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How to Do a Wide Grip Bench Press for Chest Strength and Development

Help expand and push your chest strength with the wide grip bench press variation. Learn its muscles targeted, and understand more on the wide grip vs. closed grip debate.

The wide grip bench press is a popular bench press variation that teaches you how something so subtle — in this case, widening your grip on the bar by just 2-3 inches — can change everything about how a rep feels.

With a wide grip bench press, several things can shift. Your elbows tend to track out a bit farther. Your chest typically takes on more of the brunt stretch. And suddenly the press you thought you knew asks for a new level of focus and control.

Begin feeling more confident integrating this wide grip bench press variation into your strength training routine with form basics and movement fundamentals explored here. That includes things like learning how a wider hand placement affects tension and grip strength, bar path, and muscles targeted.

"Changing to a wide grip is going to do a few things for us. This will shorten the range of motion — less distance needed to travel — which can help us push more weight with greater control," says Tonal Head Coach and strength-training expert Joe Rodonis."The wider grip will put you in a more ‘open’ chest position on the way down allowing for a greater stretch." 

The idea is less about chasing novelty and more about exploring a grip type that feels strong, stable, and workable for your goals.

Along the way, you’ll also get clarity on how the wide grip vs narrow debate stems from, and when a closed grip vs wide grip setup might make the most sense for your training.

Contents
  1. Wide Grip Bench Press: Step by Step
  2. Wide Grip Bench Press: reps & intervals
    1. Average Duration of
    2. Estimated Calories Burned
    3. Recommended Number of exercises Per Week
    4. Warmup & Cool Down Exercises
    3.
  3. Muscle Groups Targeted
  4. Equipment Used for Wide Grip Bench Press
  5. Coaching Tips & Best Practices
  6. Who This Exercise is Best For
  7. Answers to FAQs about Wide Grip Bench Press
  8. Concluding words on Wide Grip Bench Press

Wide Grip Bench Press: Step by Step

1. Set up your body on a flat bench.
  • Lie backwards, planting your feet squarely on the floor for a settled base.
  • Position your eyes so they gaze up right beneath the bar.
2. Find your widened grip starting hold.
  • Grip the bar wider than your shoulders. Add about a hands-width extra distance.
  • This should be noticeably wider than a traditional setup but not so wide that holding the bar unsupported feels unstable (especially in places like the shoulders and bent elbows).
3. Brace your entire torso.
  • Pull your shoulders down and back.
  • Create a gentle arch through your upper back.

Tip: To gently arch, imagine a string pulling you up by your belly button just a few inches. Emphasis on gently though — you don't need to start experimenting with a wide grip bench press by overextending.

4. Release the bar from its support rack.
  • Bring the bar toward your mid-chest.
  • Most people's elbows will naturally flare from their bodied slightly due to the wider start, but avoid pushing them too outward.

5. Press straight upward.
  • Drive through your palms until the bar reaches full extension.
  • Push that bar smoothly and evenly. Don't lock your elbows.
  • Avoid letting your wrists collapse or bend backwards.


Reset. Pause briefly at the top before your next rep so each press starts from a stable, organized place.

Wide Grip Bench Press: reps & intervals

Use these numbers as soft guidelines. Adjust based on your movement comfort, load, and how your shoulders and chest respond across an opening practice set.

  • Beginner reps: Aim for 6-8
  • Intermediate reps: Aim for 5-8
  • Beginner intervals: 2-3 total working sets
  • Intermediate intervals: 2-4 working sets

Average Duration of Wide Grip Bench Press

These timing suggestions help you stay intentional during each rep rather than rushing through the movement. How long it takes you to perform a wide grip bench press of course depends. Don't rush, but try not to push and reset so slowly you lose momentum.

  • One wide grip bench press rep: ~3-4 seconds
  • One wide grip bench press set: ~20-35 seconds

Estimated Calories Burned

Calorie ranges can shift quite a bit depending on tempo and load, even when strength training for goals like hypertrophy and progressive overload.

Consider these values as broad, educational estimates rather than exact totals based on pumping out 3 sets of 8 reps at a challenging but manageable load.

  • Women (140-180 lbs): ~25-45 calories
  • Men (170-210 lbs): ~30-55 calories
  • Adults above 210 lbs: ~35-60 calories

Recommended Number of exercises Per Week

The wide grip bench press fits well into a 1x weekly upper-body routine.

When done with good technique for your body, a single weekly session allow you to practice consistency while balancing overall pressing volume. Some lifters even pair it with a traditional bench press or incline bench variations for a more complete chest-focused week.

