Barbell Incline Bench Press

Execution

1. Take a grip slightly wider than your shoulders, so your forearm and upper arm form roughly a right angle at the bottom.
2. Unrack the bar and bring it over your upper chest with your arms locked out.
3. Inhale and lower the bar under control to a light touch on your upper chest, elbows at roughly 45 degrees from your torso.
4. Exhale and press the bar straight up, drifting slightly back toward the starting position over the shoulders.
5. Lock the arms out at the top without slamming the elbow joint straight.
6. At the end of the set, guide the bar back onto the rack under control, not after your arms are already spent.

Quick cues

• Light touch on the upper chest, no bounce.
• Elbows at 45 degrees, not flared.
• Press slightly back toward the shoulders.
• Feet drive into the floor the whole set.

Common faults

• Fault: Bouncing the bar off the chest to help drive it up

  Fix: Pause with a light touch on the chest, then press actively without using the bounce.

• Fault: The elbows flaring out to 90 degrees on the way down

  Fix: Tuck the elbows in closer, to about 45 degrees from the torso.

• Fault: The hips lifting off the bench on a heavy press

  Fix: Drop the weight and keep the hips pinned to the bench for the whole press.

• Fault: Pressing the bar back toward the neck instead of over the upper chest

  Fix: Track the bar's path with your eyes and actively bring it back over the upper chest at lockout.