It puts less strain on your rotator cuff muscles, helping in preventing injury. With this variation, you use just one dumbbell and work each arm separately. Trainees want this option. The pectoral muscles lie against the front of the rib cage and consist of the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. On the other hand, the decline bench press is performed by lowering the bench to an angle of about 15-30 degrees. When you exercise with free weights – dumbbells or barbells – you activate more than just the primary muscles you seek to target. 2- Single-arm dumbbell bench press. A flat bench press is more effective at activating the lower portion of the pectorals, the sternocostal region, than an incline press, however. Incline bench press is a popular bodybuilding exercise that helps you develop a broad, muscular chest, which is the hallmark of a champion bodybuilder. The Incline Dumbbell Press. For the upper part of the pectoral muscle, the stimulation was optimal at an angle of 30 degrees. Andrea Cespedes is a professionally trained chef who has focused studies in nutrition. All rights reserved. The incline press is one of several exercises that help create symmetry and strength in the muscles of the upper body. Incline chest press machines that simulate the movement in a fixed plane are another way to perform the move. This exercise can be done using a flat, incline, or decline bench as preferred. The pectoralis minor lies underneath the pectoralis major, and originates at the middle ribs. Once the bar slightly touches your elbow, extend your elbows to go back to the initial position. The Decline Bench Press is considered a bit safer than both the traditional and the Incline Bench Press, since it moves stress off the shoulders and places it more on the lower pecs. Worse than this, you could get injured. It is a common press and push movement which one can often witness in the schedule of every gym-goer. In other words, for this movement, several joints and muscles contribute. The purpose of the incline press is … Load the bar to about 90-100 lbs and lay on the incline bench with your back arched and feet flat on the floor. Incline bench presses. Incline bench press. The angleof the Bench The incline bench press, as the name suggests, is performed by setting the bench to an angle of 15 to 30 degrees. Single Arm Dumbbell Bench Press. These are the muscles that contribute to pressing the bar in the vertical plane of motion. If the angle of the bench got bigger than 30, the incline bench press turned into an exercise that mainly stimulated the front of the shoulder muscles. On the other hand, the decline bench press is performed by lowering the bench to an angle of about 15-30 degrees. With the dumbbell incline bench press, you can prepare the shoulder, arms, and back muscles as well. The incline press is also a great shoulder exercise, though, and the steeper the incline is, the more your shoulders will take over. If your upper chest is lagging behind, the incline bench press is a good way to give it a bit of extra love. The move is performed in a face-up position on a workout bench set at an angle. The exercise is good for developing the upper muscles.. The incline bench press is considered a compound exercise because multiple joints are involved. The incline bench press contains sitting on an upwards incline, with your shoulders facing upwards at roughly a 45-degree angle. The Incline Bench Press. The muscles used in an incline bench are the pectorals, deltoids, and triceps. It gives maximal activation of your pecs at an angle of 30-45 degrees. The muscles help your arms move across your chest and move your shoulders forward, such as in a shrug. Also known as the incline dumbbell bench press, the incline dumbbell press builds size and strength in your chest, specifically targeting the upper chest. Exercise Summary For Incline Dumbbell Bench Press. This exercise is a variation of the traditional flat barbell bench press. Like all variations of bench pressing the workout is done for strength training, gaining muscle mass, and for sports. This confirms research from a previous study published in a 1995 issue of the “Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.”. Doing an incline bench press also depends on the muscles that you want to develop. This body part indeed requires extra attention because building your chest imparts a sturdy look and enhances the muscular impressiveness of the whole physique. Triceps brachii – the muscle located in the back of the arm connecting the elbow and shoulder. This is because of the angle and the increased range of motion. The decline bench version allows you to lift more weight than either the flat or incline bench presses. The traditional flat bench press involves lying on your back with the bench parallel to the floor. She is an American Council on Exercise-certified personal trainer, RYT-200 and has degrees from Princeton and Columbia University. Use a spotter so that he can help you lift the bar off the rack and maintain tension through your upper back. Bench/dumbbell press forms the primary movement for chest development. The incline version allows you to work on the