Defense Bodybuilders have been doing incline bench presses for decades to bring up the upper chest. Prosecution Research on incline and reverse-grip bench presses suggests that reverse-grip bench presses my be a better upper-pec builder.
Evidence
- Australian researchers reported in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that when weight-trained subjects performed incline bench presses, the muscle activity of their upper pecs was only about 5% more than the muscle activity of their upper pecs during the flat bench press.
- Canadian scientists found that when trained lifters did the reverse-grip bench press, the muscle activity of their upper pecs was 30% greater than when they did the bench press with a standard overhand grip.
VERDICT: Reverse-Grip Bench Press
Since muscle activity is the measurement of how many muscle fibers are being used during an exercise, reverse-grip bench presses appear to be a better exercise for the upper chest than incline bench presses. To target the upper pecs, start your chest workout with 3 or 4 sets of reverse-grip bench presses. Then, move on to incline bench exercises, such as incline presses and flyes.
References:
http://findarticles.com
–Jim Stoppani, PhD
Compiled by GREG MERRITT and JIM STOPPANI, PHD
COPYRIGHT 2010 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale, Cengage Learning
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I think this depends on individual body mechanics. I love reverse grip, but I feel it a lot more in my triceps than in my upper chest.
Tried it today..loved it. Added to my routine =]
I wonder if there’s something more interesting going on here than one exercise simply being better than the other – I noticed the fact that it was “when trained lifters did the reverse-grip bench press” – keyword being “trained”.
Could this simply be that trained lifters are likely to have been exercising using the standard grip bench press, so the unfamiliar move created more muscle activity than the familiar move? Perhaps this an example of the classic bodybuilding wisdom of keeping your muscles guessing. If the trained lifters had been doing reverse-grip bench presses their whole lives before the study, would the results have been reversed?
Interesting Alternative Grip to the Incline Version – but i agree that the triceps is a more stressed in this movement – could eventually hinder the rest of
a complete Chest workout due to the pre-exhaust triceps.