Barbell press incline bench– the most important exercise for the development of the upper and lower chest. In this article we will look at four variations of the press - at angles of 30, 45 and 60 degrees (on the top of the pecs) and the overhead press (on the lower part).

Benefits of an inclined position

When you bench press horizontal bench, work:

• The pectoralis major and minor (middle part) do the main work.
• Anterior bundles of deltoid muscles.
• Triceps.

We are specifically interested in breasts. It is believed that a regular classic bench press evenly pumps the entire chest. However, the main load when performing it falls on its central part. If the top or bottom of your breasts look significantly smaller than you would like, they can help various options presses at an angle.

When we move the body into an inclined position, the main working muscle groups do not change, but the load is distributed differently. We can purposefully make the top or bottom of the chest work.

Redistribution of load depending on the angle:

• Pressing at an angle of 30 degrees loads predominantly middle part chest and a little top.
• 45 degrees transfer load to top part, freeing the middle one.
• 60 degrees already transfers the entire weight of the barbell to the front deltoids and triceps, leaving part of the load at the very top pectoral muscles.
• The incline press can also be performed upside down. This is a proven way to pump up your lower chest.

Thus, by varying the press technique, you can build the desired chest relief.

Angle press placement in training

It is not recommended to use the incline bench press as an independent exercise. It is better to do it after basic exercises, for example, after a classic bench press. As a last resort, after weighted bar push-ups.

First you need to give a heavy general load, and only then can you start working on specific areas of the pectoral muscle.

The incline barbell bench press is very useful for beginners to evenly develop the entire mass of the upper body.

Here are several schemes, using which you can intelligently load the entire area of ​​the pectoral muscles.

First scheme

We perform the exercises in this order:

1. We do the classic bench press.
2. After that, set the angle to 30 degrees and do it there incline press in 3 sets and 10 repetitions.
3. Then we do 2 approaches with less weight, but at an angle of 45 degrees.
4. After this, we finish killing our chest with a lift on a horizontal bench.

Second scheme

This circuit is a superset for the pectoral muscles:

1. We did a bench press on a horizontal bench (the required number of approaches).
2. We set an angle of 30 degrees on an incline bench, sitting for a set of 10 repetitions with a heavy weight.
3. Then we take light dumbbells and, instead of taking a break, do fly-ups for 15 repetitions.
4. We do an incline press and fly again. As a result, we have to do this 3 times 10. This is a kind of superset on the chest, allowing you to load and pump it up very well.
5. After completing it, we rest for a minute, during which we set an angle of 45 degrees on the bench. We press the barbell at this angle (if it’s hard, you can lighten the weight) the same number of times as at 30 degrees. We do the wiring in the same way. After three approaches you can rest.

If you wish, you can repeat the superset if you have any strength left.

When should you press upside down?

If you want to define the bottom of your chest, the incline bench press is ideal for this purpose.

As already mentioned, there is no point in doing such a bench press as an independent exercise. If you didn’t do the base on this day, then try to do at least 3 chest exercises.

For example:

1. First, do a barbell press upside down.
2. Then press dumbbells from the same position.
3. And you finish everything with dumbbell raises on a horizontal bench.

The first exercise is performed in 3-4 approaches and 8 repetitions, the second - 10 times, and the third - also 10 times in two or three approaches. Be guided by your condition.

If you have enough strength, do 3-4 sets of each exercise. Between approaches, a break of 60-90 seconds, between exercises - 90 seconds.

If you're pushing yourself to failure on the bench, rest a little more for as long as you need. Just remember that resting too long leads to “cooling” of the muscles. And a “cold” muscle can cause a strain.

You need to press upside down in cases where Bottom part the chest is far behind. Bodybuilders usually use this exercise to perform effectively in competitions. For the rest, it is enough to do a horizontal bench press and a barbell press on an incline bench.

AND good advice: When you do incline bench presses, ask a partner or coach to help you. You will need help applying the weight. The barbell is usually taken from the floor. In the position you will be in, it will be quite difficult to take it. Especially if the bar weighs 50 kg or more. Still, you don’t remove them from the racks. Although some GYM's are quite well equipped and allow you to conveniently do such things.

Execution technique

Finally we have reached the most important thing. Now you know why you should do an incline press, it's time to learn how to do it correctly!

