Whether you should focus on pulldowns or pull-ups can depend on a few factors, including your experience and your goals. From technique, programming, and step-by-step execution, here is everything you need to know about these foundational back-building exercises.

Lat Pulldown and Pull-Up

• Exercise Differences
• Exercise  Similarities
• Technique Differences
• How to Do the Lat Pulldown
• How to Do the Pull-Up
• When to Program the Best Pulling Movement for Your Goal

Exercise Differences

Recognising the differences between the lat pulldown and the pull-up can put you on the fast track for better results. Some key differences involve the equipment used, or lack thereof. Some relatively subtle, but significant, differences in programming can also be found.

Human Body vs. Machine

The major visual difference between the lat pulldown and pull-up is the fact that one is a bodyweight exercise and the other requires a full cable station. This brings with it two major considerations.

The lat pulldown uses a specialized cable stack pulley system to anchor your body in place while you move an adjustable weight stack, whereas the pull-up simply requires a fixed overhead bar that can support your body weight.

This can affect the relative ease of implementing each exercise into your program based upon availability of equipment, as well as your own capabilities — body weight pull-ups may be too challenging for beginners, while pulldowns can accommodate lifters of any experience or strength level.

As a calisthenics exercise, the pull-up places a greater stabilization challenge on your entire body, from your back and shoulders through your core to your lower body. The stable machine and fixed anchor points provided by the pads on a lat pulldown machine make it tremendously easier to take a seat and get to work. The machine itself provides stabilization, so you can focus targeting your back muscles.

Loading

One of the largest differences between the lat pulldown and pull-up is the range of resistance you can use. The lat pulldown is a highly adjustable machine that simply requires you to add more plates or lower the pin on the weight stack further and further — sometimes exceeding a comparable pull-up load.

The lat pulldown is more scalable than a pull-up — the resistance can be quickly and easily reduced to allow relatively weaker lifters to perform the exercise. Aside from getting creative using resistance bands to assist a pull-up or having access to a dedicated assisted pull-up machine, it can be quite challenging to overcome the baseline level (your body weight) needed to perform a pull-up. This is especially true if you want to perform multiple repetitions per set.

Sets and Repetitions

Similar to the differences in loading, the lat pulldown and pull-up are often paired with distinct set and repetition schemes. For many people, the pull-up is an upper body strength movement that lives in a lower repetition range. Whereas, the lat pulldown typically exists as an effective muscle-building tool that thrives with more moderate repetitions.

You’ll often see pull-ups performed for two to three sets of anywhere from one to 10 repetitions. While the pulldown could be performed with much heavier weights for low-rep sets, it’s nearly impossible to maintain strict form with such programming due to poor leverage. Having your lower body and core locked into position becomes a limiting factor.

In contrast, a lat pulldown is typically done for two to four sets of eight to 12 repetitions. Reaching that type of volume with pull-ups is typically reserved for experienced lifters of a significant strength level, either performed with added weight or with body weight alone.

Exercise Similarities

While there can be several key differences, the lat pulldown and pull-up do share some significant overlaps to consider, as well. They will hit many of the same primary muscle groups, both require some degree of overhead mobility, and the exercises share many basic variations.

Muscles Worked

The lat pulldown and pull-up primarily target your latissimus dorsi — a large swath of muscle located on either lateral side of your back. While the latissimus dorsi (lats) are the prime mover, both exercises will also heavily involve your upper back, biceps, and varying degrees of core musculature to stay in an efficient pulling position.

Mobility Requirements

The vertical pulling pattern used in both exercises requires you to be able to successfully, comfortably, and safely get your arms fully extended overhead. While that may sound simple enough, shoulder mobility and joint health is a very important component of avoiding training-related aches or pains in the long-term.

If you can achieve the overhead position effectively, both the lat pulldown and pull-up can be effective at maintaining your overhead mobility, especially when you focus on working through a full range of motion in the stretched (overhead) position.

Grip Variations

When it’s time to introduce exercise variety, the lat pulldown and pull-up can both allow narrow or wide hand positions, which can alter the muscle emphasis from your lats to your upper back or even your biceps. (1)

Both exercises can also be performed using unique grip orientations, from neutral-grip to overhand or even freely rotating (using individual handles or straps to allow your wrists to rotate during each repetition). Like grip width, changing the orientation of your hands and forearms is an effective way of altering muscle recruitment by making slight adjustments. (2)

Technique Differences

The lat pulldown and pull-up have some definitive technique differences. Because one is a calisthenics exercise and the other is performed while seated on a machine, your overall body position will affect exercise technique.

Hollow Body

The hollow body is a full-body bracing technique that helps to create a rigid body posture. The high level of total body tension it creates allows you to better control your movement through space. This technique is especially important during the pull-up, where you will be freely moving without any anchor points aside from your grip.

In order to successfully perform a pull-up, establishing a strong hollow body technique is essential to maintain stability. The lat pulldown, on the other hand, provides this stability on your behalf by offering leg pads to hold you in place.

Torso Angle

Your torso angle during each repetition is a major difference between the pull-up and lat pulldown. Because your lower body is secured under the knee pads, the lat pulldown allows you to manipulate your torso angle to target subtly different muscles. A greater degree of backward lean could emphasize more of your upper back, whereas a more vertical torso angle puts your upper back into a less advantageous position and emphasizes lat activation.

On the other hand, fairly consistent technique and upper body position is required for a proper pull-up. From a dead-hang position (gripping the bar with your arms fully straightened), you must set your shoulder blades by first “shrugging” yourself up. In doing so, you will be able to better leverage your latissimus dorsi to complete the rep and actually pull you up.

When you get this technical cue right, you will have a slightly backward-leaning torso angle while performing each repetition, but nowhere near the freedom of motion provided by the lat pulldown machine.

Lower Body Position

Your lower body positioning will certainly be a notable difference in each exercise. Similar to the stability requirements during the hollow body technique in the pull-up, your leg position will be affected by the need to stay rigid. Fully lock your legs out, leaving them either hanging straight down or angled slightly ahead of your body. You cannot achieve a strong, stable hollow body position with bent legs.

With a lat pulldown, you will be in a completely seated position with your feet flat on the ground driving your knees up against the pad. While some lifters disregard the knee pad and let their heels leave the ground during pulldowns, this poor form doesn’t add any benefit and only reduces your stability and upper body pulling power.

