EXECUTION
- Assume a back lying position on a decline bench set at approximately a 30-45 degree angle.
- Your trunk should be at full support from the head to the hips with your legs bent and your feet secured.
- Grasp a dumbbell in each hand with a pronated grip, ie, with the palms facing toward the feet.
- Hold the dumbbells on extended arms directly above the chest and the dumbbells touching. This is the starting position.
- As you begin lowering the weights toward your chest, inhale and hold your breath.
- Keep the elbows pointed out to the sides as you bend the arms to lower the dumbbells.
- As the dumbbells approach chest level, keep holding your breath and then reverse directions and fully extend your arms to bring the dumbbells back up to the initial position.
- Exhale forcefully after you pass the sticking point as you drive the dumbbells upward and together.
- Pause momentarily with the arms locked but not hyperextended and then repeat.
- Be sure to drive the dumbbells straight upward so that in the ending position they will be on a vertical line directly above the shoulders.
TRAINING TIPS
Be sure to forcefully exhale after you pass the sticking point on the up phase. This is needed to quickly relieve the intra-abdominal and intra-thoracic pressure that builds up because of the breath holding and the decline position.
Breath holding is very important in this exercise to stabilize the trunk to provide a firm base against which the chest and shoulder muscles must work. You also get additional strength to handle the weights in this potentially dangerous position.
Do not stop and hold the dumbbells in the down position. Doing so will build up the intra-thoracic pressure greatly and create the potential for black-out if you hold the breath too long and are using maximal weights.
Do not exhale when you are in the down position. Doing so relieves the tension that you have to hold the dumbbells in place and to maintain a stable base. It will weaken you, which, in turn will make it more difficult for you to raise the weights back up safely and efficiently.
Be sure that you drive the weights directly upward. If you drive the dumbbells overhead or toward the abdomen, you increase the chances of losing control of them.
For variety do the decline press with the dumbbells held in a neutral grip. This will place greater stress on the upper pectorals in addition to still using the lower pectorals and the anterior deltoid.
Because of the low position of the head when using the decline bench, it is important that you do not stay in this position for extended periods of time to prevent excessive amounts of blood to collect in the head. Thus you should not do very many repetitions; and after each set, you should stand up and walk around to allow the blood to flow down.
The decline dumbbell press can also be done with a barbell. In this case you will need a rack or two assistants to hand you the bar. It is also an effective exercise and should be alternated with the dumbbell press.
The use of dumbbells allows you to go through a greater range of motion. Instead of lowering the dumbbells over the chest, move the hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart and then lower them below the level of the chest or alongside the chest. Doing so, however, places greater stress on the shoulder and can cause stretch marks or injury if you are not prepared for this movement.
The use of dumbbells allows you to determine if one arm is weaker than the other. With the barbell this is more difficult to ascertain.
The wider you hold the dumbbells the greater the stress placed on the shoulder and outer portion of the pectoral muscles. The closer the dumbbells, the greater the stress placed on the inner aspects of the pectorals.
Bring the dumbbells together as you raise them and press them together for an even stronger contraction of the inner pectorals.
MAJOR MUSCLES INVOLVED
In this exercise the muscles of the shoulder joint, shoulder girdle and elbow joint are involved. In the shoulder joint the main muscles are the sternal portion of the pectoralis major, a large muscle that covers almost the entire chest. Working with the pectoralis major is the anterior deltoid located on the front of the shoulder. Also involved is the corachobrachialis located deep beneath the deltoid and pectoralis major. In the shoulder girdle, the serratus anterior and pectoralis minor are the major muscles involved. The pectoralis minor is located on the chest beneath the pectoralis major. The serratus anterior is located on the sides of the body below the armpits. When well developed it can be seen as finger-like projections immediately above the external obliques. In the elbow joint the main muscle involved is the triceps. It is a large three headed muscle that covers the entire back side of the upper arm.
MUSCLE AND JOINT ACTIONS
In the shoulder joint there is a combination of horizontal adduction and adduction. In this action the arm moves diagonally across and inward toward the midline of the body. In the shoulder girdle the scapula slides out via contraction of the serratus anterior toward the sides of the chest cage to allow the arms to move out well in front of the body (especially when you fully extend and press the arms together at the end of the movement). The serratus anterior and the upper and lower portions of the trapezius are also involved to rotate the scapula upward in order for the arm to move through a full ROM. However, this movement is not great. In the elbow joint there is extension in which the lower forearm moves away from the upper arm in an arm straightening action.
SPORTS USES
The action of bringing your arms down and across the body is not used in very many sports. The main value of this exercise lies in bodybuilding for increased strength and mass of the lower (sternal) pectoralis major. In sports, the arm action is seen in execution of certain movements on the rings in gymnastics, pushing someone down as sometimes occurs in football, and in hitting activities. This includes baseball batting and forehands in tennis when swinging downward to make contact with the ball. It can help golfers in the right arm action as it extends and moves across the body in the downswing. In boxing, it is important in executing jabs to the body and in the martial arts in execution of various punches.