Beautiful breasts are not only a woman's dignity, but also a man's. There are many exercises for working out the pectoral muscles, but the recognized leader is the bench press.
Features of the press on an incline bench
The peculiarity of the dumbbell press on an incline bench is that you can use large weights and at the same time significantly increase the amplitude of movement of the shells (compared to a barbell, for example).
The incline bench press is considered to be the most useful exercise, they are especially useful for those who work on pumping the pectoral muscles and developing strength. Working with dumbbells is more difficult than a barbell and more versatile. The fact is that when performing the exercise, stabilizing muscles are also included in the work, which maintain the stability of movement in all vectors.
If we consider the practical side - the bench press technique, then it is very similar to the barbell press, but it has some differences. The first thing to talk about is the angle of inclination of the bench. The optimum is 25-30 degrees. The higher the bench, there is more load on the front bundle of deltas and the less the triceps and pectoral muscles are involved.
Before starting the exercise, it is imperative to stretch the muscles and complete a couple of warm-up approaches with little or no weight. Be sure to include regular joint exercises in your warm-up. It takes a little time, but it warms up the body well. The bench press is not just a strength exercise, it is also useful for developing a sense of balance, so one of the main conditions for doing it is perfect technique.
Exercise
Starting position: head, shoulders, hips are pressed to the bench, chest is tense. Feet shoulder-width apart, feet should be on the floor, knees bent at right angles. Do not tear off your socks and heels!
Take the dumbbells in your hands with a normal grip, palms facing forward. Bring the dumbbells closer to the deltoid muscles and squeeze the shells straight up. Fix the position - the dumbbells should be strictly parallel to the shoulders, tighten the chest muscles. The elbows should move in the plane of the shoulders.
When you lower the dumbbells down, you need to maintain control over the weight and concentrate on performing the reciprocating movements. Lower the dumbbells to shoulder level, then squeeze up again.
Observe the rhythm and do the exercise the number of times that was intended. It is impossible to tear the buttocks from the bench - this is fraught with back injuries.
The press should be performed as slowly as possible so that the technique does not suffer and so that you can feel what muscles and how they work, what difficulties there are in performing the exercise.
Benefits of the dumbbell press
The dumbbell press is not an isolated exercise, that is, it involves several muscles at once. Competitive athletes can use it to improve barbell strength. Beginners - work out the technique and simultaneously work out several muscle groups, prepare a kind of "base" for other exercises.
If you compare it with a barbell press, then when using a dumbbell you have a large amplitude, since there is no bar between the shells, which can rest against the chest. Dumbbells "go" lower and help to stretch the trained muscles. Due to the increase in amplitude, the exercise becomes more difficult, so the working weight becomes less.
Ideally, you need to perform the exercise with such a weight that you can independently enter the starting position with the dumbbells. When working with large weights, you definitely need an assistant who will give you the dumbbells, and when you perform the exercise, he will insure.
Working with dumbbells is safer - you can always just drop them, but the barbell can just pin you down. This is why all heavyweight professionals need a safety net.
Presses are exercises for working out the pectoralis major muscle, as well as the triceps, on which separate isolation exercises are often performed. It is especially worth noting that when performing a bench press, the latissimus dorsi and biceps work as stabilizing muscles.
An incline dumbbell press is a good warm-up exercise, but in this case, you need to take a weight less than the worker, of course. The bench press can be made part of a superset and combined with dumbbell breeding, for example, or wide arm push-ups. These exercises can be performed one after the other without interruption.
Bench workout programs
The dumbbell press is an upper body exercise and is used in conjunction with triceps exercises. The principle of drawing up a workout in this case: first - exercises for the larger muscle, in our case, for the pectoral (bench press), then - exercise for the triceps. This procedure allows you to work out the muscles as efficiently as possible.
You can combine the bench press with the biceps exercises and combine the large push group exercises with the pull group.
The chest-back combination is no less popular. In this case, the antagonist muscles work: the chest is responsible for the bench press, and the back is for the traction. This combination will work well for two large departments at once.
Splits are a great time-saver and allow your muscles to recover. This approach can be used by both beginners and pros. By varying the weight of the shells, you can change the goal of the exercise - the more weight, the more strength training you have, the less weight with more repetitions, the more enduring your muscles will be.
The most common bench press mistakes
Technically, the dumbbell bench press is not the easiest exercise, but most often mistakes are made at the moment of taking the dumbbells off the floor, and after taking the starting position. But this gross mistake can cause serious injury. Place the dumbbells in front of you (if possible, use a curbstone or platform), sit on the bench, take the dumbbells, transfer their weight to your feet and only after that take the starting position.
The second most common mistake is exiting the exercise. The correct option is to put dumbbells on your chest and rise with a swing. If there is a rubber floor in the gym, then you can just drop the dumbbells. Such methods will protect you from injury, especially when working with heavy weights.
If you look more globally, then they often neglect the warm-up and immediately take on heavy shells. This negatively affects progress and is fraught with injury, especially when it comes to working with large weights. Beginners often neglect technique, trying to take more weight. This is fundamentally the wrong approach. The technique is primary, and only then you increase the weight of the shells.
Exercise options
The first thing that can be varied is the angle of inclination of the bench. The larger it is (the closer the body is to the vertical), the more the delta is involved in the work and less - the pectoral muscles. The optimal angle for pumping the chest is 30 degrees, but some athletes set the bench at 45, which also has a positive effect on progress.
For lovers of variety and experienced athletes, negative bias. It shifts the load to the lower chest. According to the professionals, you need to regularly change the exercises. And the possibility of changing the angle in this case is in your favor. You do not radically change the program, but at the same time you pump your muscles as much as possible, while using a minimum of equipment.
Another option is alternate hand presses. This will help you focus on a specific muscle group and practice your technique. Although in terms of progress, of course, this is not so effective, and the hands can be developed in different ways.
Bench press at home. Alternative chest exercises
A lot of people now study at home. It saves time and money, and is completely independent. But, alas, not everyone can boast of gym equipment at home. Press on an incline bench is a rather specific exercise and it is very difficult to "fit in" at home to its implementation. Craftsmen construct an analogue of a bench from chairs and durable boards. Only in this case it is possible to speak of a full-fledged replacement.
The simplest replacement is push-ups. They can be performed in any conditions, even for beginners and those who are losing weight. Raising hands with dumbbells is no less effective, but this is an isolating exercise that needs to be taken into account when making a program.
Dips are a functional exercise that will not only work the muscles of the upper body, but also tone the stabilizers (those same core muscles around which there is so much noise) and abdominal muscles.
You cannot make steady progress with just one exercise. Develop your body comprehensively and harmoniously, eat high-quality food, monitor the balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. A systematic integrated approach is the key to success.