How to Do the Lat Pulldown

Sit on the lat pulldown machine and adjust the knee pads to snuggly anchor your legs in place with your feet flat on the ground. Stand back up and grab the lat pulldown bar evenly, about shoulder-width apart, with an overhand grip.

Brace your full body and sit down, securing your legs under the knee pads. Squeeze the bar tight, brace your core, drive your legs into the knee pads by performing a static calf raise.

Lean back slightly and pull the bar toward your chest. Focus on feeling your back squeeze in the bottom position before straightening your arms to return to the starting position.

Form Tip: Be diligent to avoid momentum. Secure your body in the machine and brace hard – only move the bar by squeezing your back and pulling with your arms. Do not excessively sway your torso backwards. 

Benefits of the Lat Pulldown

• The lat pulldown has a high degree of stability, making it a more effective way to focus on the back muscles.
• The pulldown machine offers highly scalable loading, making it easy to perform for lifters of all experience levels.
• Multiple handle attachments allow many variations for different benefits.
• It’s relatively safe to take this exercise close to muscle failure.

Lat Pulldown Variations

The majority of effective lat pulldown variations will capitalize on different handle attachments to slightly change your technique and alter muscle recruitment.

Close-Grip Pulldown

Close-grip pulldowns draw your hands slightly closer together than the standard, shoulder-width grip. This increases the amount of leverage your lats have and slightly increases the range of motion — both of which can lead to a stronger training stimulus.

The close-grip pulldown can make the exercise more effective when you’re just learning general technique by delivering a strong training stimulus without needing heavy weight.

Wide-Grip Pulldown

Wide-grip lat pulldowns place your hands slightly farther apart than the standard issue grip placement. This will put your lats at a greater disadvantage, making some of the supporting musculature in your upper back, shoulders, and arms contribute more. This will also reduce the load you’ll be able to lift.

This is a great exercise to fill gaps in your physique or in your strength development. By strengthening relatively weaker links, wide-grip pulldowns can also prolong the amount of time you can make progress before adding weight.

Dead-Hang Pulldown

The dead-hang style of lat pulldown will have you fully “relax” your shoulder blades and assume a completely upright torso between each repetition. Your teres minor (a small shoulder muscle) will get some added work helping to stabilize your shoulder for each repetition.

This is a great way to gain, and maintain, shoulder stability. The increased muscle recruitment will also help upper back development.

Single-Arm Pulldown

The single-arm lat pulldown turn the exercise into a unilateral (single-sided) version. This forces each side of your body to work independently of the other, which will greatly help to accommodate any body size or shape while addressing any natural asymmetries.

The single-arm pulldown is also a tremendously effective way to add more progression time to your lat pulldown exercise by essentially doubling the amount of load each side will have access to.

How To Do The Pull-Up

Perform the pull-up by grabbing a straight bar that is high enough for your legs to dangle freely without touching the ground. Use a small box or (safely) jump to grab the bar with an overhand grip approximately shoulder-width apart.

Perform a hollow body technique by flexing your core, depressing your shoulder blades, engaging your glutes, and locking your quads.

Engage your lats and flex your arms to pull your chest toward the bar. Once you have reached the highest point that you can pull yourself to, slowly lower back to the starting position using control. Maintain your brace and perform for your target repetitions.

Form Tip: Be diligent about maintaining hollow body tension and eliminating any lower body sway. Performing a pull-up gets exponentially more difficult when you have to counter any unneeded movement. Stay braced and aim to start each repetition from a motionless position. Swinging your hips and legs may help you perform more reps, but it reduces muscular stress on your back.

Benefits of the Pull-Up

• The pull-up requires little-to-no equipment.
• Bodyweight exercises can improve coordination and proprioception (body awareness) which can carryover to general athleticism.
• Scalable to suit either strength or hypertrophy goals when appropriate programming and loading is used.

Pull-Up Variations

Pull-ups can be modified to attack a few different goals. Similar to pull-ups, changing your grip position can deliver some unique benefits.

Wide-Grip Pull-up

Wide-grip pull-ups place your upper back (teres minor) on blast. A wider grip will make it harder on your lats, but also put a bigger emphasis on your ability to maintain the right shoulder positioning for each repetition.

When you’re looking to train nearly your entire upper body, while also seriously roasting your shoulder stability, use the wide-grip pull-up.

Neutral-Grip Pull-up

On the opposite side of things, a neutral-grip pull-up places you in a much more inherently stable position. The relatively closer grip and neutral (palms facing in) hand placement will make it easier to harness your back muscles to pull you up, but also take some of the shoulder stability challenge away.

When you’re looking to go for moderate or higher reps, or build a foundation of strength and muscle, neutral-grip pull-ups are a great option.

Towel Pull-up

Towel pull-ups are a huge boost to your grip strength. This low-tech modification, draping a simple (but sturdy) towel over a bar, will seriously challenge your ability to simply hang on.

If you’re in the market for a stronger grip and bigger arms — and if you can already perform more than a handful of pull-ups — challenge yourself with towel pull-ups.

When to Program the Best Pulling Movement for Your Goal

There are several instances where either the lat pulldown or pull-up might be the better option. Your specific goals and training experience are unique factors to consider.

Beginner

When you’re a beginner, you’ll be looking to build a base of muscle and strength before eventually launching into a more structured and challenging program. With that in mind, you may struggle with pull-ups because they can be very unforgiving.

While there are ways to make pull-ups more accessible for beginner lifters, such as using resistance bands for assistance, oftentimes a pull-up is a bit of a tall order. Instead, spending some time building a super-strong lat pulldown can be a relatively lower barrier to entry. Once you’ve accomplished this, either option is freely available and effective.

Muscle Gain

Both the lat pulldown and pull-up can be very effective muscle-building tools, but there are some subtle differences that likely edge the lat pulldown ahead. The lat pulldown is a more stable training tool. This means that there will be less “moving parts” in your way while you chase highly stimulating sets that accumulate volume needed to build your back. (3)

The lat pulldown also allows for a slow, controlled, and incremental increase in loading which once again provides a boost to long-term muscle growth. The pull-up is great in its own right, but it’s hard to beat the lat pulldown for pure muscle gain.

Strength Gain

Gaining strength can be accomplished with both the lat pulldown and pull-up. However, the lat pulldown can more easily be loaded and trained for strength-focused results. With that in mind, it’s going to offer you more lat-specific strength.

