Incline vs. Reverse Grip: Which Exercise Is Better For Building The Upper Chest?

Bodybuilders have been doing incline bench presses for decades to bring up the upper chest.

Research on incline and reverse- grip bench presses suggests that reverse-grip bench presses may 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 PRESSES

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.

SENTENCING 
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:
Jim Stoppani, PhD
Copyright 2010 Weider Publications