The Shocking Truth About Decline Bench Presses

 OPENING ARGUMENTS 

DEFENSE 

Incline presses will build the most-balanced-looking chest. Decline-pressing movements target only the lower pecs, leaving the upper chest underdeveloped.

PROSECUTION

Due to the angle of the clavicles, decline presses allow activation of both the lower and upper pecs, thus serving as the best exercise for total pec development.

 EVIDENCE  

• To stabilize the weight overhead in an incline position, the lower-pec fibers must not contract fully. Because of the direction of the fibers making up the lower half of the pec, their contraction pulls the arms toward the feet.
• In a decline position, all fibers—including the clavicular fibers—are stretched at the bottom position of the decline chest press. Thus, even the clavicular or upper fibers of the pecs contract to push the bar up from a decline position.
• A study conducted at Wayne State College in Nebraska demonstrated that both upperand lower-pec fibers are engaged during decline press (-15 degrees) while only upper-pec fibers are engaged during incline press (+30 degrees).

 VERDICT 

Decline bench presses induce greater overall activation of the pecs compared with the incline bench.