On the other hand, the pull-up, as a bodyweight exercise, is more of a full-body exercise. In this instance, the pull-up will help build greater full-body strength. If you want better overall strength potential, emphasizing the pull-up will likely be the better option.

Limited Equipment

When you don’t have access to a gym, the choice is a simpler one. The lat pulldown literally requires a machine, which likely is only accessible through a commercial or home gym equivalent.

While a pull-up bar may seem mandatory for doing pull-ups, it is not actually required. A pull-up can, technically, be performed anywhere you have access to a strong, stable anchor point to safely grab. The pull-up wins when you have limited equipment. 

Advanced Athlete

If you’re an advanced athlete in nearly any sport, it’s a toss up. Once you’ve developed a strong base of muscle, strength, and coordination, both the pull-up and lat pulldown can be tailored to your needs.

Both can be loaded and progressed, both have unique variations to prolong your progress, and both are relatively easy to master after a short amount of focused time. Depending on your goals or needs, either the pull-up or lat pulldown (or even both) can be effectively programmed for athletic goals.

Prioritize Your Pulls

The lat pulldown and pull-up are both iconic staples of weight training. The exercises have unique benefits, times of superiority, and some clear drawbacks. Depending on your training age, goals, and available equipment, one option may jump out as the obvious choice. Review the information and make the best decision for your goals. Prioritize your pulls for some big gains and, one day, both classic movements may find their way into your program.

References

1. Andersen, V., Fimland, M. S., Wiik, E., Skoglund, A., & Saeterbakken, A. H. (2014). Effects of grip width on muscle strength and activation in the lat pull-down. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 28(4), 1135–1142. https://doi.org/10.1097/JSC.0000000000000232
2. Signorile, J. F., Zink, A. J., & Szwed, S. P. (2002). A comparative electromyographical investigation of muscle utilization patterns using various hand positions during the lat pull-down. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 16(4), 539–546.
3. Schoenfeld, B. J., Contreras, B., Krieger, J., Grgic, J., Delcastillo, K., Belliard, R., & Alto, A. (2019). Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 51(1), 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764

Featured Image: Tom Wang / Shutterstock

The post Lat Pulldown vs. Pull-Up: The Battle for a Bigger Back appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Between the dumbbells, inclined body position, and some clever programming choices, you’ll set the stage for some long-term progress in size and strength. Here’s why this chest exercise should be a staple for sculpting your upper body.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

• How to Do the Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press Mistakes to Avoid
• How to Progress the Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
• Benefits of the Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
• Muscles Worked by the Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
• How to Program the Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press Variations
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Incline Dumbbell Bench Press Step by Step

The incline dumbbell bench press adds a few new elements to your normal pressing performance. Considering all the moving parts to this variation will help you stay dialed in and make great progress session-to-session. Ideally, the incline dumbbell press requires an adjustable bench to choose your incline setting and a pair (or full set) of dumbbells.

Step 1 – Get on the Right Bench

Set the backrest to an angle of roughly 45 degrees (or the closest angle available) and adjust the seat to be perpendicular to the rest of the bench — you won’t be as secure with an incline backrest and horizontal seat. This setup will allow you to press from a nice, effective middle ground between flat dumbbell bench press and a fully upright shoulder press, and the seat angle will more effectively support your body.

Form Tip: Make sure your bench settings are locked in before you start. Test the angle with lighter dumbbells, or without weight, to make sure everything is in comfortable and efficient alignment prior to going heavy.

Step 2 – Bring the Weights Into Position

Pick up the dumbbells and take a seat on the incline bench. Rest the dumbbells on your thighs with your thumbs pointed up. “Kick” the dumbbells up toward your shoulders using your legs to generate momentum as you control the weight in a hammer curl motion, bringing your thumbs near the fronts of your shoulders.

When your wrists are near shoulder-level, carefully rotate your elbows away from your body until your palms are facing forward. Rest your shoulder blades against the backrest to fully support your upper body.

Form Tip: You might be able to bring both dumbbells up simultaneously when using relatively lighter weights, but it can become higher risk once weights get heavy. Focus on getting one dumbbell into position first, then hold it stable as you repeat with the other side. If you’re struggling with getting the dumbbells up into the starting position, ask a friend (or friendly looking gym-goer) for a spot.

Step 3 – Set Your Shoulder Blades, Core, and Feet

Tuck your shoulder blades down and imagine putting them “into your back pockets.” This will help stabilize your upper back and make sure your pressing has a strong base to produce force, particularly once fatigue starts to accumulate.

Squeeze the dumbbells tightly in your hands and engage your abdominal muscles. The goal here is to prevent any unintentional arching — some natural back curvature will be normal from pinning your shoulder blades, but you’ll want to avoid any extreme arching which could lead to lower back pain. This way, your incline press will remain an incline and not slowly turn into an awkward “flat bench press using an incline.”

Find a comfortable foot position approximately shoulder-width apart. Once the rest of your body is set up properly, begin lightly driving through your feet to establish pressure that pushes your body into the bench. This will help stabilize your position all the way through the set and allow you to prevent wiggling around during harder reps.

Form Tip: Think about pinning your upper abdominal muscles to the top of your ribcage. This visualization should help you create a strong core. To keep your feet in place, think of performing a leg extension to create tension while your feet are digging into the ground.

Step 4 – Press to Lockout

The main event has arrived. Begin with the dumbbells just above shoulder-height, both palms facing forward, and your elbows aimed at a slight angle between your shoulders and your feet. Tense your shoulder blades, engage your core, drive through your feet as you press the weights toward the ceiling.

As the dumbbells pass your face, bring them slightly together in an arc until they nearly meet. In the locked out position, the weights should be generally above your face, not too far forward (above your chest) or too far back (above the top of your head).

Form Tip: If you can focus on mastering the right setup while applying full-body tension, the dumbbells’ path should almost set itself up perfectly. If you’re struggling with controlling the weights, try adding tempo by moving more slowly through each phase of the exercise.

Step 5 – Lower the Weight

After successfully locking out the weight, slowly lower the dumbbells. Once the dumbbells are approximately flush alongside your chest (if mobility allows that range of motion), reverse course and perform the next repetition, pressing the dumbbells with control back to the lockout position.

