Exercises done on an incline bench change the angle at which your muscles must pull or push the weight. An incline bench workout adds variety to your routine and will prevent training plateaus. The American College of Sports Medicine advises using progressively moderate to heavy weights to continue to induce changes in your muscles.
Chest and Back
The muscles of your chest and back are the larger muscles of your upper body. Use moderate to heavy weights for these exercises to tone your back and chest. For women, this is especially helpful in toning the areas under the arm and at the crease of the shoulders where fat seems to accumulate. Vary the amount of weight you use so you can lift it for either six to 12 reps, or 12 to 15 reps per set. Rest for 30 to 60 seconds between sets.
Begin your training week with the chest and back workout using an incline bench. Pair a chest exercise with a back exercise, alternating between one set of each exercise. Set the incline to 60 degrees to do incline dumbbell presses with one-arm dumbbell rows, incline dumbbell flies with bent-over dumbbell rows, and push-ups with your feet on the bench with prone dumbbell rows. Complete three to four sets per exercise.
Biceps and Triceps
Your biceps and triceps are indirectly worked with chest and back exercises. When you do an incline dumbbell press, your triceps help your chest; when you do a dumbbell row, your biceps help your back. Directly engage these smaller muscles with single-joint exercises, or exercises in which you are moving only at your elbow joint. According to William McArdle and colleagues in their book, "Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance," you must train like a bodybuilder or power-lifter to develop big, bulky muscles. This means you have to lift weights five to six days a week, train for a few hours a day and eat plenty of calories.
Do this routine after your chest and back training. For instance, complete your chest and back exercises on Monday then do your biceps and triceps on Thursday or Friday. Pair an exercise for your biceps with an exercise for your triceps, alternating sets. First, set the incline angle to 20 degrees for incline dumbbell curls, leaning your back against the pad and then lower the bench to 60 degrees for lying hammer-bar triceps extensions. Next, leave the incline at 60 degrees to do EZ-bar biceps curls sitting on the incline with lying one arm triceps extensions. Then, return the bench to 20 degrees for alternating hammer dumbbell curls, leaning your back against the bench with triceps push-ups elevating your feet on the bench.
Chest and Triceps
Change the grouping of your muscles to avoid a training plateau. You will need to rest for 60 to 90 seconds between sets, giving your smaller muscles enough time to recover. Pair a chest exercise with a triceps exercise, such as doing an incline dumbbell press with an incline one-arm triceps extension, alternating between one set of each exercise.
Back and Biceps
Pair a back exercise with a biceps exercise. Include an abdominal exercise between sets to make use of your resting periods. For instance, do one-arm dumbbell rows, incline hammer-bar triceps extensions and crunches. Perform one set of each exercise for a total of three to four sets, and then move on to the next series of exercises.
References
- American College of Sports Medicine: Progression Models in Resistance Training for Adults
- "Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance"; William McArdle, Frank Katch and Victor Katch; 2007
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