…continued – Chest
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
This is a very effective exercise for upper chest. The primary muscles worked here are the upper chest. Secondary muscles are the middle and lower chest, front deltoids, upper back, and triceps.
Execution
As with flat dumbbell bench press, the most difficult thing here is getting the dumbbells into position. Unlike the flat bench you cannot rock into position. No problem. As you are sitting on the incline bench with the dumbbells resting on the end of your thighs kick each dumbbell into position one at a time by lifting your knee toward your chest. This places the dumbbells into the bottom position of the exercise ready to start your set.
Lower the weight at a moderate pace while rotating your palms 90 degrees clockwise. You want to stretch deep at the bottom of the movement. Power the weight upward with explosiveness while rotating your palms 90 degrees counter clockwise.
You finish the set with the dumbbells at the bottom position. You then raise your knees up to meet the dumbbells and rock yourself back into the seated position. Piece of cake. Once you master these techniques for handling dumbbells this will be your preferred method. Even if you have a training partner this is how you’ll want to do it. It’s that easy.
Decline Barbell Bench Press
This is a very effective exercise for your lower chest. The primary muscles worked here are the lower chest. Secondary muscles are the middle chest, front deltoids, upper back, and triceps.
Execution
The decline should be about 30 degrees. Lower the bar at a moderate pace to the very bottom of your sternum. Let the weight sink into your chest slightly and power up and slightly back explosively. Lower the weight twice as slow as your raise the weight. If your are not accustomed to doing decline bench presses it may take a bit of getting used to. You may be quite surprised by how much weight you can lift in this movement.