As always, we start with a warm-up. Good for starters empty neck, you will need to do 10–15 repetitions at an average pace, but without throwing it sharply up and down.

1. Set the desired angle of the bench back. Sit on it so that your pelvis is pressed against the seat and your back is against the backrest. Spread your legs to the sides and rest your heels on the floor.
2. Leave a natural arch in your lower back. Bring your shoulder blades together; they should rest against your back. Place your head on the back, look at the top of the wall opposite you.
3. Grasp the bar with a straight grip, wider than shoulder width, focusing on the marks. On each of the marks of the bar (right and left) there should be a finger of your hand (usually the middle or ring finger, depending on the length of the athlete’s arms).
4. Remove the bar from the racks and bring it to its starting position: it should be located above your collarbones.
5. Lower the bar to the top of your chest as you inhale. Without holding your breath, exhale and push the barbell up. Control your movement at every stage! You don't need to throw the barbell on your chest, just as you don't need to push it up uncontrollably.

When you have completed the required number of warm-up reps, put the bar back, hang the working weight and do 3 sets of 8 repetitions.

Important points

Before you start training, pay attention to a number of important points.

Insurance

Removing the barbell with an incline press is more difficult than with a classic press. Therefore, you will need an assistant. Have someone help you remove the barbell. Have the person stand nearby while you do the exercise. Putting the barbell back is no less difficult, so you will need help here too.

When you're working at 60-75% of your maximum weight, you can do it all yourself. Failure approaches require insurance.

Support points

During the exercise, you rely on your buttocks, back and legs. Usually, beginners lift their pelvis off the bench. With a seated incline press, this is even more dangerous than with a classic one, since the weight also presses on you in the vertical plane (even if only slightly).

Don't lift your pelvis off the bench!

Trying to make a bridge

When you try to get into a bridge with such a bench press, all sense of 45 or 30 degrees is lost. Due to your bridge, you zero this angle. There is no need to bend like this; a natural arch in the lower back is enough.

Bench press

A trainer can give you a Smith bench press after the classic one. This is normal and allows you to pump the upper chest in isolation. Everything is done here in exactly the same way as when working with a free barbell. Only the task is made easier - the bar is fixed and moves strictly in a vertical plane.

It is best, of course, to work with free weights. Let other muscles be involved to stabilize the position of the barbell.

What to do for shoulder pain

If you have pain in your rear deltoids, it will not affect your incline press. If it’s in the middle or front, everything is much more complicated.

Decide by experimenting with light weights, at what angle you feel more comfortable pressing. If pain haunts you in absolutely any bench press, you will have to exclude these exercises for a month or two.

If, for example, you don’t feel pain at an angle of 45 degrees, you can work. But those exercises in which you feel discomfort should be excluded.

Before the exercise, warm up well and use special ointments. Listen carefully to your body. If pain appears anywhere, stop exercising immediately! In a warm state, the athlete may not immediately understand that a sprain has occurred. This will appear after training, when the muscles have cooled down.

It may not hurt you to do a head down barbell press. It doesn't work the shoulders as much as the triceps and chest.

How often to do incline presses

If you divide chest exercises into 2-3 days, you can do different variations of bench presses 3 times a week.

For example, bench press at an angle of 30 degrees in the first workout, followed by a dumbbell press at 45 degrees.

In the second workout, after dips, you can do an incline bench press while sitting at 45 degrees and finish with the same setup.

If you alternate between light and heavy training, you should do the same, but with the current weights. For example, if today easy workout, the weights should be less than your waivers.

Exercise type: basic

Core muscles: pectoral, anterior deltoid

Accessory muscles: triceps

Difficulty of the exercise: high

Equipment: barbell

This is a basic exercise. By performing the bench press at an angle, you will not lose your strength on the bench press, but do not forget that the technique of execution is more important here, and not the maximum weights that you can bench. The press at an upward angle forms the top of the chest and outlines it. Note: Arnold Schwarzenegger paid a lot of attention to the top of his chest.

In the angled barbell press, your task is to find the optimal bench angle for yourself. An angle greater than 45 degrees puts more stress on the anterior deltoid. The classic version is an angle of 45 degrees; benches are made with this angle. However, I advise you to give preference to a bench angle below 45 degrees, as this puts more stress on the triceps and pecs.