Form Tip: Lifters with poor shoulder mobility or pre-existing shoulder issues may not be comfortable with the stretched position created by holding the dumbbells near shoulder-level. Work within a comfortable, pain-free range of motion to avoid worsening any current joint problems. Pressing with a neutral grip (palms facing each other) instead of a palms-forward grip can also help to reduce shoulder-joint strain.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press Mistakes to Avoid

Some of the most common errors you may stumble across while performing the incline dumbbell press involve various incorrect body positioning and poorly performed pressing. Any one of these can reduce results or create an opportunity for injury. Here’s what to watch out for.

Overarching

Some degree of arching during any type of chest press is a necessary and direct result of setting a stable upper back. However, issues can arise if your arch gets out of control and too extreme.

If your abdomen begins to approach the same level as your sternum or chest, you may find yourself with an awkwardly angled torso that begins to more closely resemble a flat press than an incline.

Avoid it: Keep your core braced, drive your body into the bench using your legs, and only arch by depressing your shoulder blades  — tucking them into your “back pockets.” Don’t arch by trying to “make space” between your lower back and the bench.

Flared Elbows

There is a sweet spot for your elbow angle during most presses. A common mistake is flaring your elbows out so that your arms are almost completely perpendicular to your body.

Everybody is going to be slightly different depending on their individual arm length, but there’s a strong chance this directly outward position might limit your range of motion or run into some stressful issues at your shoulder joints or shoulder blades.

Avoid it: Aim for a nice middle ground between having your elbows fully tucked (aimed straight ahead) and fully flared (aimed straight to the sides). A great target to shoot for is to have your upper arms at roughly a 45-degree angle from your shoulder during most of the range of motion.

Inactive Legs

One very common mistake on the incline dumbbell press is completely forgetting about your lower body. While pressing is clearly designed to primarily target your chest, triceps, and shoulders, an active and engaged lower body can help with total-body stability and overall performance.

Avoid it: Because wiggling around can reduce your stable position, keep your feet flat on the ground and dig in. Use your legs to constantly push yourself into the bench press pad through your thighs and hips.

Short Range of Motion

Training with high intensity is a pretty common prerequisite for results. Unfortunately, it isn’t uncommon to see a lifter “cut depth” as an exercise starts to get harder and harder.

Either through selecting too heavy of a dumbbell or simply by accumulating fatigue across a set, the range of motion often starts to diminish slowly and the last few reps of a set may end up with a shorter range of motion than the initial reps of the same set.

Avoid it: Hold yourself accountable throughout the workout. Perform a consistent range of motion for each repetition and choose your working weights to guarantee you can hit it with every rep of every set.

How to Progress the Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

The incline dumbbell press can be an excellent staple exercise in your program. There is some big value in getting a strong base of strength using a machine chest press or flat bench variation first, but once you’re at the incline dumbbell press, progressing it can be approached in a few very effective ways.

Degree of Incline

The bench’s degree of incline will affect your level of stability and can potentially even alter the swath of muscle that gets the greatest stimulation (1). These two considerations can help you plan your preferred “angle” of attack. They can also give you a nice long pathway to progress.

Typically, a lower incline (flat or slightly above flat) will be more stable because gravity is still assisting your stability to a greater extent. Each time you feel ready to increase the challenge and progress yourself to another level, kick the incline up a notch until you’re at a solid 45-degree for a pure incline press.

Just know that as the angle goes higher than 45 degrees, and approaches a 90-degree “incline” bench, you’re shifting muscular stress further from your chest and more directly onto your shoulders.

Adding Repetitions

Sometimes the best option is to add repetitions while maintaining the same load on your incline dumbbell press. Since you’re using dumbbells as the loading tool, the unilateral (single-sided) aspect of the exercise can make quick jumps in weight a lot harder to do since each arm is responsible for, literally, carrying its own share of the weight.

If this is the case for you, adding repetitions on one or more sets per workout, or gradually increasing the total repetitions performed per day overall, can be a way of progressing. This will allow you more time to strengthen your ability to control and stabilize the same load, which will make an increase in weight feel less daunting when you finally do move to heavier weights.

Adding Load

Adding load is often the most obvious way of progressing any exercise, although it should be approached with care. Using heavier weights can help assure definitive, measurable progress — but it may also run you headlong into an early plateau.

Once you have added a considerable amount of strength and stability by increasing repetitions, start thinking about making the smallest incremental jump in load that you can which will help to avoid hitting a plateau and allow more long-term progress. Many dumbbells are fixed in five-pound increments, but you might also have access to plate-loaded adjustable dumbbells or magnetic add-on weights which can be attached to dumbbells and allow increases as little as one or two pounds. 

Increasing Frequency

Sometimes, to see the best overall progress in an exercise, you need to work on your skill and technique. In this case, it can be extremely beneficial to increase your training frequency by performing the incline dumbbell press more often each week.

If you only train the movement once per week, consider adding a second session to improve your skilled execution. This can have a very positive amplifying effect on all of your other progression tools as well.

Benefits of the Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

The incline dumbbell press is a fantastic tool for strengthening your upper body, building more  chest muscle, and taking advantage of a unilaterally controlled exercise.

Gaining Strength

Aside from a basic barbell, dumbbells are one of the most effective tools for building strength. The full-body stability, coordination, and absolute load that dumbbells can achieve make for a fantastic strength training option.

The incline dumbbell press is an effective common accessory exercise in many powerlifting programs, speaking to the value of the movement in developing significant pressing strength.

Building Muscle

The incline dumbbell press can be a very effective muscle-building exercise. The incline angle can help you target your upper chest while also building your shoulders and triceps. Because the dumbbells allow you to bring the weights together in the top position, you can get a longer range of motion compared to using a fixed barbell. This may further improve the muscle-building stimulus. (2)

Training Unilaterally

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits is the unilateral aspect of the exercise. Unilateral exercises typically emphasize one side of the body working independently of the other.

Each arm is responsible for controlling one dumbbell without assistance from the opposite side. This will help encourage the most natural pressing path because the load is distinct and not linked like a barbell, allowing your shoulder and elbow joints to move more with relatively more freedom and potentially less joint strain. The increased stability requirement will also force a more even development of strength and coordination.

Muscles Worked by the Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

The incline dumbbell press primarily works three major upper body muscles — your chest, shoulders, and triceps. While these are sometimes considered “vanity” muscles due to their high-profile appearance, they also play a key role in displaying upper body strength and stability.

