Incline Utility Benches
Weight benches are such an integral tool in my weight training workouts. As a fan of dumbbell exercises, I find that just by adjusting the angle of the bench a little bit I can target an entirely different muscle group. For example, if I perform bench presses on a flat bench it emphasizes the muscles in the center of my chest, but if I just adjust the bench to a slight incline the muscles in my upper chest and shoulders are isolated. Again, by declining the bench I have a whole new angle that works my lower chest.
The reason why so many weight lifters perform the same exercises as they would on a flat bench on an inclined bench is because the human body is biomechanically the weakest in an inclined position than it is in a flat position. I can tell when performing any exercises in an inclined position that the isolated muscles get less help from my supporting muscles, making the lift more difficult.
Take for example a seated dumbbell curl versus an inclined dumbbell curl.
- Incline your bench to a 45-degree angle.
- Remember to use a slightly lighter weight then with seated dumbbell curls.
- Sit on the inclined bench, grasping the dumbbells at your sides.
- Lift the weights up towards your shoulder bending each arm at the elbow.
- Don't swing your arms up. The movement should be controlled and your body should stay fairly still, other than your arms.
If you're new to weightlifting the safest way to start free-weight exercises is on a flat bench. You will shortly discover that free weight workouts require more strength and control than the same machine workouts do.
A lot of people are turned off by free weights because performing the same exercises using the same weight, reps and sets will often cause more muscle soreness the following day. This is only because of what I mentioned above free weights demand help from your supporting muscles, while exercise machines support these muscles. Over all, if you do fewer reps with free weights than you would with machines using the exact same weight you will get better results, and you will graduate to doing more reps at a heavier weight and using an incline bench in no time.