anterior deltoids and upper part of the pectoralis major (clavicular head) more than the flat bench variety. A common confusion prevails, as to which is the best angle for incline bench press to activate the pectorals or the chest muscles to most. The incline bench press is a bodybuilding exercise that targets the upper and lower pectoral muscles and triceps, as well as the anterior and posterior deltoids. It targets muscles of the upper chest and shoulders. Many of you are probably leaving A LOT of gains behind when it comes to the INCLINE BARBELL BENCH PRESS because of a few simple form mishaps. An incline bench press barbell offers the full-body workout facility, as well as provide multiple exercises to train the chest muscles. Benefits It targets your upper chest, deltoids, […] Even though all forms of bench press train the chest muscles, they don’t target them in the same way. If you use an incline chest press machine with cables or a fixed rod, these synergist muscles are less likely to be activated. Armed with an incline bench and a pair of dumbbells, this exercise can bolster your entire upper body fitness routine. Bring the barbell down to your sternum by bending your elbows. https://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/incline-bench-press.html For the middle and lower pecs, the flat bench press was superior to the incline bench press. It’s basically the same muscles that are targeted in a flat bench, but it may have an increased impact. Press the barbell above your chest by extending your arms. Other muscles work to stabilize during the exercise, which makes working out with free weights a great way to train the whole body. 30 Or 45 Degree Incline Bench. Muscles worked in the dumbbell bench press. However, as much as it targets the upper chest muscles, it can exercise lower chest muscles as well. The Incline Bench Press is a joint upper-body exercise, meaning that multiple joints and muscles add to the movement. The anterior muscle is used when performing a bench press or incline press exercise. The Muscle Groups Used in Bench Press Exercises, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: An Electromyography Analysis of 3 Muscles Surrounding the Shoulder Joint During the Performance of a Chest Press Exercise at Several Angles, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: Effects of Variations of the Bench Press on the EMG Activity of Five Shoulder Muscles, American Council on Exercise: Dumbbell Incline Press, American Council on Exercise: Seated Incline Cable Press, FitStep: The Anatomy of the Chest Muscles, Strengthening Exercises for the Levator Scapulae, Exercises to Strengthen the Rear Deltoids & Rhomboids, Strengthening Your Trapezius, Rhomboids and Dorsi With Free Weights, Privacy Notice/Your California Privacy Rights. The 1995 study in the “Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research” concluded that a closer hand grip on an incline or flat bench press creates more activation in the upper head of the pectoralis major. However, the angle of the press shifts the work to your upper chest and shoulders. These exercises are key to upper pec thickness. The incline bench press can also target the upper pectorals, triceps, and shoulders in a slightly different way to stimulate new muscle hypertrophy and strength gains. The incline bench press, as the name suggests, is performed by setting the bench to an angle of 15 to 30 degrees. To perform the exercise, there’s movement at both the shoulders and elbows, which means that numerous muscles are recruited in order to coordinate the movement. Works at the beginning and the end of the bench press and incline press to lock the elbow. This is because the anterior delt and upper pec muscles are activated to a larger extend in the incline vs flat bench press. Because of the inclined angle, the exercise engages your shoulders more than the other bench press varieties. The deltoids help you move your arms away from the body – either to the front, side or rear. This exercise can be done using free weights or the incline bench press machine. © 2019 www.azcentral.com. There is no doubt about the incline barbell bench press being a compound upper-body workout. On the incline bench press, you will use a bit more of your shoulders and triceps than a flat bench press. Olympic Weightlifters For this variation, the front of the bench is angled between 45 and 60 degrees so you are leaning back slightly. Powerlifters should do incline bench press if they have a shoulder and upper pec weakness that prevents them from getting stronger in the competition bench press. The Incline Dumbbell Bench Press is a fantastic exercise that you can perform using multiple angles to develop every part of the chest evenly. Utilizing incline bar, smith machine incline bar, and incline dumbbell presses should be used for bodybuilding prep. Therefore, your bench angle gives a different impact on your chest muscles. The incline press also puts less emphasis on the longest of the triceps muscles than a decline or flat bench press. The incline bench and military press target the fronts of the shoulders, but to a different degree. The incline dumbbell bench press is one