Incline Bench Press Angle: The Ultimate Guide to Finding Your Sweet Spot

The incline bench press is typically the “go-to” exercise for upper pecs.

And with good reason, as it hits the upper part of the chest to great effect

I would hazard a guess that most trainees train incline bench in any one of 15-degree increments, i.e 15, 30, 45, or 60 degrees.

But, as it turns out there is a “sweet spot” between two of these angles.

Plus, according to scientific research there is one particular angle that trumps all the others.

Here’s what you need to know.

The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health conducted a study in October 2020. Researchers tested electromyographic (EMG) activity in the chest, shoulders, and triceps for the bench press exercise at 5 different angles, 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 degrees. It was concluded that an angle of 30 degrees produced the greatest EMG activity in the upper pecs. 

Why Should You Train Incline Bench Press?

Okay, prior to breaking down the ideal incline angle for upper pecs, I want to first discuss why you should potentially train incline bench press.

I guess the most obvious reason is to activate and build the upper pec area.

This definitely gives your chest a more aesthetically appealing appearance.

Another way to look at it is that the mass of the sternal head makes up approximately 70-80% of the pecs.

The remaining 20-30% of the pecs is made up of the clavicle head, or what we refer to as the upper pecs.

So, if you’re not training your upper pecs it’s unlikely that you’ll achieve that fullness of the pecs that makes them so visually pleasing.

That being said, there is much more to the incline bench press than initially meets the eye.

Firstly, training the upper chest has a fantastic knock-on effect.

You’ll generally find having stronger and better developed upper pecs will help to lift heavier loads with most pressing and pushing movements.

So, you’ll actually find that your flat bench press is likely to improve, but greater upper pec development will also help you press more weight overhead.

Next, is the potential to reduce injuries.

One of the most common areas of injury from bench press is the shoulder area, especially the rotator cuff muscles.

There’s a huge amount of pressure placed on the anterior deltoids, and the shoulder joint in general, whenever you flat bench press.

Now, even though your shoulder will be activated more when you add an incline you definitely won’t feel the same type of shoulder discomfort commonly associated with flat bench.

Furthermore, the incline also places far less stress on the rotator cuff.

So, pumped-up upper pecs aside you may wish to focus more on incline bench press if you have shoulder issues when you flat bench press.

The Best Angle For Incline Bench Press (According to Science) 

I guess a great way to determine the best angle for incline bench press would be to see what the “experts” say.

However, I’m not talking about experts in the gym, but rather those who research this subject in fine detail.

And believe it or not there have been many scientific studies to establish the perfect bench press angle to activate your upper pecs.

Most scientific studies will base their results on EMG (electromyography), which is a nerve conduction test.

Basically, an EMG will record the electrical impulses produced by the upper pecs (and other muscles).

But, with various studies comes differing results, which of course leads to confusion.

Nevertheless, most researchers agree that an incline angle between 30 to 45 degrees will provide the best upper pec activation.

That being said, there is one particular study conducted by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health which seems to trump all other studies.

Researchers tested the activation of the upper pecs, anterior deltoids, and triceps at different bench press angles.

The angles were 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 degrees.

It was found that the greatest upper activation was achieved at 30 degrees, whereas the anterior delts were most activated at 60 degrees.

It was concluded that any angle greater than 45 degrees would target the delts more than the chest.

The triceps and lower chest were activated more at 0 degrees, and a 15-degree angle made very little difference to the flat bench press in terms of muscle activation. 

So, if you’re looking to specifically target your upper pecs anywhere from 30-45 degrees is the “sweet spot”.

However, a 30-degree incline bench will provide the greatest upper pec activation.

How to Hit Your Upper Chest With Non-Adjustable Incline Benches

Now, this is all well-and-good if you have access to an adjustable bench, but I’m aware that many gyms have fixed incline benches.

Admittedly, this is few and far between, as the vast majority of gyms nowadays will have both fixed and adjustable benches.

However, I have certainly visited hotel gyms on my travels that simply provide either a fixed flat bench or a “fixed” 45-degree angle bench.

So, what exactly should you do in this situation?

I’ll cover how you can hit your upper pecs with a flat bench in a moment, but for now let’s look at the fixed 45-degree angle bench.

Firstly, according to the study mentioned above, performing incline bench press at a 45-degree will hit the upper pecs.

So, you could simply suck it up and perform incline bench press on the 45-degree angle bench.

You’re still hitting the upper pecs really well, but obviously not to the same extent as a 30-degree bench would provide.

That being the case, you can easily alter the angle of a fixed 45-degree angle bench by simply placing a step underneath the front feet of the bench.