Initial position

Set the angle of the bench from 30 to 40 degrees, in this position the pectoral muscles work best. Take a position on a bench, spread your legs wider than your shoulders and rest them on the floor. Your back should fit snugly against the bench, bringing your shoulder blades together. This exercise should only work the pectoral muscles. You should not bend your lower back or raise your pelvis; you should pay attention to technique and pumping. Take the barbell wider than your shoulders or at a level so that, due to the inclination of the bench, the load is transferred from the triceps to the pectoral muscles. Grasp the barbell with thumb, if you do without it, you will not hold the weight above you securely enough.

For those who are going to bench press a decent weight, you must first rest your feet on the floor, the main emphasis is from the heels. Be sure to arch in the lower back with tension. During the bench press, the bar should not move; the movement occurs along a clearly defined trajectory.

Technique for performing a barbell press on an incline bench at an upward angle

Next, take a breath and remove the barbell. You need to lower it to the level of the collarbone, the barbell should lie gently on your chest. When you rise above half, squeezing out the heaviest section, begin to exhale. When you press the barbell, do not straighten your elbows to the limit, as you shift some of the load from the chest to the triceps. Then inhale and start the exercise again.

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Genus. 1984 Trained since 1999 Trained since 2007. Candidate of Masters in powerlifting. Champion of Russia and South Russia according to AWPC. Champion of the Krasnodar region according to IPF. 1st category in weightlifting. 2-time winner of the Krasnodar Territory championship in t/a. Author of more than 700 articles on fitness and amateur athletics. Author and co-author of 5 books.

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Date of: 2012-05-29 Views: 339 023 Grade: 5.0

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Bench press at an upward angle - video

Weight and reps for beginners

For men: 8 - 12 repetitions of 20 - 30 kg. 3 - 4 approaches.
For women: 8 - 12 repetitions of 10 - 15 kg. 3 - 4 approaches.

Load by muscle group

The load is indicated on a 10-point scale (the total load is summed up)

Description of the exercise

The essence is the same as a similar bench press with dumbbells. The higher the angle, the more the load moves upward. On the upper chest and front deltoid. Lower the barbell closer to the neck. If your main goal is to press maximum weight on the bench press, then don't get too carried away with this exercise. Remember that in this case it is additional for you, not basic.

Main features

1. The best option for working the upper part of the pectoral muscles is an inclination of 30 - 40 degrees. If the slope is 50 degrees or higher, then the shoulders work more. 2. The barbell should be lowered to the upper chest. Closer to the neck. But not on the neck, but on the top of the chest! 3. The grip width should be slightly narrower than the horizontal bench press and slightly wider than the standing press. In general, the higher the angle, the narrower the grip. And vice versa. 4. Elbows should be spread to the sides and slightly forward. 5. It is advisable to use wrist bandages even if your hands don't hurt. Since it’s better to take care of your wrists once again. 6. Unlike the bench press, you can (theoretically) press at an angle without a safety net. In case of failure, the barbell easily and naturally rolls onto your hips). 7. The angled barbell press is a basic exercise. Therefore, they can temporarily replace the horizontal barbell press. And your results in the horizontal press will not drop.

Video Incline bench press for girls

Analysis of the exercise

Anatomy of an exercise: which muscles work?

Bench press on an incline bench - a variation of the classic basic exercise for the development of pectoral muscles. Using an atypical position in this case allows you to distribute the load on the involved muscles in a new way and focus attention on the upper segment of the chest, which is fundamentally weak by nature. This advantage is used by bodybuilders to give the pectoral muscles a proportional shape and clear relief. In strength disciplines, incline presses are used as an auxiliary exercise to improve performance in the basic movement.

The workload in terms of muscles is distributed as follows:

Preparation for execution

Without focusing on the main part of the warm-up (conducting a light cardio session), let's immediately move on to a specialized block. “Introduction” to presses involves preparing for the work of the muscles involved and the main movers - the rotator cuff.

Additionally, pauses between sets can be “filled” with stretching movements for the chest, for example, pullovers or dumbbell flyes - this will not only loosen the muscles, but also work more effectively in the next set.

