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The Incline Bench Press

The bench press is one of the most popular exercises for the chest and the incline version is great for developing the upper chest muscles.

This exercise can be done with dumbbells or a barbell. There are advantages for both variations such as you can load more onto the bar with the barbell version, however the dumbbell version lets you perform a better stretch and full range of motion.

The dumbbell version is great for home workouts as you don't need a spotter.

Instructions

1. Take a dumbbell in each hand, or barbell and lie back on an incline bench.
   
   
2. Kick the weights to your shoulders and at the same time lie back on the bench so that you are laying flat with the weights in front of you at shoulder height.
   
   
3. Press the dumbbells up so that your arms are almost straight. Your palms should be facing in the direction of your feet and the dumbbells should be a few inches apart. (do not touch them together)
   
   
4. The handles should be roughly level with your upper chest. Slowly lower the dumbbells back down as far as you can comfortably go.
   
   
5. Pause for a split second and then raise the weights back up.
   
   
6. Do not drop the weights at the end of the set.

You can vary the angle of the incline bench from almost upright to almost flat. The further upright you go will place more emphasis on the upper pecs however your shoulders will also come into play and may take some of the work away from the chest muscles.

As a variation you can begin with palms facing one another and twist your wrists as you lift so that the palms face forward at the top, then twist them back to the starting position as you lower the dumbbells.

A bodyweight alternative of the exercise would be a push up.

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