Where does your chest muscle work hardest during different bench presses?
Non‐uniform excitation of the pectoralis major muscle during flat and inclined bench press exercises
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
The shift in muscle excitation was consistent despite identical movement mechanics between conditions.
Many assume differences in muscle activation come from people changing their lifting technique on incline benches, but this study shows the shift happens even when movement is controlled.
Practical Takeaways
Use the 45° incline bench press if you want to emphasize upper chest activation in your workouts.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
The shift in muscle excitation was consistent despite identical movement mechanics between conditions.
Many assume differences in muscle activation come from people changing their lifting technique on incline benches, but this study shows the shift happens even when movement is controlled.
Practical Takeaways
Use the 45° incline bench press if you want to emphasize upper chest activation in your workouts.
Publication
Journal
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
Year
2021
Authors
H. Cabral, L. D. de Souza, L. F. de Oliveira, T. Vieira
Related Content
Claims (4)
The upper part of your chest muscle doesn't help much when you push something overhead out to the side, because it's in a bad position to pull. But it works a lot better when you push something overhead in front of you, because then it's in a good position to help.
When people do an incline bench press instead of a flat one, the upper part of their chest muscle gets more activated — the electrical signal in the muscle moves upward, showing the incline version works the top of the chest more.
When healthy guys lift weights on flat and slightly angled benches, their chest muscle movement and activation patterns don’t really change — so any differences in how the muscle fires are probably not because of how they’re moving.
When you do bench presses on a flat bench vs. a slightly angled one, different parts of your chest muscle get worked more — the lower chest works harder on a flat bench, while the upper chest works harder when the bench is tilted up.