Proper execution

Errors

The “sharper” the angle, the less load goes to the target pectoral muscles. An inclination of 30 degrees from the horizontal is considered optimal, which allows you to turn off the triceps as much as possible. If the possibilities of adjusting the bench in your gym are limited, then when adjusting to the specifics of the equipment, keep in mind that the “borderline” value of the bench angle should not exceed 60 degrees. With a high inclination, the shoulder joints are under a lot of stress, and the training emphasis moves to the deltoid muscle.

When performing a bench press, your elbows should be strictly under the barbell and not towards your head or legs.

The working weights in the positive-inclined version of the press are always objectively smaller than in the classic exercise. This is explained by the fact that the effect on the pectoral muscles is more isolated, that is, the assisting muscles are less involved in the movement.

This technique in this exercise is a kind of cheating that makes it easier to overcome the weight, but is by no means “harmless” - pressing the barbell into a rebound can cause a chest injury.

If you make such a mistake, it is easy to injure your hands. To prevent this, it is necessary to hold the hand firmly in line with the forearm.

Often the reason for this mistake is the motor skill formed in the classic bench press. Meanwhile, in this version of the bench press the rules change: the bar should be “directed” towards the collarbone area.

The incline barbell bench press involves the use of an overhand grip, in which thumb“lie down” on the bar opposite the others - this increases safety when performing the exercise. In addition, this grip option prevents relaxation of the hands and a decrease in the power of the pressing force.

Exercise effectiveness

Contraindications

Inclusion in the program

As a basic exercise, the angled barbell press is the “backbone” training program and is performed in the first part of the lesson. It can be placed immediately after the classic bench press sets or as an alternative to it.

If the incline bench press is the main exercise of “chest” training, it should be performed in a 6-12 repetition mode with a total set volume of 2 to 4 (we are talking about bodybuilding training programs). If the incline press is preceded by other heavy exercises, it is recommended to reduce the weight load and switch to the “pumping” mode with 12-15 repetitions per set.

Hello friends! Today we’ll talk about the dumbbell bench press on an incline bench, as well as the barbell press and various variations of incline presses. I think the information will be useful to you.

As I said, the blog is back on track.

I already miss practical articles about bodybuilding. This time, I have prepared something interesting for you.

Why incline press?

As I said, very often athletes prefer the horizontal press rather than the incline bench press. But in vain.

Now I will explain why.

During each basic exercise, as a rule, several muscles or even muscle groups.

For example, when we bench press a barbell or dumbbells, then to one degree or another we engage in the work:

• Breast.
• Deltas.
• Triceps.
• Back.
• Trapezoidal.

It is no coincidence that I indicated the back; it is included in the work in the NEGATIVE PHASE (when the barbell or dumbbells go down).

Deltas (shoulders) and triceps are SYNERGISTS of our chest.

Synergists- these are muscles that perform unidirectional work (the same contractile function) in various exercises, i.e., in other words, HELPING each other.

The chest pushes the arms forward, as a result of its contraction, and the triceps pushes the projectile forward. If it's really rude.

I wrote a detailed article about. From it it is clear that the deltoid is unique in that it is divided into three bundles.

1. The anterior delta performs a PUSHING function.
2. The rear delta performs a PULLING function.
3. And the middle delta is unique in that it is HYBRID (push and pull).

Those. we are seeing another synergist: THE FRONT DELTA.

Now it becomes clear that when we bench press, not only the chest works, the triceps + anterior delta also work.

Roughly speaking, they steal the load from the target muscle (the muscle that we want to pump up).

What to do? Make sure that the inclusion of synergists in the work is minimal!

How to achieve this? TECHNIQUE + BODY POSITION!

What bench angle should I use?

• The HIGHER the bench angle = Triceps work LESS.
• The HIGHER the bench angle = Delta works MORE.

Those. we need to find the perfect option.

Obviously, we cannot raise the angle of the bench as much as possible, because... then the deltoids will be activated as much as possible and steal a significant part of the load (the chest will almost turn off).

It is clear that we cannot lower the bench completely, because... in this case, the triceps will feel great and take the load.

You need to do this as follows.

Raise the angle of the bench by 20-30 degrees!

Exactly so, because in this way we include the chest in the work (the classic horizontal press does not concentrate the load on the chest so well + synergists actively work).

