Bench Press Muscle Group
Each bench press variation works slightly different muscle groups.
Bench press muscle group. The primary muscle targeted with the bench press is the pectoral or chest muscle. The muscles used for bench press will change based on the angle of the bench flat decline incline grip on the bar narrow or wide and range of motion trained bottom end or top end. A landmark study in the 1995 issue of the journal of strength and conditioning research found that when comparing incline decline and flat presses the flat press offers the most activation for the lower part of the pecs known as the sternocostal head. The muscle that provides the most oomph to power a bench press is the pectoralis major the large beefy chest muscle that s readily visible on men who have well developed chests the pectoralis major is somewhat less readily visible on women because much of it lies beneath the breasts.
Although typically considered a chest exercise the bench press works several muscles in the upper body including the pectoralis major deltoids and triceps. You can use a. This exercise is done lying down on a flat bench and pressing a barbell up and down. The bench press is an upper body weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench the exercise uses the pectoralis major the anterior deltoids and the triceps among other stabilizing muscles a barbell is generally used to hold the weight but a pair of dumbbells can also be used.
The exact muscles worked depend on the style of bench press you do incline decline or flat. The dumbbell bench press is a bench press variation that can be done to boost overall strength enhance muscle hypertrophy and isolate areas of weakness in the bench press. But for those that aren t as familiar with all of the benefits of this movement we are going to quickly discuss the muscles used in bench press so that you can see for yourself just how valuable an exercise the bench truly is. In general the muscles used for bench press are the pecs shoulders and triceps.