I can’t promise that this will provide the perfect 30-degree angle, but it will definitely reduce the angle of incline.

How to Hit Your Upper Chest on a Flat Bench

Now, if you have access to adjustable or even non-adjustable incline benches you can clearly hit your upper pecs.

However, what are you supposed to do if you only have access to non-adjustable flat benches?

Does this mean that you’re going to have to forgo upper pec development?

Not at all, in fact, you can actually greater activate your upper pecs with a flat bench than an incline bench.

There are two flat bench press variations that are fantastic for upper pec development.

However, I much prefer one over the other, but this is a matter of personal opinion.

Guillotine Bench Press

The guillotine bench press was made famous by the late, great, old-time bodybuilder Vince Gironda.

In fact, this bench press variation was often referred to as the “Gironda neck press”.

Vince was actually extremely well-known for his unique and often “out-there” training techniques.

Now, I’m going to admit that I’m not a fan of the guillotine bench press and after trying it out for a few months I decided it wasn’t for me.

The aim of the guillotine bench press is to reduce involvement from the anterior delts and triceps, while increasing and isolating the pecs more.

Guess what, the guillotine bench press definitely achieves this, but for me this is at the cost of a potential injury.

Firstly, you’re lowering the barbell to your clavicle, so as the name suggests, in line with your neck.

So, rather than the standard J-path of taking the bar from the lower chest area to eyeline level, you’re pretty much going straight up and down.

Now, I would always suggest that you bench press with a spotter, and failing that, set up the power rack or even the Smith machine.

However, there are obvious dangers to lowering a heavy load directly over your neck, if you get my meaning.

Additionally, this bar path forces you to flare your elbows out to the side.

One of main cues for a great and safe bench press is to keep your elbows tucked in towards your sides, while aiming for an upper arm angle of approximately 45-degrees.

I will admit that allowing your elbows to flare out to the sides actually stretches and increases tension across the pecs, but it’s also extremely dangerous for your shoulders.

Sure, if you have great shoulder mobility this probably won’t be that great an issue.

However, allowing your elbows to flare out to the sides does promote internal rotation of the shoulders, which is synonymous with rotator cuff injuries.

So, as I say, definitely an exercise that will isolate the pecs and hit the upper pecs really well, but it’s not an exercise for me.

Reverse-Grip Bench Press

Next, we have the reverse-grip bench press, a far safer option in my mind, but there’s still certain “dangers” to be aware of.

That being said, the reverse-grip bench press actually provides far greater upper pec activation than incline bench press.

Once more, there have been various studies to compare the incline bench press and reverse-grip bench press.

It was found that incline bench press only increases upper pec activation by 5% over flat bench press.

Not particularly impressive, right?

Plus, even though incline bench press reduces shoulder discomfort there is still a lot shoulder activation going on.

That being said, it is estimated that the reverse-grip bench press provides 30% greater upper pec activation when compared to flat bench press.

Essentially, the bench press variation that hits your upper pecs best is the reverse-grip.

Now, the only real “danger” with this variation comes down to the grip.

Not that there’s anything wrong with using a reverse-grip, but rather that you’re not used to pressing heavy loads in this way.

Therefore, it makes sense to reduce the load on the bar significantly while learning the movement.

Plus, the same principles about a spotter, power rack, or Smith machine all apply.

The greatest benefit of reverse-grip bench press is joint health and safety rather than upper pec activation.

Sure, it’s clearly a great way to hit your upper pecs.

However, using a reverse grip completely changes both your shoulder and elbow positioning throughout the movement.

Firstly, even trying a reverse grip without a bar you can feel the difference in shoulder activation.

Simply having your knuckles facing away from you appears to apply far less stress to the shoulder joint.

And it’s true, reverse-grip bench presses are far better for your shoulders.

You’ll also find that your hand position literally forces you to keep your elbows tucked in towards your sides, which again is great for the shoulder joint and rotator cuff muscles.

The bar path remains much the same as the flat bench press, so the bar is lowered to lower chest level and pressed above the eyes.

Your hands are once more much the same as the standard bench press, approximately shoulder-width apart.

Plus, you can perform the reverse-grip bench press with dumbbells too.

In fact, if you’ve never done reverse-grip bench press before, after a session or two, it’s definitely one of those movements that makes you think, “where have you been all my life”.

Upper Chest Training & Bar Path

I’ve spoken a few times now about bar path, and I just want to touch on this a bit more, as it’s actually very important when it comes to benching and the upper pecs.

If you place both arms out to your side at shoulder level you’ll get a better idea of how the upper chest muscle fibres run, and their insertion points.

