Who Should Do?
General Population
The incline dumbbell bench press is a great exercise for the general population. Despite its odd appearance, it is a user-friendly exercise that is great even for beginners.
Its capacity to target the upper chest, shoulders, and triceps makes it excellent for building strength and adding variety to your workout.
Bodybuilders
If you are a bodybuilder, you need to try the incline dumbbell bench press. This large compound lift is a serious mass builder for the chest, shoulders, and triceps.
Adding to your upper chest workout will increase your chest training volume and help you build symmetry.
We recommend placing it after the horizontal bench press as it is a weaker movement. This will ensure you reserve energy for the bigger lifts, leaving enough in the tank to target the upper chest.
Strength Athletes
Similar to the horizontal bench, the incline dumbbell bench press is great for increasing strength, making it great for strength athletes.
Besides performing the bench press, squat, and deadlift, strength athletes use accessory exercises to improve their lifts.
These complementary movements allow them to target areas of weakness and hard-to-reach fibers; creating a stronger overall muscle.
Who Should Not Do?
Individuals With Shoulder Injuries
If you have a significant, existing shoulder injury, you must avoid the incline dumbbell bench press.
The incline position takes the shoulder joint into forward flexion. This position is far weaker and relies heavily on the anterior deltoid and rotator cuff for support.
However, if your shoulder is injured, these supporting structures may be weakened. This could lead to discomfort and can cause greater damage to the shoulder.
If you do have a shoulder injury seek advice from a physical therapist. They will prescribe you corrective exercises that will get you moving sooner.
People With Muscle Tears
People with significant muscle tears to the chest, shoulders, or triceps should avoid doing the incline dumbbell bench press.
While muscle tears can benefit from resistance training and the introduction of movement, increasing load too soon can cause greater aggravation.
Lifting with damaged muscle tissue can also cause discomfort. This can be dangerous with a bench press as you may lose control, which can result in injury.
If you have sustained a muscle tear consult a physical therapist. They will provide you with rehab exercises and a plan to safely return to training.
People With Overuse Injuries (MAX 150 words)
If you have an overuse injury impairing your ability to bench press, you should avoid the incline dumbbell bench press.
Overuse injuries such as bicep tendonitis, tennis, or golfer’s elbow can cause discomfort or pain during the pressing motion.
If the pain is significant, it can lead to further aggravation, poor technique, or great injury.
Fortunately, one of the best methods of treatment for overuse injuries is exercise. Research indicates that eccentric exercises are effective for reducing pain and restoring function.
If you are curious about this type of training and want to rid yourself of overuse pain, consult a physical therapist. They’ll present you with proactive methods to get you back to training pain-free sooner.
Benefits Of The Exercise
Builds Well-Balanced Chest And Shoulder
The incline dumbbell bench press is one of the best dumbbell chest exercises for developing a well-balanced chest and shoulders.
The pec major consists of three heads, the clavicular head, sternum head, and abdominal head. When we adjust the bench angle, we can target these different fibers.
Adding a 30° incline to the bench press allows us to target the clavicular head, and increase anterior deltoid activation. This creates a fuller-looking chest and rounder shoulders.
Boosts Shoulder Function
If you want to boost your shoulder function, look no further than the incline dumbbell bench press. Shoulders are shallow joints, requiring many different muscles, ligaments, and soft tissue attachments to stabilize and create movement.
While these factors provide us with an incredible range of motion, they also increase the risk of injury. Including the incline dumbbell bench press is a safe and effective way to develop shoulder strength.
Using dumbbells requires balance and coordination; and develops strength through various planes of movement.
Improves Workout Variety
Programming the incline dumbbell bench press is excellent for adding variety to your chest and arms workout
Lack of variation in our training leads to disinterest and can derail our training. Including a variety of movements, such as the incline dumbbell bench press, keeps things fresh. It will also help you target different muscles and fibers; improving results and bolstering motivation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, the incline dumbbell bench press is good for increasing muscle mass and strength. Setting the bench to a 30° incline targets the pec major clavicular fibers and increases anterior deltoid activation, creating a fuller chest.
The incline bench is so hard because it is a weaker movement. The incline position increases shoulder flexion, placing the shoulder and chest in a weaker position.
A good weight for an incline dumbbell press ranges on age, weight, and experience level. For hypertrophy, perform sets of 8–12 repetitions at 60%–80% of your one repetition maximum.
Yes, you should go heavy on the incline press. While it is a weaker movement than the horizontal bench press, it can still be used for hypertrophy and strength training.
Resources
Endomondo.com refrains from utilizing tertiary references. We uphold stringent sourcing criteria and depend on peer-reviewed studies and academic research conducted by medical associations and institutions. For more detailed insights, you can explore further by reading our editorial process.
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