By raising the bench a little from the horizontal, we practically exclude the triceps from the work, but we also do not allow the deltoids to engage.

Conclusion: The bench angle should be in the range of 20-30 degrees.

Why is the horizontal press not so good for chest growth?

I think you have already understood this from the above.

When performing barbell or dumbbell bench presses on a horizontal bench, the triceps and anterior delta are ACTIVELY involved in the work, which does not allow maximum concentration on the pectoral muscles.

Plus, on a horizontal bench, as a rule, during the bench press, the so-called. BRIDGE in the back. The body tries to arch more in order to spread the load over more muscles (this way, no muscle will receive excess load).

Another argument against this is one famous experiment by Bret Conteras in the field of electromyography.

What kind of experiment is this?

Bret Conteras for a long time studied the electrical activity in muscles at the time of their contraction in a variety of exercises.

Here's what happened in terms of pectoral muscle engagement (from top to bottom, from BEST to least effective):

Upper chest

1. Incline dumbbell bench press.
2. Bench press with a wide grip in the “guillotine” style (we lower the bar to the throat).
3. Bench press lying on the floor.
4. Crossover with medium rollers.
5. Dumbbell fly at an angle and bench press at an angle.

Middle part of the pecs

1. Dumbbell flyes lying on a horizontal bench.
2. Dumbbell bench press lying on a horizontal bench.
3. Incline bench press.

Lower pectoral muscles

1. Bench press with a wide grip in the guillotine style.
2. Dumbbell flyes lying on a horizontal bench
3. Dips with weights
4. Crossover from a high block.

Marvelous? Still would.

These are not my assumptions, friends, or even mine personal experiments and sensations are science in its purest form.

What are the conclusions from all of the above?

• The barbell press to the neck (guillotine style) loads the pectoral muscles much better than the classic bench press (where the barbell is lowered at nipple level). Even more amazing is that excellent muscle activation is observed FOR ALL PARTS OF THE BREAST! Bret performed this exercise with the Vince Gironda technique: legs raised on the bench (remove the bridge), wide grip, the bar is lowered to the neck, a large stretch.
• The classic bench press on a horizontal bench turned out to be practically the MOST USELESS EXERCISE for chest training. It, of course, can be used to train the lower chest, but it is not particularly advisable, because... Dumbbell flyes, guillotine barbell presses, and crossovers will work better. The only caveat is that Bret did the barbell bench press using the lifting technique (with a bridge and leg work). Still, if I can’t find an incline bench, then I do a bench press with my legs on the bench and remove the bridge, thereby focusing on the muscle feeling.
• The incline barbell press is not an upper chest exercise! It loads the MIDDLE PART of the chest perfectly. For me this was clear for a long time, because... I was guided by my feelings.

It is NOT profitable for the body to grow muscle due to its energy consumption, so it tries to prevent muscle growth, and one of these ways is to DISTRIBUTE the load between as many muscles as possible.

The bench press on a horizontal bench is, after all, more of a powerlifting and weightlifting exercise aimed at developing maximum STRENGTH indicators, but this is not our task.

The progression of loads is important for us, but what is more important is the muscular feeling so that the load hits the target. We must make our muscles HARDER in order to simulate a situation for the body that is BENEFITABLE for GROWTH!

Training ==> Stress ==> Production of stress hormones and growth factors ==> Restoration of previous energy resources and motor units(muscle cells) ==> (muscle growth)

The body understands: “Yeah, the load was heavy, it’s much more profitable to prevent such stress in the future in order to reduce the threat to life and increases a little.” more muscles, than there was for this.” Direct benefit, friends.

The body does not do what is not beneficial for it.

Honestly, I never do bench presses at all, and my chest hasn’t lost any volume because of it.

I already talked about this in the article.

Incline bench press. Technique

As I said, you can achieve maximum concentration of the load on the chest muscles in the following ways:

1. Body position.
2. Technique.

I think it’s clear about body position. You need to slightly raise the angle of the bench to 20-30 degrees so that the load falls mainly on the chest. We exclude the triceps and anterior delta from the work, thereby.

Hand position:

• The WIDER your hands hold the bar (if you press a barbell) = The stronger the stretch and the more the pecs are involved, BUT the smaller the amplitude of movement.
• The hands ALREADY hold the bar = The weaker the stretch, the more the triceps are activated, the greater the range of motion.

