A comparison between activation of pectoralis major and triceps brachii using different grip widths in the bench press

Turnstedt, M. – Background. Resistance training has many positive effects on the human body and can be beneficial for people all ages. The bench press exercise is a commonly used exercise that targets many upper body muscles such as pectotralis major, triceps brachii, deltoideus, serratus anterior and the abdominal muscles. Variations of the bench press exercise are common where grip width variations are supposed to largely impact the muscles targeted. Some research has been done to accurately decide whether these theories are true, however more research is needed to definitely decide the effect on muscle activity of grip width in bench press. Aim. The aim of this study was to compare the muscle activity with surface electromyography (EMG) in pectoralis major and triceps brachii between wide, regular and narrow grip width in the bench press exercise. Method. 21 healthy males (23.19 ±2.5 years) volunteered to participate in this study. The raw EMG data from the bench presses were converted to root mean square and then average root mean square. The mean average muscle activation (in µV) was divided by a maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) and expressed as percent MVIC (%MVIC). Result. The results of the present study showed a statistically significantly higher muscle activation in the wide grip width compared to the narrow grip width in pectoralis major (p