INCLINE BENCH PRESS

The Incline Barbell Bench Press targets your chest, shoulders, and triceps.

By performing this move on an incline emphasis is placed on the upper portion of your chest, thereby, helping to develop the clavicular head of your pectoralis muscles, and also the anterior deltoids since the angle at which you press is not too dissimilar to the Shoulder Press.

An additional benefit of pressing at an incline angle is that you will also place less stress on your rotator cuff muscles, which are prone to injury when performing the Flat Bench Press variant.

NOTE: You will probably have to reduce the weight compared to what you press with the Decline and Flat Bench Press Variants.

Skill Level: Intermediate

Training: Strength

Type: Compound

Force: Push

Equipment: Bench, Barbell

1° Muscles: Pectorals

2° Muscles: Triceps, Deltoids

SET-UP

Set the incline of the bench to a 30-45 degree angle and load an appropriate weight on to the barbell.
Lie back on the bench with your feet firmly planted on the floor.
Grasp the barbell with a medium overhand (palms facing forward) grip with your hands just wider than shoulder-width apart.
Unrack the bar, and hold it vertically above your chest with your arms fully extended without locking your elbows.

EXECUTION

Inhale as you lower the bar straight down in a slow, controlled movement until it just touches your upper chest.
Pause, then exhale as you press the bar in a straight line back up to the start position using your chest muscles; avoid locking your elbows at the top of the lift.
Repeat for the prescribed number of reps and sets.
Place the bar back on the rack.

If you are new at this exercise use a spotter; if a spotter is not available, be sensible about the amount of weight used.
The higher the angle the bench is set the more emphasis you will place on your shoulders. A 30-degree angle should be sufficient for most to target your upper chest muscles.
The barbell should be lowered and raised vertically; avoid allowing the bar to drift too far forward.
Do not lower the bar to your neck, it should be brought to the upper part of your chest.
Do not hyperextend your neck, a neutral spine should be maintained throughout the exercise.
Do not bounce the bar off of your chest.
At the top of the lift squeeze your chest.
The tempo of the exercise is important. It should be slow enough to force you to control the weight on the way down. Avoid letting the weight drop since your muscles will not work as hard on the negative (lowering) phase of the lift, thereby, making it less effective. A good basic tempo would involve taking twice as long to lower the weight as to raise it.
If you initially find the Incline Barbell Bench Press too challenging, you can regress this exercise by performing the Flat Bench variant, or if further regression is required try the Decline Bench variant. This will regress the exercise because both variants reduce the distance you need to move the weight during each rep. Nevertheless, even if regression is not required by incorporating these other angles into your training you will engage your muscle fibers to a greater degree.