The decline press can be a great way to work on your chest's lower muscles. If you perform this at too great of a decline, however, you may risk placing your head lower than your heart. By causing blood to collect, or pool, in your head, too severe of a decline may cause you to faint and increases the risk of damage to blood vessels in your head and eyes.
Intracranial Pressure
Your body's oxygen demands increase as you perform intense exercises like the decline press. To meet these demands, your heart rate and blood pressure temporarily rise to transport more blood and oxygen throughout your body. By placing your head lower than your heart, the combination of gravity and increased blood flow leads blood to pool in your head; this increases your intracranial pressure, or the pressure in your head. As your skull does not flex, this may force your brain to press against your skull, potentially leading to headaches, fainting and brain damage.
Fainting
While you may not faint in the decline position, you may experience dizziness or fainting after standing up. Orthostatic hypotension is due to a temporary drop in blood pressure as you go from a decline position to standing. While you may experience such effects whenever you quickly stand up, blood pooling in your head while performing a severely low decline press may increase these symptoms' likelihood and severity. With a sudden change in intracranial pressure as you stand, you may feel faint or lose consciousness, potentially resulting in more severe injuries as you fall.
Intraocular Pressure
Similar to its effects on intracranial pressure, performing the decline press with your head lower than your heart may increase pressure in your eyes. Intraocular pressure, an increase in eye pressure, can cause damage to blood vessels in your eyes. In a study published in the August 2006 issue of "Ophthalmology," researchers at the Medical and Vision Research Foundation in Chennai, India note that exercising with your head lower than your heart may double your intraocular pressure. In addition to damaging blood vessels, intraocular pressure beyond that which your eye can tolerate may cause damage to your optic nerve, potentially leading to impaired vision and blindness.
Dropping Weights
Aside from the general dangers of having your head lower than your heart, performing the decline press at too great of an angle can increase your risk of injuries due to dropping your weights. While you may drop the bar on your chest while performing a regular bench press or a decline press at a slight angle, the muscles in your chest are strong enough to prevent serious injury. With your head lower than your heart, however, the bar may quickly roll to your neck or head, which are more susceptible to serious injury and more difficult to recover from. As such, you should perform the decline press with a spotter whenever possible, opting for lower weights and dumbbells if a spotter is not available.
References
- MedlinePlus: Increased Intracranial Pressure
- EMedicineHealth: Ocular Hypertension
- American Heart Association: Low Blood Pressure
- "Ophthalmology"; Intraocular Pressure Changes and Ocular Biometry During Sirsasana (Headstand Posture) in Yoga Practitioners; Mani Baskaran et al.; August 2006
- Optometry: Glaucoma
- Bench Press: Decline Bench Press
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