Chest

The primary body part involved is your chest (or pectoralis major). The chest is a broad swath of muscle that covers many spots all across the front of your upper body — from your collarbones to the breastbone and even some of the ribs.

Each of these regions insert upon the same location at your upper arm meaning, so any pressing angle will ultimately harness the full chest. However, the incline dumbbell press puts a particular emphasis on the upper muscle fibers, or the highly sought after “upper pecs.” (3)

Shoulders

Your shoulders (in particular, the anterior deltoid or front shoulder muscle) are a nearly inseparable part of any pressing exercise. The anterior deltoid originates on the outside of your collarbone and inserts on the deltoid tuberosity (a small protrusion on the outer-middle part of your upper arm bone). Since it’s located here, most of your chest presses and chest flye exercises will similarly draw upon the anterior deltoid muscle.

Triceps

The triceps are a meaty muscle comprised of three separate heads working together, on the back side of your upper arm. They are responsible primarily for extending your elbow, so they will be heavily involved in successfully completing any pressing exercise.

Pressing with your elbows and upper arms set approximately 45-degrees from your shoulder can harness a ton of triceps activation because of the improved depth and increased range of motion you can achieve.

How to Program the Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

The incline dumbbell press can be a surprisingly versatile exercise for your repertoire. It can serve as a primary movement of the day, an accessory performed after a heavier exercise, it can be used as a “pre-fatigue” tool to focus on chest development, and it can even be involved in a movement preparation or warm-up.

Primary Movement

Your primary movement is the meat and potatoes of any workout. It’s the first exercise performed in the session, typically because it’s the movement you’ll approach with the greatest amount of effort and energy.

As a primary exercise, the incline dumbbell press can be used for hypertrophy (muscle-building) or even for building strength once you start to get familiar with the movement. A few sets of 8-12 repetitions will be a great muscle-builder. If you’re able to safely execute in the 6-8 range, it can also be leveraged for strength.

Accessory Exercise

If it’s not the first exercise of your workout, the incline dumbbell press is a strong candidate for the second movement of the day. Once you’ve completed, for example, a heavy flat barbell bench press, it’s common to slide the incline dumbbell bench press into the next slot to train the muscles from a different angle and/or with different loading and volume.

This approach can be an effective way to build muscle, but it can also help shore up shoulder mobility and stability due to the inclined angle and varied range of motion from the previous exercise. Since your muscles will already be a bit tired from the main exercise, you’ll get plenty of stimulation from a slightly lighter load while aiming for 8-12 repetitions per set.

Pre-Fatigue

Pre-fatigue is a strategic technique for your programming. In a perfect world, you’d have all the access to loading and every potential exercise at your whim, but sometimes you’re stuck with a limited amount of training tools available. In these instances, pre-fatiguing your chest with a targeted exercise like the incline dumbbell press can sufficiently work the muscle enough to keep any following exercises challenging enough to deliver significant stimulation.

This is similar to using the exercise as a primary movement, but maintains the intention and effectiveness of additional exercises. Pair the incline dumbbell press with tempo training (lifting and lowering slowly) and moderate repetitions in the 10 to 12 rep range, and it can be a powerful way to breathe new life into any chest-focused workout.

Movement Preparation

Movement preparations are warm-up plans that use exercises themselves in a clever and efficient way to check many boxes simultaneously. The incline dumbbell press can be used as a part of your warm-up routine to make sure you have access to all the range of motion you might need for a barbell variation or flat bench press, for example.

It will also serve to practice your ability to stabilize your upper back and shoulders prior to hitting more heavily loaded exercises in your workout. Think of the incline dumbbell press as the final check before advancing to your primary movement of the day.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press Variations

If you are looking for some effective chest exercises similar to the incline dumbbell press, changing the implement or slightly modifying the pattern are solid options. The incline machine press, incline cable press, neutral-grip incline dumbbell press, and incline dumbbell power flye can all be great tools at your disposal. 

Incline Machine Press

The incline machine press will assume a more fixed range of motion than the incline dumbbell press. Since it is locked in its own path, you are often able to load the exercise heavier because your stabilizing muscles are less of a limiting factor.

The stability of the machine also lets you more safely approach muscular failure and more safely going past failure with intensity techniques like forced reps, compared to dumbbells. These are great benefits if you’re pursuing muscle and strength gains, but some machines can be a bit tricky if they doesn’t perfectly fit your frame. 

Incline Cable Press

The incline cable press can be a uniquely effective modification to the dumbbell movement. You will still get unilateral benefits, but you’ll also get a touch more stability when using cables rather than dumbbells.

You can expect a greater range of motion that will easily accommodate individual limb lengths. Cables also offer constant tension by maintaining muscular stress throughout the entire movement, which can help to stimulate more muscle growth. (4)

Neutral-Grip Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

A neutral-grip incline dumbbell press places you in a slightly more stable position than the standard incline dumbbell press grip (with your palms facing forward). If you are working toward more mobile and stable shoulders, improve your odds by selecting an angle of incline that currently works for you (such as a slightly lower angle) and pressing with a neutral grip.

You will still be able to gain some serious baseline strength, coordination, and stability, but the neutral grip will lessen the challenge slightly.

Incline Dumbbell Power Flye

The incline power flye is a great combination exercise. It’ combines’s one-part dumbbell press variation and one-part chest flye variation. The unique exercise involves bending your arms to a more significant degree than during a normal flye pattern.

It still hits your upper chest with an incline movement, but the flye motion allows you to make gains even when you’re limited in load. When you’re in a pinch for equipment or want to blast your chest in minimum time, performing the incline dumbbell power flye with a medium load for moderate reps can be just the fix.

FAQs

Press On

The incline dumbbell bench press is an excellent meshing of many different training tools and beneficial concepts: Independently manipulated dumbbells, a long range of motion, stability and mobility demands, and very versatile programming potential. Any one of these benefits is reason enough to start tinkering with this movement, let alone all of them together. If you’re looking to sneak in some new pressing gains and pumped up upper pecs, look no further than this simple, classic, and effective movement.

