Barbell Incline Bench Press (Medium Grip)Muscles Worked
The incline barbell bench press works your chest, especially the upper chest, with your front delts and triceps helping. Setting the bench at a moderate incline shifts more of the work toward the upper chest and front delts than a flat bench does.
How to do it
- Set an adjustable bench to a moderate incline, around 30 to 45 degrees, and lie back with your eyes just under the bar.
- Take a grip slightly wider than your shoulders and pull your shoulder blades together.
- Unrack the bar and hold it straight above your shoulders.
- Lower the bar under control to your upper chest, just below your collarbones.
- Drive the bar back up over your shoulders until your elbows are straight, and rack it once the set is done.
Form tips
- Keep your hips on the bench instead of arching hard, which flattens out the incline.
- Steeper isn't better: past about 45 degrees, the front delts take over more of the work.
- Keep your elbows slightly below the bar rather than flared straight out to the sides.
Why it made the list
No. 3 of 13
Best Chest Exercises
Targets the clavicular (upper) chest that flat pressing underserves. 30-45° angle is the sweet spot. Essential for complete chest development.
More chest exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Barbell Incline Bench Press (Medium Grip) sets in KasMaker and watch your chest, shoulders, and triceps fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
