Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
The incline dumbbell press is a strength training exercise that targets the chest (upper pectoral) muscles, as well as the shoulders and triceps. It is performed on an incline bench set at a 30-45 degree angle, with a dumbbell in each hand.
How To do:
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to perform the incline dumbbell press:
- Set an incline bench to a 30-45 degree angle and sit on the bench with your back flat against the bench and your feet flat on the ground.
- Then, you raise the dumbbells to shoulder width and rotate your wrists so that your palms are facing away from your body.
- Press the dumbbells upward and together until they meet over your chest. Pause briefly at the top of the movement, then lower the dumbbells back to the starting position, keeping your elbows at a 45-degree angle to your body.
- Repeat the movement for the desired number of repetitions.
Note: Remember to use a weight that challenges you but allows you to maintain proper form throughout the exercise. It’s also important to warm up properly before starting the exercise to prevent injury.
Incline Dumbbell Press – Benefits
- The incline dumbbell press is a strength exercise that has benefits for upper chest muscle and desired defined pecs. Targeting the pectorals, triceps and deltoids, incline dumbbell pressing exercise help to build upper body strength and increase muscle mass.
- When done in the right form, it also strengthens the clavicle in your sternum, unlike bench press.. A stronger clavicle also reduces the risk of injury. When done in the wrong form, it causes excessive load on the front shoulder muscles, so this increases the risk of injury.
- What makes this exercise effective is that you get a greater range of motion, involve more of the stabilising muscles in the shoulders and back and have activation of the muscle fibres in the upper chest. The use of dumbbells evenly distributes the weight to each arm, negating the tendency to use your stronger arm to do more work than your weaker arm.
- Research shows that performing an incline bench press with a 30 and 45 degree bench angle is the best for the upper chest. In order to get the best efficiency from the incline dumbbell press movement, you should adjust the bench to an angle of 30-45 degrees and feel your upper chest muscles are working.
Muscles worked in the Incline Dumbbell Press
