1. A Steep Incline to Chest Thickness
Almost everyone who's set foot in a gym is familiar with the bench press. In fact, the question "How much do you bench?" is one of the staples of ready-made gym conversation. For people in the know, however, being able to put up hundreds of pounds on a flat bench press means very little if you get wobbly elbows on even just a slightly inclined bench press. Additionally, developing a thick, full chest requires that you use the incline press as an auxiliary to the regular bench press.
2. Step Up to the Plate
Most gyms have specialized incline benches made for this particular exercise. You can use the incline bench with a regular barbell rack or with a Smith machine. However, a favorite modification of bodybuilders and serious weightlifters is stacking weight plates (usually the biggest ones available at the gym) under one section of the bench to raise it up. The advantage of this is that you can measure your progress in incline in terms of how many plates your sticking underneath the bench.
3. Fill Out Your Form
Form is always a critical part of exercise, especially in weightlifting. The incline bench press makes this even more important since improper form will inevitably lead to shoulder damage as you progress to greater weight. Instead of lowering the weight by flexing your elbow towards your head, you should concentrate on keeping your elbow by your body so your chest, and not your shoulders, takes most of the load.
4. Be a Creature of Habit
Throwing in the incline press whenever it feels right is not the correct way to make use of the exercise. Instead, you need to implement it as part of a training program, either as a temporary focus or an auxiliary to your regular bench press. If you're really weak on the incline (compared with the flat bench) then start out by figuring out your one rep max. Then begin each incline session with 12 to 15 reps of just the bar. Do three more sets after the bar set with each set working up in increments of 10 to 15 pounds while decreasing each set by two to three reps. Stop when you're 10 pounds under your one rep max.
5. Supplement the Supplementary
You should take long, regular breaks between the incline bench press days to give yourself time for muscle recovery. If you want to give a little extra dose of upper chest work then do a couple sets of decline push-ups by placing your feet in a raised position. The higher you place your feet the more your upper pecs will be targeted, keeping them in good condition for the incline bench press.
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