Barbell Incline Bench Press - Medium Grip

Also called incline bench and incline barbell press.

Works

Chest, plus shoulders and triceps

Equipment

Barbell

Level

Beginner

Type

Compound

How to do it

Setup. Lie back on an incline bench. Using a medium-width grip (a grip that creates a 90-degree angle in the middle of the movement between the forearms and the upper arms), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.

1. As you breathe in, come down slowly until you feel the bar on you upper chest.
2. After a second pause, bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out and push the bar using your chest muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, squeeze your chest, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: it should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up.
3. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
4. When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.

Cues

• Bench at 30°, not 45°.
• Bar to the collarbone line.
• Elbows under the bar.
• Squeeze the bar hard.

Common mistakes

• Bench too steep (becomes a shoulder press)
• Bar drifting toward the face.

Where to start

A starting point, not a law. Pick a weight you could lift two or three more times than the top of the range. Tempo is seconds down, pause, up. When every set hits the top of the range, add a little weight.

Go easy, or pick an alternative, if you have a sore shoulder. Pain that's sharp or gets worse set to set means stop.

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