint force and acromioclavicular compression, according to a 2024 Frontiers in Physiology modelling study. The authors recommended staying below 1.5 biacromial widths to reduce the risk of shoulder injury, including distal clavicular osteolysis.

How much strength do you lose with a close grip bench press?

Roughly 5 to 6% of your one-rep max. In the Larsen 2021 study, a narrow grip of one biacromial width produced 103.7 kg against 108.9 kg for the medium grip and 109.8 kg for the wide grip in the same 14 lifters.

Should powerlifters bench with a wide grip?

A wide grip shortens the bar path, which is why competitive powerlifters use it, but the research found no significant one-rep max advantage over a medium grip and higher shoulder joint loading. Rulebook grip limits apply, so the decision is a trade between bar path and long-term shoulder health.

Where should your forearms be at the bottom of a bench press?

Close to vertical when viewed from the side and the front, with the wrist stacked over the elbow and the bar sitting over the wrist. If your forearms angle inward or outward noticeably at chest level, your grip is wider or narrower than the bar path wants.

Final Takeaways

• Medium beats wide on the trade-off, not on the total. Both lift the same weight; the medium grip loads the shoulder less.
• A narrow grip costs about 5 to 6% of your max and gives you more triceps in return.
• Grip width does not change chest activation in the EMG evidence available.
• Stay under 1.5 biacromial widths unless competition rules give you a reason not to.
• Retract your shoulder blades on every set. It reduced shoulder joint force at no cost to the bar.
• Write the grip in your log. An untracked variable will eventually get credit or blame it did not earn.