Incorporating the high incline press into your workout can enhance upper chest development, improve shoulder strength, and reduce the chance of injury to the rotator cuff compared to flat bench presses.
Muscle Activation: The incline bench press primarily targets the upper chest, shoulders, and triceps. By strengthening these muscles, you can improve your overall pressing strength, which can translate to better performance in the flat bench press.
Feeling Your Shoulders more on Incline Bench Press? If you're feeling your shoulders more then your bench angle is probably set to high. The incline bench can be set to anywhere between 30 and 45 degrees.
The incline bench press is a variation that targets the upper part of the pectoral muscles. The incline bench press angle can be varied to work the deltoid muscles, too. This exercise needs only a bench, a barbell, and some weights.
Incline Bench Press Technique
Firmly position your feet flat on the ground and lie completely flat on the incline bench. Ensure that your shoulder blades (scapula) is completely retracted against the bench.
Range of Motion. Another reason why the incline bench press is harder is due to the increased range of motion. Because of the angle, the barbell travels a longer distance before it touches your chest. This extended range of motion requires more strength and endurance, making the exercise more challenging.
The main muscles worked during incline presses are the front deltoid and the clavicular head (upper portion of pectoralis major). However, in order to get the muscular activation in the upper pecs in this incline chest press exercise, it's crucial to get the bench angle correct.
Primarily targeting the chest muscles, the dumbbell incline press will activate the pectorals, triceps, and deltoids. The incline of the bench means that it targets the upper chest and deltoids more, specifically hitting the clavicular head of the pec major.
This is often caused by rotator cuff strain or muscular imbalances, mainly when focusing too much on chest exercises. Excessive Weight: Lifting weights that are too heavy can overburden the shoulder muscles and joints, increasing the risk of injury from excessive strain.
The ideal bench angle for incline bench press is a range: 15-45 degrees. But here's why 15 degrees might not always be ideal depending on one significant factor. The greater you naturally arch, the higher the incline l'd recommend.
The delts are the largest upper body muscle group. The biceps is by far the smallest. In between them most muscles are roughly the same size, including the traps, pecs, triceps and lats.
That's because when you lower the dumbbells, you lower it way too high up your chest. Instead, make sure that when you lower the dumbbells, you lower it to your mid to lower chest. Keeping your elbows flared on the Incline bench press might be messing up your shoulders.
The incline bench press can help improve shoulder strength and stability by engaging the anterior deltoids and rotator cuff muscles, which help to raise the arms forward and stabilize the shoulder joint, respectively.
The overhead press targets the shoulders and triceps, while the incline bench press focuses on the upper chest and front deltoids.
The pectoralis minor is the smaller chest muscle and lies underneath the pec major, toward the outside of the chest. Besides your chest, the incline dumbbell chest press also works the front of your shoulder muscles and your triceps (the muscles on the back of your upper arm).
The most common reason for lack of muscle activation is improper form. If you're not performing the bench press correctly, it's likely that other muscles are taking over the work, leading to a lack of activation in the chest muscles.
The chest fly is an isolation exercise which targets the pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, deltoids, triceps, and biceps, although the focus is mainly on the pectorals.
“Lightly touching the bar to your chest is a good practice during the incline bench,” says Caine Wilkes, OLY, USAW-L1, and GGR staff writer.
The average Incline Bench Press weight for a male lifter is 196 lb (1RM). This makes you Intermediate on Strength Level and is a very impressive lift. What is a good Incline Bench Press? Male beginners should aim to lift 98 lb (1RM) which is still impressive compared to the general population.
If enhancing the upper chest is what you're aiming for, an incline set between 30 and 45 degrees will meet this need effectively. Caution must be exercised. Ascending beyond a 45-degree inclination could shift focus to shoulder muscles and reduce engagement of the pectoralis major in your fitness journey.
While the flat bench press is a great exercise for building your chest, it is also one of the most challenging to do properly.
If you're a “chest puffer” like me then you'll likely benefit from a higher incline or fully upright (90 degree) seat angle. If you're the opposite then something like a 75 degree, or even 60 degree seat angle for some could be better.