References

1. Chaves, S. F. N., Rocha-JÚnior, V. A., EncarnaÇÃo, I. G. A., Martins-Costa, H. C., Freitas, E. D. S., Coelho, D. B., Franco, F. S. C., Loenneke, J. P., Bottaro, M., & Ferreira-JÚnior, J. B. (2020). Effects of Horizontal and Incline Bench Press on Neuromuscular Adaptations in Untrained Young Men. International journal of exercise science, 13(6), 859–872.
2. Schoenfeld, B. J., & Grgic, J. (2020). Effects of range of motion on muscle development during resistance training interventions: A systematic review. SAGE open medicine, 8, 2050312120901559. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312120901559
3. Rodríguez-Ridao, D., Antequera-Vique, J. A., Martín-Fuentes, I., & Muyor, J. M. (2020). Effect of Five Bench Inclinations on the Electromyographic Activity of the Pectoralis Major, Anterior Deltoid, and Triceps Brachii during the Bench Press Exercise. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(19), 7339. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17197339
4. Burd, N. A., Andrews, R. J., West, D. W., Little, J. P., Cochran, A. J., Hector, A. J., Cashaback, J. G., Gibala, M. J., Potvin, J. R., Baker, S. K., & Phillips, S. M. (2012). Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. The Journal of physiology, 590(2), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200

Featured Image: MDV Edwards / Shutterstock

The post How to Do the Incline Dumbbell Bench Press for Upper Pec Muscle and Pressing Strength appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

It’s easy to get distracted seeking rapid gains without noticing plateaus closing in all around you. Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know until it’s too late, especially when you’re new to the gym. Luckily, you don’t have to wade into training blindly.

Try this bodybuilding routine — specifically designed for beginners looking to build mass. But it’s not just for packing on size, it can also future-proof your body by building a foundation for every routine to come.

Beginner Bodybuilding Routine

• Push Workout
• Pull Workout
• Legs Workout

The Push/Pull/Legs Split

A push/pull/legs routine is one of the most common forms of splitting your training week, and for good reason. It focuses on synergistic movements (exercises that work overlapping muscles) that can build your physique extremely well as a beginner. From machines, calisthenics (bodyweight training), free weights, and cable work, you’ll catch a crazy pump and plenty of progress to show for it.

Push/pull/legs routines are often performed twice within the same week. Train each routine in order once before taking a rest day and starting the cycle again — three workouts, rest day, three workouts, rest day, repeat.

With this approach, each muscle group will have three to four days of rest while also being worked with a double-dose of training per week. However, don’t fret if your schedule only allows you to train each routine once a week. As long as your total weekly training (the number of hard sets) is consistent, you should see generally equal muscle gain regardless of whether you do it all in one day or choose to spread over two sessions. (1)

To get the most out of your early bodybuilding stages, think about using exercises that will help carry over into future routines. Look to build a foundation of strength, stability, and muscle by incorporating multi-joint exercises such as presses, hinges (deadlift variations), and squatting patterns.

These exercises will also help efficiently approach your core development by not having to specifically add in abdominal training during your beginner stages. As you progress through each day and get deeper into your programs, you can get more specific with isolation-type core training.

The Push Workout

A solid push routine will kick off your push/pull/legs split with a bang. Building up your presses, upper body stability, and finishing with some pump work will set you on a great path for continued progress. A good rule of thumb is to prioritize your biggest or hardest exercises, so line up your presses and calisthenics first. After that, drop into some more moderate weight and repetition work. Isolation-type training can round out your day and leave you walking away ready for your next routine in the split.

Regardless of the exercise or set and repetitions you perform, get each set as close to muscle failure as possible. When you do, most repetition ranges can help deliver an effective dose of muscle-growing stimulus. (2)

Machine Chest Press

• How to Do It: Take a seat on the chest press machine and tuck your shoulder blades together. Take a comfortable-width, palms-down grip on the pressing handles. Slowly lower the handles toward your body until you feel a light stretch across your chest. Press the handles back toward your starting position, stopping just shy of locking your elbows.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-12
• Rest Time: Rest two minutes between sets.

Dip

• How to Do It: Support yourself on an assisted dip machine or parallel dip station by gripping the handles with your palms facing in toward your body. Extend your arms, which allows you to begin each rep from a strong locked out position. Brace your entire body and bend your arms to slowly lower yourself. Allow your torso to lean slightly forward with your elbows aimed at an angle. Once you feel a light stretch in your chest or shoulders, press through your palms and push back toward lockout.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-12
• Rest Time: Rest two minutes between sets.

Machine Pec Flye

• How to Do It: Sit on the pec-deck machine with your entire back flat against the pad. Grab each handle with a slight bend in your elbows. Keep your arms “long” and nearly straight. Bring your palms together in front of your chest before returning to the stretched position.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 12-15
• Rest Time: Rest 90 seconds between sets.

Cable Crossbody Triceps Extension

• How to Do It: Stand in the center of a dual pulley station with the pulleys set at the highest level. Grab the carabiners on each side with the opposite hand — your left hand grabs the right pulley and your right hand grabs the left pulley. Take a small step backward, tuck your shoulder blades back and down, and lean forward slightly with a stable body. Squeeze your upper arms to your sides. Straighten your arms by flexing and extend to lift the weights. Move with a strict, controlled motion.
• Sets and Reps: 2 x 12-15
• Rest Time: Rest 60 seconds between sets.

Single-Arm Overhead Cable Triceps Extension

• How to Do It: Set a cable pulley in the bottom position. Grab the carabiner or a single handle attachment in one hand and stand sideways to the stack with your non-working arm closest to the pulley. Get your arm overhead in a locked out position. Take a small step away from the machine, brace your body, and bend your elbow to lower the weight before extending your arm to lockout.
• Sets and Reps: 2 x 12-15 per arm.
• Rest Time: No rest between arms. Rest 60 seconds between sets.

Muscles Trained in the Push Workout

The major muscle groups trained during a push workout will be your pectoralis major (chest), triceps, and anterior deltoids (shoulders).

Pectoralis Major

Your pectoralis major is the largest and most prominent muscle on the front side of your torso. This big patch of muscle is a huge contributor to a well-formed upper body and can help perform many of your upper body strength and muscle-building exercises. Specifically, your pecs help with presses, flyes, and many calisthenics.

Relatively larger muscles, such as your chest, may benefit from regional hypertrophy — where, even within a single muscle, you may get a bit more targeted growth in specific sections based upon your exercise choice and performance. (3) For example, adding an incline to your presses may be one thing to consider for long-term development. (4)

Triceps

Your triceps are a major contributor to arm size. The “tri” in the name triceps means that there are three individual muscle heads that make up the backside of your arm. Luckily for you, when an exercise extends your elbow and straightens your arm, all three triceps heads will make gains. Performing triceps exercises overhead is a great way to help with shoulder stability and recruit a bit more of the “long head” of triceps.

