Incline Bench Press Exercise

Build Chest Muscle with Incline Bench Press

You can build a full chest with flat bench press alone. The incline bench press compliments your chest development and works to build your middle and upper pectoral muscle areas (pectoralis major, calvicular). Changing the angle of incline of the bench puts extra stress on the upper chest muscle and also your front deltoids. You will also find that you're unable to lift as heavy as flat bench pressing.

Incline Bench Weight Lifting

See illustration below for the bench press exercise:

Incline Bench Press Exercise

• Lie flat on a incline bench, with your feet firmly planted on the floor
• Keep your buttocks, back, shoulders, and head positioned on the incline bench
• Pinch your shoulder blades as you would when doing a flat bench press
• Grip the bar with your hands wide enough apart such that at the bottom of the rep, your forearms are perpendicular to the floor. Use a closed grip
• Lift the bar off the rack
• Inhale as you lower the weight, and exhale as you push the weights up. Do not bounce the weight off your chest to gain momentum
• Have a training partner spot you as you perform the incline bench press

Decline Bench Press

The decline bench press is similar to the flat and incline bench presses. Decline bench press exercise targets the middle and lower pectoral muscles (pectoralis major, sternal).

• Lie flat on a decline bench, secure your legs and feet on the decline bench as shown in the photo above
• Keep your buttocks, back, shoulders, and head positioned firmly on the bench
• Pinch your shoulder blades together, for a stable pressing environment
• Grip the bar with your hands wide enough apart such that at the bottom of the rep, your forearms are perpendicular to the floor. Use a closed grip
• Lift the bar off the rack, inhale as you lower the weight, and exhale as you press the weight back up

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