Solution: I suggest placing your hands IN MEDIUM (not too wide and not too close, approximately at the edges of the marks on the fretboard). So, to increase the range of motion, maintain stretching and reduce the work of the triceps.

Movement speed:

• We lift the projectile quickly = fast glycolytic ones work muscle fibers(BMW) and high-threshold fast muscle fibers (HFMV), if the weight is critically large (we can lift it 1-2 times).
• We lift the projectile slowly = oxidative slow muscle fibers (SMF) are included in the work.

Solution: For beginners, I advise lowering the projectile a little more slowly, concentrating on the sensations, and raising the projectile relatively quickly (without violating the technique). Don't focus on speed, focus on how you feel.

Leg position:

• The LOWER the legs = The greater the likelihood of a bridge, which will reduce the work of the chest (remember about electromyography?).
• The higher the legs = The easier it is to remove the bridge and focus on working the chest.

Solution: I advise you to throw your legs, say, on a row of dumbbells in front of you (I often do this if I press dumbbells), or on a bench. This way we will remove the arch in the back (bridge) and focus on working the chest.

Where to lower the bar:

As you already understand, if we lower the bar to the neck (in the “guillotine” style), then we load the pectoral muscles more (all parts of the chest work). Therefore, I see no point in lowering it to the nipples if your goal is large, beautiful breasts.

Solution: We lower the bar closer to the neck (if we press on a horizontal bench), and between the neck and nipples if we press on an inclined bench.

Breath:

Everything is simple here. Lower the projectile = INHALE. Raise the projectile = EXHALE!

Try not to hold your breath. This increases intraocular and blood pressure.

Well, don’t forget, friends, FOCUS ON YOUR FEELINGS!!! This comes first. Your body will tell you what is best.

Let's talk about my MOST FAVORITE exercise for developing chest muscles.

Yes, indeed, this is my thing favorite exercise for the development of pectoral muscles.

First of all, this is the most best exercise from the point of view of the involvement of the pectoral muscles in the work according to the results of Bret's experiments with electromyography.

Secondly, here are some more reasons:

1. Because We don’t have a partition (bar) between the exercises, then we can lower the dumbbells lower, which means increasing the range of movement, thereby making our work more difficult.
2. We can rotate (supinate) the dumbbells at the points of peak contraction in order to better feel the muscles. This is an important point, because allows the load to hit the target exactly.
3. If we don’t have enough strength to complete one more repetition, then we don’t have to be afraid that the projectile will crush us. We can simply throw them on our sides, thereby not harming ourselves.

There are some inconveniences when using dumbbells:

1. There comes a time when it becomes inconvenient to progress the load. For example, you already confidently press 40 kg dumbbells 12 times (and this is already enough heavy weight), and you want to lift the working weight. Most likely, you won’t find 41.25 kg or 42.5 kg dumbbells in the gym, but only 45 kg shells. And an increase in working weight of 5 kg per side (total weight 10 kg) is, as a rule, too much, unless, of course, you use pharmacology.
2. The technique must be more carefully honed, otherwise the risk of injury is high. One awkward movement with a heavy enough dumbbell and you can get very unpleasant injuries (elbows or shoulders, ligaments and tendons). These injuries may prevent you from training normally in the future.

How to perform an incline dumbbell press? It's very simple, friends.

You CANNOT just take dumbbells and throw them upward with a swing. I've seen this many times. This easily leads to ruptured ligaments and tendons in the area of ​​the shoulder and elbow joints.

1. We do the dumbbell throw like this. Take two dumbbells, place them on your upper thighs (above your knees), and sit on a bench. Next, as it were, we throw up one dumbbell with our knee, while simultaneously lying down on the bench, by inertia, working with the second knee, throwing the second dumbbell. Hold the dumbbells tightly and press them up. This is the STARTING POSITION.
2. Relatively slowly lower the dumbbells down to the point of MAXIMUM STRETCH, feel how our chest stretches (we lower it to the area between the nipples and neck).
3. Focusing on the sensations of your chest, press the dumbbells up at a slightly faster speed, KEEPING TENSION IN YOUR CHESTS throughout the entire lift.
4. At the top point, we slightly supinate (turn) the hands with the dumbbells inward, additionally performing a PEAK CHEST CONTRACTION (we just additionally strain the pecs).
5. It was one repeat.