of the best exercises for the chest muscle groups. They looked at how EMG ratings differed from a flat competition-wide grip bench to a bench press with narrow and medium grip, along with a 25 degree incline and decline. Because the flat, decline and incline bench presses offer different emphases on the muscles of the chest, shoulders and triceps, include them all to create a well-rounded chest workout. The incline bench press is a strength-training move to build your chest and fronts of the shoulders. The bench press is an upper-body weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench.The exercise uses the pectoralis major, the anterior deltoids, and the triceps, among other stabilizing muscles.A barbell is generally used to hold the weight, but a pair of dumbbells can also be used.. As a variation of the traditional flat Bench Press, it’s regarded as one of the best exercises to build a stronger and larger upper body. The move is performed in a face-up position on a workout bench set at an angle. The 2010 “Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research” study showed that an incline press performed at a 28, 44 or 56 degree angle provided significantly more activation to the anterior, or front, of the deltoids. What Muscles Does the Bench Press Work Out? The incline bench press is a strength-training move to build your chest and fronts of the shoulders. The incline bench press is temperamental and if you do not correctly perform the exercise, you may not work the muscles you think you are working. The Incline Bench Press targets many of the same large upper-body muscles as the flat version. Since it actively works your deltoids at an inclined angle, you should avoid overtraining your muscles by not working on your shoulders the next day. You then grasp dumbbells or a barbell in an overhand position, and extend and bend your elbows to elevate the weight over your chest. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Hold the bar with a medium-width, pronated grip and remove it from the rack. All rights reserved. For these reasons the seated incline eventually became more popular and the gym standard. View this post on … Squeeze the bar tightly to improve your shoulder stability. In general, the muscles used for bench press are the pecs, shoulders, and triceps. You can efficiently target parts of the lower pecs with the decline bench press. It is a variation of the traditional bench press, which targets the whole chest and not just the upper portion. Different slopes will hit the muscles at different angles and therefore produce different strength and hypertrophic effects on the muscles involved. In fact, the incline bench press puts more strain on the upper muscles which give your pecs a … The deltoids are a group of three muscles that act like a cap on the shoulder. The pectoralis major attaches near the shoulder joint and at the breastbone. For instance, if your butt comes off of the incline bench, you are essentially doing a flat bench press. Muscles Worked The incline version allows you to work on the anterior deltoid… But long incline benches made angle adjustment and bench stability difficult. Its variations, which include the incline and decline bench presses are also used widely in the strength & conditioning world. Your shoulder blades and glutes should make contact with the bench all through the movement. During the incline press, the rhomboids at the upper back, the rotator cuff at the shoulder, the posterior deltoids at the back of the shoulders, the triceps at the back of the arm, the extensors at the forearm and the serratus anterior at the upper ribs all act as synergists, or assistors, to help you execute the move. The incline bench press is a free-weight chest press commonly used by those who want to work and develop their upper pecs. The traditional flat bench press involves lying on your back with the bench parallel to the floor. Incline Bench Press Angle. Incline presses are a very popular exercise in bodybuilding circles. The muscles used for bench press will change based on the angle of the bench (flat, decline, incline), grip on the bar (narrow or wide), and range of motion trained (bottom-end or top-end).. The incline bench press focuses on the upper chest, and part of your shoulders. The pectoralis major muscle is comprised of a clavicular and a sternocostal head (upper and lower pec). With more than 20 years of experience in the fitness industry, she coaches cycling and running and teaches Pilates and yoga. A study in the July 2010 issue of the “Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research” found that an incline chest press performed with the bench at a 44 or 56 degree angle activated the clavicular – or upper – portion of the pectoralis major muscle significantly more than a flat bench press. © 2021 (101Exercise.com). Get access to the latest health and fitness insights, tools and special offers to keep your career moving. The incline bench press is a variation of the well known flat bench press. Make sure that you retract your shoulder blades and arch your back while bringing the barbell down to your chest. 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