Close-Grip EZ-Bar Press
Also works: Chest · Shoulders
A flat-bench press taken with a narrow grip on the angled inner knurl of an EZ bar. The bent bar lets your wrists sit in a semi-pronated position, so lifters whose wrists ache on a close-grip straight bar can still load the triceps heavily.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Load the EZ bar in a rack set so you can unrack with a short press, not a long reach over your face.
- Grip the inner angled section with your hands roughly 20-25 cm apart, wrists stacked over the forearms.
- Plant your feet, pull your shoulder blades back and down into the bench, and keep a small natural arch.
- Unrack to arms straight over your lower chest, not over your throat, then pause a beat before the first rep.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Big breath and brace at the top, hold it through the descent and the press, exhale at lockout. Two seconds down, press as fast as you can while keeping the elbows tucked.
Before you load it
- Set the rack safeties just above chest height. A short EZ bar is awkward to roll down your torso if a rep dies at the bottom.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
An EZ bar weighs 7-12 kg depending on the model, so check yours before you calculate anything. Start at roughly 60% of your close-grip straight-bar bench and work up. Add 2.5 kg once every rep touches the lower chest with vertical forearms; add reps first if your wrists are the limiter rather than the triceps.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Set the hands about 20-25 cm apart on the angled section. Grips narrower than that shift the strain to the wrists and shoulders without recruiting any more triceps.
Cue the elbows towards your hips as you descend and touch the bar 5-8 cm lower on the torso than you would for a bench press. Film one set from the side to check the forearms are vertical at the bottom.
Push the bar into the heel of your hand and keep the knuckles pointing at the ceiling. If the wrists still fold, widen the grip a couple of centimetres or use wrist wraps for top sets.
Count a rep only when the bar touches the sternum. When you can no longer touch, rack it — if you want overload in the top half, do it deliberately with a board press rather than by quietly shortening your working sets.
Why bother
A close grip on a straight bar forces your forearms to stay fully pronated while your elbows tuck in, and that combination puts a twisting load on the wrist that a lot of people simply cannot tolerate. The EZ bar's inner bend rotates your hands roughly 20-30 degrees towards neutral, which unloads the wrist without changing the pressing mechanics at all.
Because the elbows travel close to the ribs and the bar path meets your lower chest rather than your nipple line, the triceps do the lockout work and the shoulders take a shorter moment arm than on a normal bench. It is a compound lift, so you can load it far more than any skull crusher, which makes it the most productive way to add strength to the top of your bench press.
Where it fits
First or second on a pressing day, or as the main lift on an arm-focused session. Sets of 5-10 with a rack to take the bar off. Do not run it in the same session as heavy skull crushers — both hammer the long head's elbow attachment, and the elbows are the part that complains first.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
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Asked and answered
Is the EZ bar version worth it if my wrists are fine on a straight bar?
If a straight close-grip bench causes you no wrist pain, stay on the straight bar — it is easier to load, easier to find in a busy gym, and the numbers transfer directly to your bench press. The EZ bar is a solution to a wrist problem, not an upgrade for people who do not have one.
How close should my hands actually be?
About shoulder width or slightly narrower, which on most EZ bars means the inner angled section. There is no extra triceps benefit below that, and very narrow grips just compress the wrists and force the elbows to flare to compensate.
Should the bar touch my chest?
Yes, on the lower sternum, lightly. Cutting the rep short removes the hardest part of the range. If you cannot reach the chest with elbows tucked, the weight is too heavy or your shoulder mobility needs work — do not fix it by flaring.
Can this replace the flat bench press in my program?
It can be your main horizontal press if your goal is triceps and lockout strength, but it loads the chest less than a competition-width bench. Most people are better served running it as a second press after their main bench work rather than instead of it.