An Important Chest Exercise
by
healthy_blogging
The inclined bench press is one of the most commonly used chest building exercises, but it is also very dangerous if not performed correctly. In this article I'm going to discuss inclined bench press technique, this will be of particular importance to novice trainers.
Performing the Inclined Bench Press
This exercise can be performed with dumbbells or barbell. For the purposes of this article, I will discuss the inclined bench barbell press. Check out my article "Great Chest Workouts: Hammer Grip Inclined Bench Dumbbell Press" for information about inclined bench dumbbell press exercise. You'll need an inclined bench and barbell. Lie down on the bench, make sure that your shoulder blades are firmly placed on the bench. Plant both feet on the floor, and tighten your abs. Grip the bar at shoulder width, but no wider elsewise you'll screw up your form. Now remove the bar from the rack and slowly lower it to within a few inches of adam's apple. Do NOT lower it down to your chest. I've witnessed guys who will lower the weight all the way down to their chest and press it back up again. That is a MISTAKE that could be very very dangerous and it's one that you want to avoid. When you're benching you rely heavily on your shoulder muscles. One of the worst things you can do is put undo stress on the shoulder joints. Improper form and excess weight can do a lot damage to the shoulder joint - think rotator cuff injury - which can sideline you for months at the least or cause PERMANENT injury at worst. After you have lowered the weight hold for a five second count then press the weight back up. It's also important to work with a spotter or use a Smith Machine whenever possible (especially if you are very inexperienced with weights). Perform five sets of this exercise with eight to ten reps per set. As you become stronger and add weight, you will find it difficult to get in a lot of reps, that is natural. It's common for most heavy lifters to perform four to five reps of the inclined bench press. Remember as weights and reps tend to be inversely related i.e. increasing the amount of weight will lower the number of repetitions performed. This is a great exercise for chest day, and if performed properly you will notice early gains in a matter of weeks.
Okay, that's all for this article. Look forward to more articles on my Great Chest Workouts website. Thanks for reading.
"Great Chest Workouts: Inclined Bench Barbell Press - An Important Chest Exercise" copyright 2010 Great Chest Workouts 2010. All Rights Reserved.
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