Warmup & Cool Down Exercises

Warm-Up (choose 1-3):

  • Light band pull-aparts (30 sec)
  • Chest-opening mobility drill (30 sec)
  • Slow tempo push-ups (60 sec)

Cool Down (pick 1-2, performed at the end of your workout)

  • Wall-assisted chest stretch (30 sec)
  • Upper-back stretch (45 sec)
  • Triceps stretch overhead (30 sec each side)

Muscle Groups Targeted

With its widened hand placement, the muscles targeted during this bench press version shift slightly compared to a traditional bench press.

  • For most, the chest takes on more of the workload, especially the mid-portion of the pectorals.
  • The front deltoids assist with guiding the bar path, while the triceps contribute but typically with a slightly smaller role compared to other versions.
  • Your upper back stabilizes the bar and keeps your shoulders anchored.

"The [wide grip] will also put more of an emphasis on the shoulders and away from the triceps compared to a standard bench," says Coach Joe. "This can be helpful to build greater support from the shoulders when you go back to a standard bench variation."

He reminds anyone exploring different press types to always be mindful of load. "It’s just important to pay attention to how much stress you put on the shoulder. This is why it’s important to alternate between grip variations in your training." 

When you combine all these elements and a stable base with clean hand placement, the wide grip bench press can elevate into a strong, focused chest-dominant variation.

Equipment Used for Wide Grip Bench Press

To perform a wide grip bench press, you'll need:

  • Barbell
  • Flat exercise bench
  • Weighted plates
  • Optional: wrist wraps or lifting belt

At-home-friendly alternatives:

Coaching Tips & Best Practices

"The wide grip is going to expose your bench press technique, so it’s very important to have your form and bar path on the standard bench locked down. The form for the wide grip is very similar to a standard bench. The only change is the width of your hand placement."
Tonal Coach Joe Rodonis
Wide-Grip Bench Press Form Tip: "We still follow what’s called a J-Curve, where the bar travels lower on your chest as you descend. This allows for your elbows to tuck slightly. A common mistake is lowering the bar straight down. If the elbows flare too wide and the bar comes straight down, it will put too much pressure on our shoulders — and we don't need to add any more pressure."
Coach Joe Rodonis

Who This Workout is Most Effective For

"The wide grip variation is a great training tool. For beginners, it’s usually best to stay with the standard bench. Master the movement and build strength and control in this position first," explains Coach Joe.

He continues, "For advanced lifters, the more seasoned we are in our training, we need to introduce subtle variables. Movement variations like this are a great way to do that. It introduces a slightly different stimulus while still hitting our target area."

Consider exploring the wide grip bench press variation if you fit the following:

  • Lifters looking for a chest-emphasis pressing variation based on their muscle-mass development or body composition goals.
  • People looking to explore more techniques in the wide grip vs narrow grip family.
  • Athletes building horizontal pushing strengths.
  • Anyone developing strength and balancing multiple pressing patterns across their week

Answers to FAQs about Wide Grip Bench Press


Oftentimes, yes. A wider hand placement should shift a few things mechanically, such as reducing elbow flexion and increasing chest involvement during the lowering and pressing phases.

It doesn’t isolate the chest completely, but it puts emphasis there in a noticeable way for a lot of lifters. Many people feel the tension more clearly across the mid-chest pectorals when using its slightly wider grip.


Not necessarily. The movement can feel “shorter” to some because of the reduced range of motion. But the stability demands change and carry their own considerations, and that doesn't just make this bench press variation somehow easier.

Some lifters find the wider setup actually less comfortable on the shoulders until they fine-tune their exact grip width. Ease depends more on your specific anatomy, structure, setup, coordination, and familiarity than purely on the grip itself.


There can be. Going too wide may place unnecessary stress on the shoulders or reduce the ability to generate solid upper-back stability. But this varies person to person.

The wide grip bench press can also sometimes limit triceps involvement. But again, not always.

For many lifters, the key is avoiding extremes and choosing a width that enhances control rather than forcing your idea of a max movement range.

These are separate expressions of a bench press exercise for a reason.

Most commonly, a closed grip press relies on triceps and tends to come with a tighter elbow path relative to the torso. Compare that with a wide-grip press that tends to emphasize the chess, as discussed throughout this guide.

You don't have to necessarily prioritize one over the other. it depends if you have specific muscle development goals for your body with your workouts. Many lifters try out both simply because they target different parts.

Concluding words on Wide Grip Bench Press

The wide grip bench press gives you a chance to explore how subtle technique choices can reshape an entire lift. That's an exciting exploration for many lifters.

It’s a variation that rewards curiosity as much as strength. Just a few inches on the bar can change how the movement feels, what the bar path looks like, and which muscles naturally "step up."

If you enjoy learning how grip width, elbow angle, or setup affects your pressing mechanics, our Resource Hubs are a great place to keep experimenting.

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