The upper chest muscle fibres run from the insertion point at your collarbone and down your arm to the insertion point by the bicep near the elbow joint.

So, this in itself shows that the muscle fibres run diagonally downwards.

This also explains why you should keep your elbows tucked in and your upper arms at approximately 45-degrees when you bench press.

When you have your upper arms at 45-degrees you’ll find that this lines up with the direction of the muscle fibres.

However, if your arms are really wide, say close to a 90-degree angle, the same as many people tend to do when they bench press, the muscle fibres are no longer in alignment from the insertion points near your collarbone and biceps.

And it this which actually increases anterior delt and rotator cuff involvement in any bench press variation.

Alternative Exercises For Upper Pecs

There could be a number of reasons why you can’t perform incline bench presses, or even the other bench press variations I’ve mentioned, but you still want to hit your upper pecs.

Well, it just so happens that there are plenty of exercises that you can do.

And some of these don’t even require a bench.

Dumbbell Pullovers

As great an exercise as dumbbell pullovers are, they are intended to work the lats.

However, they also happen to hit the chest as well.

That being said, you can turn dumbbell pullovers into an upper chest exercise by keeping your elbows tucked in and pushing your hands together throughout the movement.

Basically, the more your elbows are flared the more you’ll stretch the lats.

So, by keeping your elbows in you’ll immediately notice that you’re squeezing your pecs towards each other.

You can then exaggerate this pec contraction by also squeezing your hands towards each other while holding the dumbbell.

Essentially, you are adducting the hands towards each other, which provides a fantastic chest contraction and hits the upper pecs. 

Decline Push Ups

Next, is the decline push up, which simply requires you to place your feet on a raised surface.

Decline push ups are specifically designed to activate the upper pec muscles to greater effect.

Plus, you can also increase the range of motion by not having your hands on the floor, e.g. hands on dumbbells handles.

Now, here’s something for you to try, which will fry your chest, activate your upper pecs, and leave all your “pushing muscles” burning.

I usually perform this as a finisher, but have extended it to “sets” to incorporate it into a full workout.

Basically, superset parallel bar dips and decline push ups in a descending ladder from 10 reps to one rep.

Therefore, perform 10 parallel dips, immediately do 10 decline push ups, then 9 dips and 9 push ups, 8 of each, 7 of each, and so on, until you’ve completed the ladder down to one rep.

As I say, I use this as a no-rest finisher, but I have also performed this superset as part of my main workout.

Simply take 90-120 seconds rest after your first full superset descending ladder, and repeat a further two times (ensuring that your rest for 90-120 seconds between sets two and three).

Cable Crossovers

I have to admit I absolutely love cable crossovers, and in truth it’s one of those exercises that I really feel in my pecs.

When it comes to bench press variations, whether incline or something else, I won’t always feel my chest working.

In fact, when it comes to the bench press I often feel it in my arms, and of course, occasionally in my shoulders too.

That being said, you don’t always have to “feel” a muscle in order for it to be activated.

However, as I say, when it comes to cable crossovers I typically always feel them in my pecs.

When it comes to cable crossovers if you set the pulleys high you’ll feel it more in your lower chest, whereas setting the pulleys low will hit the upper pecs really well.

Standing Flyes and Floor Flyes

Finally, is a movement that you can perform standing up or lying down, namely dumbbell flyes.

However, I’m not talking about the standard flyes that you’ll generally perform on a bench.

This simply involves bringing a pair of dumbbells up in front of you in order to achieve an isometric contraction of the upper chest.

So, you won’t be using a lot of weight and these exercises are all about feeling the squeeze at the top of the movement.

Key Learning Points

• Training your upper chest will help produce a fuller looking chest, and incline exercises reduce shoulder discomfort often felt with flat bench press.
• The “sweet spot” for incline bench press is between 30 and 45 degrees.
• According to scientific research a bench angle of 30 degrees produces the greatest electrical impulses (EMG) in the upper pecs.
• If your gym only has non-adjustable 45-degree incline benches you can either just perform the incline bench press using these or reduce the angle by placing a step under the front feet.
• If you only have access to flat benches you can use the guillotine bench press or reverse-grip bench press to hit your upper pecs.
• Reverse-grip bench press provides 30% greater upper pec activation than flat bench press.
• Keeping your upper arms at a 45-degree angle to your torso allows you to “line up” with the diagonal muscle fibres of the upper chest.
• Dumbbell pullovers, decline push ups, low-pulley cable crossovers, and standing/lying flyes will all hit the upper chest without the need to incline bench press.

Check out my tips on whether you should do incline bench press before flat bench press.