Chest Workout Using the Flat Incline & Decline

Your chest, or pectoralis major muscle, is made up of three heads -- upper, middle and lower pecs, also called the clavicular, sternocostal and abdominal heads. Depending on the angle of the bench you use, you can emphasize a specific region of the chest. You can do chest exercises on an incline, a flat or a decline bench. For complete chest development, it is best you use all three angles when doing pectoral exercises so you can work each of the three parts.

  1. Pectoral Presses

    • The pectoral press, also called bench press, is a staple movement for building bigger pecs. When doing this exercise, and any other chest exercise for that matter, you will be emphasizing your upper pecs while lying on an incline bench. If you lie down on a flat bench or a decline bench, you will emphasize your middle and lower pecs, respectively. To do pectoral presses, lie face-up on any of these benches and hold a dumbbell in each hand over your chest with your arms bent. Press the dumbbells over your chest by extending your arms. Stop short of locking your elbows and then return the dumbbells down to the beginning position. Use as much weight as possible during pectoral presses to maximize the work of your chest.

    Fly Pectoral Fly

    • A similar movement to the pectoral press is the pectoral fly. During this exercise, you start with your arms slightly bent over your chest and you lower the dumbbells towards the side of your pecs in an arc-like motion. Then you raise the dumbbells back up over your chest. Pectoral flys allow for a longer range of motion than pectoral presses, which is beneficial for muscle-building. However, never use heavy weights because you can risk serious pectoral injury due to the excessive stretch at the bottom of the movement.

    Pectoral Pullover

    • To finish off your chest workout, perform the pectoral pullover. Lie face-up on either bench, hold a single dumbbell with both hands and position it over the center of your chest with your arms slightly bent. Then lower the dumbbell behind your head until you feel your chest stretching. Stop when the stretch feels deep and raise the dumbbell back over your chest. You can go heavy during this exercise because it is much more stable than the pectoral fly.

    The Wrap-Up

    • You should use all three angles -- incline, flat and decline -- during each chest workout. Do one angle per exercise. For example, presses on an incline bench, flys on a decline bench and pullovers on a flat bench. Do them in any order you wish. Each week, switch up which angle you are using for exercise to keep your workouts fresh. Perform five sets per exercise. Do two warm-up sets of 25 reps using light weights and then increase the weight for the next three sets so you are doing no more than 10 to 12 reps.