Decline barbell bench press is a perfect exercise when you’re in need of lower chest muscles workout. Along with the decline dumbbell flys it helps to curve out the line of lower chest and shape it the way you want.

To perform lower the back of the bench at 30-45 degrees below the horizontal. Lie on a bench and put your feet upright in supporting rollers. Your head, shoulders and buttocks must be pressed to the bench, back is straight, not bend at the waist, and not round as well. As you’re in right pose, grasp the barbell using a medium hand grip and wring it up, arms straight. This is the starting position.

Now inhale and gently lower the barbell to the bottom of the breast. As the barbell touches the chest, immediately change the direction and squeeze it up to the starting position. Exhale on the hardest point, feeling good stretching in chest muscles as the barbell is in its lowest point. Each repetition must be a continuous and smooth motion without pauses and jerks.

Try to go full rang of motion, lowering the barbell as low as possible, but without hitting yourself or locking the elbows on the top. Do not use excessively heavy barbell, because it t may force you to pause at the lowest point, creating a risk to shift the load to the triceps instead of chest muscles.

A very important point in this exercise is to exhale after passing the most difficult stretch. Exhaling you thereby reduces blood pressure in the head region, which is quite high in this exercise (the head is below the pelvis). Also be sure to get up from the bench or just sit down to the torso has a vertical position just after the exercise is done. If you have high blood pressure or problems with blood circulation, it is better to try another exercise in case any discomfort appears.

Written by: Dennis Borisoff
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