Exercise:

Incline Barbell Press

Target Muscle:

Chest (Upper)

Incline Bench, Barbell

Lie down on an incline bench and hold onto the bar using a medium-width grip. Choose a grip width that causes your elbows to form a 90 degree when your upper arms are parallel to the floor.

Keep your feet, butt and shoulders firmly planted and un-rack the bar, holding it straight above you with your arms locked out. Lower the bar down until it touches your upper chest and then drive it up back until your arms are fully extended.

- Rather than flaring your arms out at a 90 degree angle to your body, keep them slightly tucked in towards your sides. This will reduce stress on the shoulder joints.

- Keep your shoulder blades slightly retracted throughout the exercise as this will further reduce shoulder stress and increase pec activation.

- In order to maximize tension on the chest, apply a small amount of "inward force" throughout the exercise. What this means is that instead of just pressing the bar straight up and down, focus on lightly squeezing your hands inward at the same time as if you were trying to compress the bar together.

- If it feels more comfortable on your shoulder joints, you can stop an inch or two short of your chest rather than lowering the dumbbells all the way down.