Anterior Deltoids

Your shoulders are the muscle group that caps your upper arm and can be split into three distinct major sections due to its multiple muscle heads and functions. The anterior deltoid, or front shoulder, is appropriately found on the front of your body near the upper part of your chest and it helps perform many similar tasks. Drawing your arm across your body during many pec exercises, such as pressing or flyes, will also hit your anterior deltoids to a large degree.

The Pull Workout

The pull workout will be a great second act in your split. While the muscles involved are arguably a little less “showy” than those worked in the pushing routine, the return on investment cannot be denied. Your physique will rapidly fill out and contribute to a sweet muscular frame to display your hard work. You’ll also hit biceps, which no one ever seems to mind. All in all, this session is a real winner.

You may struggle to feel specific muscles of the back working when you’re still a beginner. If this is the case, try using eccentric control — intentionally slowing down the lowering phase of each repetition. A two to three-second lowering portion can really help here. This shouldn’t have a negative impact on your growth, but may help you learn to execute each exercise more effectively for the long-term. (5)

Single-Arm Dumbbell Row

• How to Do It: Grab a dumbbell and a bench to help support your posture. Rest one knee and one hand on the bench as a brace while the other hand holds the dumbbell. Stand on your free leg and brace on the bench with the opposite side of your body on the. Row the dumbbell toward your body until your elbow is near your ribs, before lowering back to a full stretch.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-12 per arm
• Rest Time: No rest between arms. Rest two minutes between sets.

Half-Kneeling Single-Arm Cable Pulldown

• How to Do It: Attach a single handle to a high pulley on a cable pulldown station. Step into a reverse lunge, resting your rear knee comfortably on the floor. Holding the handle in the hand opposite your “forward” leg in the 90-degree lunge position. Brace your entire body and draw the cable toward the front of your shoulder. Control the weight and allow it to return to stretched position overhead without moving your feet. When you switch arms, switch your stance as well.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 12-15 per arm
• Rest Time: No rest between arms. Rest 90 seconds between sets.

Chest-Supported T-Bar Row

• How to Do It: Take the wide handles on a chest-supported T-bar row station. Lean your upper body against the chest support and brace your legs on the platform. Draw the weight toward your body while keeping your elbows flared out at a comfortable angle. Don’t allow your elbows to “pinch” inward. Slowly lower the weights back to the starting position for a full stretch.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 10-12
• Rest Time: Rest 90 seconds between sets.

Cable Reverse Flye

• How to Do It: Set two cable pulleys slightly above shoulder-height. Grab the carabiners or a single handle each side of the cable, using opposite hands. Keep your arms mostly straight and take a small step backwards. Tuck your shoulder blades back and down, assume a stable stance, and brace your core. Draw your arms back, creating a “standing T” posture, before returning your arms in front to lower the weight.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 12-15
• Rest Time: Rest 60 seconds between sets.

Single-Arm Face-Away Cable Curl

• How to Do It: Attach a single handle the lowed position of a cable pulley. Grab the handle and face away from the cable stack. Take a small step forward and keep the handle by your side — aim to feel a “pre-stretch” in your biceps muscle. Lean slightly forward at your waist and perform curls, flexing to the top and extending your arm into a full stretch at the bottom.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 12-15
• Rest Time: No rest between arms. Rest 60 seconds between sets.

Muscles Trained in the Pull Workout

Your pulling routine will cover a ton of muscular real estate, with many exercises crossing over to train several muscles at once. Working your pull muscles will recruit your latissimus dorsi, trapezius, rhomboids, posterior deltoids, and biceps brachii — which is why this session would also be considered a back and biceps workout.

Latissimus Dorsi

The latissimus dorsi is of the largest muscles on your body. It is a big swath of muscle that spans most of your back and each side of your torso. Exercises that draw your arm from high to low and from front to back are going to be powered to, a huge degree, by your latissimus dorsi. This includes pulldowns and rows of all varieties but, particularly, variations that use an arm path close to your body (as opposed to extra-wide-grip rows), will be great here. 

Trapezius

Your trapezius muscle is another relatively large, triangular-shaped muscle that spans from the back of your neck down toward your mid-back. Your trapezius is used in many different exercises because of how broadly it attaches to your body.

Most commonly, exercises that pull your arms back towards your body — especially with a flare-out elbow position and a double-overhand grip — will be best. Think about squeezing your shoulder blades together while using a double-overhand grip to better target the traps in any pulling exercise.

Rhomboids

Your rhomboids are a close neighbor of your traps and they will be smoked by many of the same types of pulling exercises. Movements that require you to protract and retract your shoulder blades (bringing them together and apart) will have a big carry over to building your rhomboids. Performing exercises from a slightly low-to-high arcing motion might also help you hit the rhomboids slightly better, such as upright row variations.

Posterior Deltoid

Much like your anterior deltoids are trained during the pushing workout, your posterior deltoids — on the backside of your shoulder — are heavily targeted during many pull routine exercises. Similar to you rhomboids and trapezius, most exercises that bring your arm backward, while using an overhand grip, can help build some well-developed posterior delts.

Keeping your shoulder blades locked in the same position during these movements will emphasize the posterior deltoids a bit more, because it will shift focus away from your trapezius and onto your rear delts.

Biceps Brachii

One of the benefits of a pulling workout is that your biceps brachii (those good ol’ biceps) get a double dose of love during pulling routine. Effectively, all of your back exercises will have some form of biceps involvement due to your arms connecting you to the weights. After some indirect work through the your entire session, it’s common to finish them off with a direct biceps exercise or two that really emphasize flexing your arm.

Inescapable Leg Day

For some, leg training can be a necessary evil. It can be a grueling day at the office, but a huge set of wheels is a prerequisite for bodybuilding and muscular legs complement any overall physique. Although barbell work can eventually be an asset here, building some quality muscle and slowly working it into place is likely a better plan for long-term results.

As a beginner, too much barbell work, too fast can be disproportionately fatiguing. In the long run, you’ll get more than your fair share of barbell training but, for now, ease in with machines and dumbbells.

