Will Bench Presses Build Muscle Evenly?

The bench press is a common weightlifting exercise used by bodybuilders, athletes and general fitness buffs alike. It's effective in developing your upper body. To complete the bench press, lie on your back on a bench with your feet flat on the floor. Grip the barbell over your head so that your hands are slightly outside your shoulders. Dismount the barbell from the rack and lower it down toward your mid-chest. Have a spotter available, as the exercise requires you to hold a significant amount of weight over your face and thus puts you in a somewhat dangerous situation.

Anatomy

The prime movers, or the muscles that are providing the most force to complete the movement of the bench press, include the pectoralis major, or the chest, the triceps, which run down the back of your upper arms, and your deltoids, which are your shoulder muscles. Together, they coordinate the bar from the starting position, lower it down to your chest and push it back up again.

Muscle Actions

As you push the bar back up to the starting position, your pectoralis major muscle contracts, causing your shoulder joints to adduct, which pulls your arms in toward the center of your body. The chest muscle is the one that is primarily responsible for moving the weight, but it's assisted by additional, smaller muscles. Your deltoid muscles in the shoulders contract to cause your shoulders to flex and move your arms up toward your face. Your elbows extend and straighten out, which your tricep muscles are responsible for.

Variations In Angle

There are common angle variations that are used during the bench press. Lifters often will sit at an incline, with the head above the chest, or a decline, with the head below the chest. The different angles will require the chest muscles to work a bit differently. A decline position will require more work to be done by the lower portion of your pectoralis major muscle, according to research published on the United States Sports Academy website.

Grip Differences

According to Miguel Jagessar of the Academy of Sports and Leisure, how you grip the barbell will determine which muscle group is recruited more. A basic grip, which is just outside the shoulders, recruits the muscles more evenly. As you widen your grip, you will limit the abilities of your shoulders and triceps and instead be requiring your chest muscles to do more of the work. Bring in your grip so that it's shoulder-width apart and you will be requiring your shoulders and triceps to kick it up a notch.

Suggestions

If you complete the bench press using the most common technique, on a flat bench with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders, you will evenly develop your chest, shoulders and triceps. According to Frederic Delavier's "Strength Training Anatomy," adding variation to your workout will require your muscle groups to work a little differently than they're used to and will stimulate them and facilitate development. If you are interested in body building, you should incorporate into your workout regimen the bench press at different angles and with different grips.