I love starting my chest workout with this exercise. The chest becomes engorged, burns, and swells. Great feeling!

Now I'm talking about the POSITIVE incline of the bench (when it is tilted up). A little less effective exercise, as we found out, but also has its advantages.

1. First of all: A CONVENIENT OPPORTUNITY TO PROGRESS LOADS! We can increase the weights a little at a time, because... In almost any hall you can find pancakes of 0.5-1.25 kg.
2. Further, the presence of a PARTITION between the implements (bar), which provides additional stabilization and the ability to press with an OPEN GRIP (when your thumb does not wrap around the bar, but is placed on the bar from below.

Here's a demonstration of the closed and open grip:

The technique is the SAME as for the incline dumbbell press.

1. There is no need to throw anything away. Just lie down under the barbell, the bench is inclined, as we found out, by 20-30 degrees. Place your hands slightly wider than the marks (you will see them), this is a medium grip.
2. Remove the bar from the racks. This is the starting position.
3. Relatively slowly we lower the bar down to the point of MAXIMUM STRETCH, we feel how our chest is stretched (we lower it to the area between the nipples and neck).
4. Focusing on the sensations in your chest, press the barbell up at a slightly faster speed, MAINTAINING TENSION IN YOUR CHESTS throughout the entire lift.
5. At the top point, we additionally do a PEAK CHEST CONTRACTION (we just additionally strain our pecs).
6. It was one repeat.

Incline press upside down

I have never done this exercise for chest development, because... it is practically useless to them. Plus, I would categorically not recommend it to people with blood pressure (and negative angles in general).

But for the development of triceps, this option is definitely great! With what?

The fact that tilting the bench upside down practically turns off the chest from the work, but very well includes the triceps. A large muscle group does not steal the load from a small one, which means the muscle will receive a load sufficient for growth.

I do the Smith press on an incline bench (in the Smith machine; this is a frame with a bar that moves only along a certain trajectory).

This way I can fully focus on working the triceps without being distracted by the work of the stabilizer muscles (which are always involved when working with free weights).

1. We lower the bench from the horizontal by 10-20 degrees. We put our legs on the bench.
2. We grab the bar at shoulder level or slightly narrower.
3. We lower the projectile under control to a level just above the nipples, keeping our ELBOWS PARALLEL TO THE BODY! Do not separate them (otherwise the chest may turn on).
4. We feel a stretch in the triceps.
5. Starting the movement by contracting the triceps, squeeze the bar upward. At the top point we additionally strain the triceps (peak contraction).
6. This is one repetition.

In general, I have a very cool article about that. There I listed and explained all the most cool exercises to form beautiful hands.

Incline press for girls

Does the female gender need it?

I think it's both yes and no.

Will explain. The pectoral muscles in women are very small by themselves.

Female Breasts = Some muscle + Breast + Fat.

There is nothing special to pump there, so I don’t see any point in a separate chest workout! At most, I would advise doing dumbbell presses on an incline bench, because... This is the most effective exercise for chest development. And most girls don’t need more.

Most likely, there will not be enough recovery abilities.

Or you can do the incline press upside down in Smith, as I described above.

Don't forget that girls have very few muscles in their upper body compared to their lower body, so send those who are trying to train you to the forest. men's program, and even in a deep split (each muscle group separately).

conclusions

Friends, let's summarize what I said today:

• During each basic exercise, as a rule, several muscles or even muscle groups work (you need to turn off synergists from work).
• This is achieved by body position and technique of performing the exercise.
• The most effective exercise for developing the chest: dumbbell press on an incline bench.
• The barbell press on a horizontal bench in the classical sense is practically useless for building the pectoral muscles.
• You attach serious importance to the TILT ANGLE of the bench, because... this greatly shifts the vector of load application.
• It makes little sense for girls to train their chests on a separate day. It is enough to simply do an incline bench press with dumbbells at the beginning of your workout.

That's all for me, friends. I hope that the article was useful to you.

A lot of very cool practical articles will be released in the near future.

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With respect and best wishes,!