Barbell Archives - Muscle Motivation

Decline Press

Lie on a decline bench (between 20 and 40 degrees), with the head angled down and feet fixed to prevent sliding and grasp the barbell with an overhand grip shoulder width or more:

Inhale and lower the barbell to the lower pectorals with a controlled movement.
Extend the arms and exhale at the end of the movement.

This exercise contracts the pectoralis major (mainly its inferior fibers), triceps brachii, and the anterior deltoid.
This exercise is useful for outlining the inferior groove of the pectorals. Using light weights and lowering the bar to the neck stretches the pectoralis major correctly. The decline press may be performed at a frame that guides the bar.

Variations:

Decline Barbell Press: This variation involves performing the exercise with a barbell. It allows you to lift heavier weight and build overall chest strength.
Decline Dumbbell Press: This variation involves performing the exercise with dumbbells. It allows for a greater range of motion and helps to work each side of the body individually.
Decline Close-Grip Press: This variation involves performing the exercise with a closer grip on the barbell or dumbbells. It targets the triceps muscles more than the chest muscles.
Decline Flyes: This variation involves performing the exercise with dumbbells, but instead of pressing them up, you bring them out to the side in a fly motion. This targets the chest muscles more than the triceps.
Decline Push-ups: This variation involves performing the exercise with just your bodyweight. It can be a great way to work the chest muscles and build strength, especially for beginners or those who don’t have access to weights. You can also add weight by using a weighted vest or holding a weight plate on your back.

Close-Grip Bench Press

Lie on a horizontal bench with the buttocks on the bench and the feet on the ground, gripping the barbell with an overhand grip and wrists 4 to 15 inches apart, depending on the flexibility of the wrists: Inhale and lower the bar with a controlled movement to the chest, with the elbows out to the side. Extend and exhale at the end of the effort. This exercise develops the pectoral muscles at the sternal notch and the triceps brachii. (With this in mind, it may be included in a program for the arms.) By extending and keeping the elbows next to the body, a greater part of the work is performed by the anterior deltoid. This movement may be performed at a frame that guides the bar.

Attention: Depending on your physical structure, the narrow grip may cause wrist pain. In this case, use a wider grip.

Warning: Bench Presses and Elbow Pain. 
Elbow pain most often develops after bench pressing. This overuse injury is generally related to excessive training with long sets. In bench pressing, locking the extended arms at the end of the movement subjects the elbow to rubbing and microtrauma, which over time may lead to inflammation.

Comment: Occasionally, this condition can lead to intra-articular calcifications, which are particularly crippling. In this case, surgery is often the only solution for regaining complete arm extension.
At the first sign of elbow pain, avoid for several days exercises that involve arm extension in order to prevent serious injury.
When you resume exercises that include arm extension, avoid completely extending the forearms at the end of the movement until the pain has completely disappeared.

Incline Press

Sit on an incline bench angled at 45 to 60 degrees, grasp the barbell with an
overhand grip wider than shoulder width:
Inhale and lower the barbell to the
sternal notch.

Extend the arms.
Exhale at the end of the movement.

This exercise mainly solicits the clavicular head of the pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, triceps brachii, serratus anterior, and pectoralis minor. This exercise may be done at a frame that guides the bar.

Variations:

Incline barbell bench press: This is a classic variation of the incline press, where you use a barbell and an incline bench. It’s a great exercise for building overall upper body strength.
Incline dumbbell bench press: This variation is similar to the barbell bench press, but uses dumbbells instead. It’s a great exercise to help improve your upper body stability.
Incline machine press: This is a machine-based variation of the incline press that can be easier to perform for beginners. It’s also a good option if you want to focus on your chest muscles without using your triceps as much.
Close-grip incline press: This variation involves bringing your hands closer together on the bar or dumbbells. This places more emphasis on your triceps, making it a great exercise for building arm strength.
Single-arm incline press: This variation is performed using one arm at a time, either with dumbbells or a cable machine. This helps to improve balance and stability, as well as targeting each side of your body individually.
Plyometric incline press: This variation involves performing explosive, plyometric movements with the bar or dumbbells. It’s a great way to improve your power and explosiveness.

Barbell Front Raises

Stand with the legs slightly apart and the back straight, contracting the abdominal muscles. Hold the barbell with an overhand grip as it rests against the thighs:

Inhale and raise the barbell with extended arms to eye level.
Exhale at the end of the movement.

This exercise contracts the anterior deltoid, the clavicular head of the pectoralis major, the infraspinatus, and, to a lesser degree, the trapezius, serratus anterior, and short head of biceps.
If you continue raising the arms, the posterior deltoid contracts, reinforcing the work of the other muscles and allowing you to raise the arms to vertical.
The exercise may also be performed with your back to a low pulley and the cable passing between the legs.

Single-Arm Barbell Front Raise: This variation involves performing the exercise with one arm at a time. This allows you to focus on each side individually and can help to correct any muscle imbalances.
Alternating Barbell Front Raise: This variation involves performing the exercise by raising the barbell with one arm, lowering it, and then raising it with the other arm. This allows you to work both sides of the body and adds a coordination challenge to the exercise.
Barbell Upright Row: This variation involves raising the barbell from your waist to your chin, pulling your elbows up and back towards your body. This targets the front and side deltoids, as well as the upper back and trapezius muscles.
Barbell Clean and Press: This variation involves lifting the barbell from the floor to overhead, while simultaneously cleaning the bar to your shoulders. This targets the entire shoulder girdle, as well as the legs, back, and core.
Barbell Push Press: This variation involves performing a quarter-squat and then explosively lifting the barbell from your shoulders to overhead, using your legs to help drive the weight up. This is a great exercise for building explosive power in the shoulders and entire body.

Barbell curls

Stand with the back straight, grasping the barbell with an underhand grip and hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart:

• Inhale and raise the barbell by bending the elbows, taking care to stabilize the torso and spine by isometrically contracting the gluteal muscles, abdominal muscles, and spinal muscles.
• Exhale at the end of the movement.

This exercise mainly contracts the biceps brachii, brachialis, and, to a lesser degree, the brachioradialis, pronator teres, and the wrist flexor group.

Comment: When training the biceps brachii using a barbell, take into account variations in each person's physical structure.
In the anatomical position (arms hanging alongside the body, palms facing forward, and thumbs pointing laterally), the angle at the elbow between the upper arm and the forearm varies from person to person.
Someone whose forearm hangs distinctly away from the body in a valgus position must break excessively at the wrist when performing a curl with a straight bar, which is painful. Therefore, these people should work with an E-Z bar to spare their wrists.

Variations: Vary the width of the grip to work different parts of the muscle more intensely:

• Placing the hands farther apart isolates the short head of the biceps brachii.
• Placing the hands closer together isolates the long head of the biceps brachii.

Raising both elbows after they are flexed increases the contraction of the biceps brachii and contracts the anterior deltoid. To make the exercise more difficult, perform the movement with the back against a wall so that the shoulder blades don’t move. You can lift more weight and gain strength by leaning the torso back while lifting the bar; however, to prevent injury, this requires good technique and well-developed abdominal and lumbar muscles.