Incline Dumbbell Chest Press

Exercise Details for Incline Dumbbell Chest Press

  • Primary Muscle
    Pec
  • Secondary Muscle
    Triceps, Front Delt
  • Equipment
    Bumbbell
  • Level
    Easy

Why Should You do Incline Dumbbell Chest Press?

Incline Dumbbell Chest Press mainly activates the upper chest muscles but the exercise activates the whole chest. Your triceps and the front of your shoulders will also get a little round.

Performance

One of the most crucial parts of this exercise is the inclination you put the bench on. The more upright the bench becomes, the more your shoulders will be activated in the exercise. There is no right or wrong, but if you are mainly training the chest, the angle should be a maximum of 30 degrees to the floor.

Choose two dumbbells and sit down on the bench. Place the dumbbells on your knees. Since it can be very stressful for your wrists and shoulders to lift the dumbbells to the correct position, you should use your legs. This is done by leaning back against the bench while lifting your legs with the dumbbells. In this way, you get help to raise the dumbbells to the starting position: they are the same level as your shoulders.

You are now lying on the bench, and you are holding the dumbbells at your shoulders close to your body. The palms of your hand should point forward. Place your feet firmly on the ground and make sure they are placed behind your knees. The buttocks, upper back, and head should be against the bench. Pinch your shoulder blades together and push your chest out. If you do not do this, your shoulders will take over when doing this exercise.

Make sure that you are stable and that you can controll the weights. You are npow in your starting position.


Push the dumbbells up against the ceiling and make sure that your shoulder blades are constantly contracted. Lift the dumbbells upwards until your arms are almost straight. If you push too much, you engage the shoulders, stop when the arms are almost outstretched. When you reach the top position, slowly lower the dumbbells back down again. It is individual how far down you can go but aim to get down until the elbows are at a 90-degree angle. If you can go deeper, you should stop before the shoulders hurt because the goal is to train the chest and not the shoulders. Perform the regression slowly; it should take at least 3 seconds down.

Guide for Incline Dumbbell Chest press

  • Only use weights that you can manage. Too heavy weights usually lead to the shoulders being become engaged as well.
  • Be sure to keep your feet located behind your knees so that you can push away. 
  • Make sure your buttocks, upper rear, and your head are firmly pressed against the bench.
  • Have your eyes fixed on the ceiling
  • It would help if you had the shoulder blades retracted throughout the exercise. If you miss this, your shoulders will become engaged in the exercise.
  • Exhale on the way up and inhale on the way down
  • Perform the regression slowly, aim for 3 seconds

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