Bench Press: Muscle activation using different bench angles

Bench Press: Muscle activation using different bench angles⭕️⁣⁣

Some of you asked me in a previous post if I could make a post comparing different muscular activations based on different bench angles.. I knew I had the paper for it!
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Special thanks to @chrisabeardsley for the analyzing this topic in one of his research reviews.⁣⁣
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Subjects did a set of 4 reps with 80% of exercise-specific 1RM with three different free weight bench press variations (flat, inclined, and decline). The incline bench press was performed at 45° and the decline bench press was performed at -15° relative to the horizontal plane. The same grip width was used for each exercise, and a tempo of 2 seconds for the concentric and eccentric phases was implemented for each rep.⁣⁣
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The aim of the study was to compare the muscle activation of the prime movers during bench press variations with different inclines and stability requirements.⁣⁣
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💡1RM loads did not differ significantly between the bench press variations, being 120kg in the flat bench press, 114kg in the incline bench press, 118kg in the decline bench press.⁣⁣
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𝐏𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫: Muscle activation of the clavicular head was significantly different between exercises, being greatest in the incline bench press. Muscle activation of the sternal head on the other hand, was the greatest in the decline bench press and least in the incline bench press.⁣⁣
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𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐢: Muscle activation of the triceps brachii was significantly different between exercises, being greatest in the flat and decline bench presses.⁣⁣
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𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐬: Muscle activation of the anterior deltoid was significantly different between exercises, being smaller in the decline bench press than in the other exercise variations.⁣