Your leg routine can be a great way to build full body strength in the long term as well. The goal will still be to safely perform each set to a high degree of difficulty (close to muscle failure). If you can, erring on the slightly heavier side of things can help with strength development development while still producing serious muscle gain. (2) 

Hack Squat

• How to Do It: Step onto the hack squat machine, resting your entire back — from your hips to shoulders — flat against the pad. Set your shoulders snugly into the shoulder pads, and lay your head flat against the support. Use a comfortable foot stance with your feet pointed slightly out. Brace your entire body, unrack the weight, and bend your legs to lower yourself as deeply as comfortably possible. Stand up to return to the starting position.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-10
• Rest Time: Rest two to three minutes between sets.

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

• How to Do It: Grab a pair of dumbbells and stand with them comfortably alongside your body. Take a hip-width foot and slightly bend your knees. Brace your entire body and squeeze the dumbbells tight. Slowly slide your hips back while keeping your knees in the same position and keeping your back nearly straight. Keep shifting your hips back until you feel a slight stretch across your glutes and hamstrings before standing up.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-10
• Rest Time: Rest two minutes between sets.

Glute Bridge

• How to Do It: Lie flat on your back with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent to roughly 90-degrees. Place a dumbbell comfortably across your lap and support each end of the weight with your hands to secure it in place. Brace your core and extend your hips by driving through your feet and flexing your glutes. When your hips are raised to form a nearly straight line from your knees to your chest, hold a strong squeeze for one second before lowering yourself back to the starting position.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 12-15
• Rest Time: Rest 60 seconds between sets.

Leg Extension

• How to Do It: Sit on the leg extension machine, adjusting the seat so that the back of your knees rest comfortably against the pad. The ankle roller should also sit comfortably at the natural curve between your foot and shin. Grab the side handles for support before flexing your quadriceps to extend your knees. Squeeze in the top position for a solid second before slowly lowering your legs back to the starting position.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 12
• Rest Time: Rest 90 seconds between sets.

Lying Hamstring Curl

• How to Do It: Lie face down on the machine, placing your hips comfortably at the natural crease on the machine padding. The ankle roller should be adjusted to sit a few inches above your heels. Grab the handles and brace your core before squeezing your hamstrings to draw your feet toward your butt. Slowly lower your legs to a full stretch and repeat.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 12-15
• Rest Time: Rest 60 seconds between sets.

Muscles Trained in the Leg Workout

This leg workout will target the major muscle groups of the lower body. While your calves and inner thighs also could be trained directly, they should get some good initial growth from this routine as-is. The main targets will be the quadriceps, gluteals, and hamstrings.

Quadriceps

The quadriceps are the big muscles that compose the front of your thighs. There are four distinct muscles that make up the same “muscle group” but they all contribute to straightening or extending your leg. Hitting a good squat pattern and knee/leg extension are the meat and potatoes of quadriceps training.

Gluteals

The gluteals, or “glutes,” are your butt. They are actually one of the biggest muscles on your body and they contribute to many powerful exercises. Squats, deadlifts, and Olympic lifting are all very glute-dominant movements. Basically, anything that extends your hip requires your glutes to perform.

Although big movements moving potentially heavy weights can be key to developing big glutes, relatively smaller movement patterns like a basic glute bridge can help build up some much sought after muscle mass, too.

Hamstrings

The hamstrings are the beefy back portion of your legs. They are made up of three large muscle “bellies,” but they generally perform knee flexion (curling) and hip extension (straightening). This means that your hinge-based movements like Romanian deadlifts and hamstring curls will hit them quite hard throughout your lower body routines.

How To Warm-Up for Stronger, Safer Training

Warming up for a bodybuilding routine can be as simple as hitting some lighter weight, higher repetition sets of your first exercise. Depending on your needs, it could also be a lightweight circuit that helps mobilize and stabilize your joints for the task at hand. Regardless, if you’re looking for a straightforward, general, and effective approach to warming up for your bodybuilding routine, try these.

Upper Body — Push and Pull Day

Warming up your upper body will be very centered upon your shoulders. Most issues arise from a lack of mobility or stability around the shoulders and it can negatively impact both your push and pull days.

As a general rule, a solid amount of band pull-aparts, face pulls, and single-arm bottoms-up kettlebell presses can prepare you for a hard day at the upper body office. If you feel particularly stiff on a given day, you can also throw in some pec or lat stretches first.

Lower Body

Your lower body warm-up will be all about hip mobility and stability. This gives you the leeway to use certain unweighted exercises such as lunges, split squats, or single-leg Romanian deadlifts to help prepare.

You can also get a good general warm-up from most cardio equipment. A moderate-incline power walk or, better yet, a few rounds on an air bike can be just the trick when you want to think less and work more. If you struggle with core positioning, a few planks can set you straight.

Get Gaining

The beginner stage of bodybuilding is a wonderful time. Your body is literally adapting to training as quickly as it ever will. This can be extremely motivating, but it can also be easy for an overzealous trainee to leave gaps in long-term development. Using this push/pull/legs split can be just the ticket. Its frequency will help you grow some serious muscle while also giving you the programming flexibility to leave no muscle-building stone unturned. Get started today, begin gaining some quality muscle, and build the foundation that will serve you far down the line.

References

1. Grgic, J., Schoenfeld, B. J., & Latella, C. (2019). Resistance training frequency and skeletal muscle hypertrophy: A review of available evidence. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 22(3), 361–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2018.09.223
2. Schoenfeld, B. J., Grgic, J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2017). Strength and Hypertrophy Adaptations Between Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 31(12), 3508–3523. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002200
3. Zabaleta-Korta, A; Fernández-Peña, E; Santos-Concejero, J. (2020) Regional Hypertrophy, the Inhomogeneous Muscle Growth: A Systematic Review. Strength and Conditioning Journal 42(5):p 94-101, DOI: 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000574 
4. Chaves, S. F. N., Rocha-JÚnior, V. A., EncarnaÇÃo, I. G. A., Martins-Costa, H. C., Freitas, E. D. S., Coelho, D. B., Franco, F. S. C., Loenneke, J. P., Bottaro, M., & Ferreira-JÚnior, J. B. (2020). Effects of Horizontal and Incline Bench Press on Neuromuscular Adaptations in Untrained Young Men. International journal of exercise science, 13(6), 859–872.
5. Bernárdez-Vázquez, R., Raya-González, J., Castillo, D., & Beato, M. (2022). Resistance Training Variables for Optimization of Muscle Hypertrophy: An Umbrella Review. Frontiers in sports and active living, 4, 949021. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2022.949021

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