Comments on: How to Prevent an Arching Back on the Incline Bench Press

By: Shoulder weight training exercises - focus on your traps / trapezius | World Fitness Network

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:52:43 +0000

[...] Bench Press (I tend to emphasize the incline bench press) [...]

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 07:46:30 +0000

Darrin- No need to be embarrassed, you didn’t grow up in a gym and that’s what this site is for ;)

By: darrinclement

darrinclement — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 01:11:47 +0000

I feel a bit like I had a “duh” moment – the chair thing is so obvious in retrospect that I’m embarrassed I hadn’t thought of it. Thanks, and great site! Darrin

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:11:52 +0000

darrinclement- The butt in the air thing does look a bit funny, and I get the feeling like it puts me at an angle that hits the shoulders more than the chest, but that’s me. The more common approach I’ve seen to hit the upper chest is to do a regular pushup with your feet up on a bench/chair/whatever else you’ve got. Doesn’t look very strange, and it gets the job done when you’re away from the gym.

Increasing the resistance on pushups is no easy thing. One option is to put weights in a backpack or use a weighted vest or something, but that still feels pretty awkward and requires equipment (almost defeating the convenience of pushups).

Other options I’ve seen are to use a resistance band and place it under each hand and run it behind your back. This still requires some type of equipment, but a band is easier to pack.

Finally, explosive pushups & one arm pushups. Explosive pushups require a fast up movement. Explode out from the bottom, clap your hands at the top of the movement. This will develop explosive strength and power.

Like Louis said, the best movement is the bench press, but you do what you can when no bench is available.

By: darrinclement

darrinclement — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:22:57 +0000

These are good reminders! It’s easy to lose form if you aren’t concentrating on it.

I tend o do a lot of pushups and I’ve found that your comments on “angles” apply there too. If you adjust your butt higher, you can work higher on your chest (plus a little more shoulders). But I look pretty funny doing it. Any thoughts on plusses/minusses of this?

A related question: I absolutely love pushups but I can’t figure out a good way to increase the resistance. I’ve tried balancing 25 or 45 pound plates on my back but I find my mind focusing on making sure the they don’t slide off and so then I lose form. Advice?

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:47:34 +0000

Louis- I don’t think that the higher angle is necessarily more beneficial than the lower, but it is a different angle that is useful. My intent was to say that you could go as high as 45 degrees on this exercise or just higher, implying that you shouldn’t be going higher than that. I don’t think that’s very clear though, so I’ll edit the article to clearly say an angle of 30-45 degrees.

All this is keeping in mind that 30 degrees is the lower end of the beneficial angles for the incline, and approximately 45 is the upper end. Any lower than 30 degrees is too similar to a flat bench press. And yes, the greater the angle, the more the involvement of the deltoids. Going any significant amount over 45 becomes more of a shoulder exercise.

Agreed that the incline should not be used as a primary chest exercise. Flat benches work the entire chest muscle group, inclines do not. They make a great addition to your chest routine.

By: Louis-Philippe

Louis-Philippe — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:08:19 +0000

“the incline bench press is best when set up to a 45 degree angle or even slightly higher.”

I’ve always heard that an angle around 30 degrees would be best suited for incline benching. Why do you believe that a greater incline is more benificial? Logically a higher incline would result in a higher involvement of the frontal delt muscles.

Personally I never use incline benching (DB or BB) as a primairy exercise. I believe that the heaviest chest exercises are best preformet on a flat bench. Incline work can be a good addition but can’t be a replacement