The more muscular and denser the upper chest of an athlete is, the more spectacular the overall appearance of the chest. The Incline Dumbbell Press is an ideal exercise for working your upper pectoral muscles. The peculiarity is that when working, you can use large weights and a maximum range of motion. The main thing is to adhere to the technical rules of execution.
Do not confuse the dumbbell bench press and the side dumbbell breeding - these are different exercises!
The incline dumbbell press can be classified as one of the most useful exercises for targeted pumping of the upper pectoral muscles and the development of tremendous strength. To some extent, it is more multifunctional and more complex than the barbell press on an incline bench, because in its work, in addition to the pectoral muscles, it is necessary to include a large number of stabilizing muscles in order to maintain stability of movement in all vectors.
In terms of technical characteristics, the exercise is very similar to its predecessor, the barbell press, but there are still certain differences that should be considered in detail so that the maximum benefit from doing the dumbbell press is.
Technique for performing an incline dumbbell press
The first and most important thing is the choice of the required angle of inclination of the bench so that the load goes on the chest, and neither triceps nor deltoids take it away. An angle of 20 degrees makes the load distribution equal to all parts of the pectoral muscles. The higher the bench is set, the more the focus of the load will shift to the front bundle of deltas, "turning off" the triceps and pectoral muscles, and this exercise will turn into a version of the press for the shoulders. The best solution would be a tilt angle of 25-30 degrees from the horizontal.
Before performing the exercise, you should definitely do a general stretch for all muscle groups of the upper shoulder girdle and perform a couple of warm-up repetitions of the bench press with little or no weights. In the exercise, it is necessary to balance the free weight with the hands separately and make sure that the dumbbells do not "drift" to the sides, so the grinding of the correct technique must be brought to the ideal.
The dumbbell press on an incline bench itself is simple, like all the basic elements of strength sports:
- Take the correct starting position in the simulator: the head, shoulders and hips are pressed against the bench, the chest is tense.
- Put your feet shoulder-width apart and rest your feet on the floor, keep your knees bent at right angles, and do not tear off your socks or heels throughout the whole set. It is good if the bench has special stops for the feet.
- Bend over and lift the dumbbells off the floor with your own grip "in the lock" or, if their weight is relatively large, ask the assistant to give you shells in both hands. The palms look in the same direction as the eyes, that is, clearly forward.
- Raise the dumbbells towards your shoulders, closer to the deltoid muscles.
- Squeeze the shells on straight arms strictly vertically. Stop for a few seconds and tense your chest muscles as much as possible. At the top, the dumbbells should be parallel to the shoulder line. The elbows move exactly in the plane of the shoulders and always look towards the ears.
- By lowering the dumbbells down (negative or negative phase of the exercise), maintain control over your weight. It is on the reciprocating movements that concentration should be directed. When the dumbbells reach shoulder level, change the direction of movement with a rhinestone and squeeze the shells up.
- Without pauses and observing the rhythm, perform the exercise the intended number of times.
When performing the exercise, you cannot tear the buttocks off the bench, otherwise the load will go away from the upper chest muscles, and the lower back will be in danger. Controlling correct breathing technique plays an important role. To maximally "open" the chest and rigidly fix the spine at the initial stage of the exercise, a deep breath is required, followed by holding the breath. After passing through the most difficult lifting area, you should immediately make a powerful exhalation, it will control the intra-abdominal and intrathoracic pressure and the danger of "failing" will be minimized.
To effectively work out the upper part of the pectoral muscles, the dumbbells should not be lifted stupidly up, but so that their ends practically touch each other and are located opposite the middle of the upper edge of the chest.
Do not provoke complete exhaustion when performing an incline dumbbell press. The approach should not be completed at the peak of complete muscle failure, but a little earlier, so as not to lose control of the shells. For complication and some kind of variety of the training process, you can sometimes perform a dumbbell press with one and the other hand alternately.
Pros and pitfalls of dumbbell bench press
Dumbbell bench press on an incline bench allows you to "roam" with the amplitude of hand movement. Such shells can be lowered significantly lower than the bar, which the bar interferes with. Dumbbells "go" deeper down and the quality of stretching of the muscles being worked out increases. And good muscle stretching is the first condition for their hypertrophy and good anabolism.
With an increase in work (range of motion and stretching), the exercise automatically becomes more difficult than the barbell press, so the working weights will be less.
With two heavy dumbbells in your hands, it is quite difficult and traumatic to take the starting position on the bench and then get off it. Athletes working with extremely heavy weights must be sure to insure themselves. Even psychologically it is very difficult to work without safety net with a lot of weight, so additional help will never be superfluous.
If the weight of the equipment is decent, you need to ask your roommate to submit both dumbbells in turn. The assistant is then required to kneel behind the head of the bench press and keep his hands under his elbows. Of course, this is a luxury, but it is better if there are two assistants - for one and for the other hand. At the end of the set, one person will not be able to simultaneously take the dumbbells from the hands of an athlete who is running out of being unable to complete the repetition.
Do you want to "polish" your breasts to infinitely beautiful shapes and spectacular sizes? Then the dumbbell press on an incline bench should definitely occupy one of the first positions in the list of your chest exercises.
Video with Denis Borisov about the technique of performing the exercise:
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