Paused Incline Bench Press

Muscles worked by the Paused Incline Bench Press

Primary

Front DeltsAnterior DeltoidChestPectoralis Major

Secondary

TricepsTriceps Brachii

Also called: front deltoid, anterior delt, front delt, anterior deltoid, pec, pecs.

Equipment

Barbell

Also called: bar, olympic barbell, straight bar, olympic bar, power bar.

How to do the Paused Incline Bench Press

1. Lie on an incline bench and grip the barbell slightly wider than shoulder-width.
2. Unrack the bar and lower it to your upper chest.
3. Pause on your chest for 1-2 seconds.
4. Press the bar back up until your arms are fully extended.
5. Keep your shoulder blades retracted throughout.
6. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Form tips

• Keep your wrists stacked over your elbows during the pause.
• Maintain full-body tension while the bar rests on your chest.
• Avoid bouncing the bar off your chest after the pause.

At a glance

Paused Incline Bench Press in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Barbell Bench Press
• Cable Chest Press
• Close-Grip Bench Press
• Close-Grip Dumbbell Bench Press
• Close-Grip EZ-Bar Bench Press
• Close-Grip Incline Bench Press
• Decline Barbell Bench Press
• Decline Bench Press

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "paused-incline-bench-press",
  "name_en": "Paused Incline Bench Press",
  "name_de": "Schrägbankdrücken mit Pause",
  "name_es": "Press Inclinado con Pausa",
  "description_en": "An incline bench press with a pause on the upper chest, emphasizing strict control and upper-pec strength.",
  "description_de": "Ein Schrägbankdrücken mit Langhantel und kurzer Pause am untersten Punkt, das Brust und vordere Schultern stärkt.",
  "description_es": "Un press inclinado con barra y pausa sobre la parte alta del pecho, que elimina el rebote y enfatiza pectoral superior y deltoides anterior.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "push",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "advanced",
  "equipment": "barbell",
  "body_part": "chest",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "anterior_deltoid",
    "pectoralis_major"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "triceps_brachii"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "requires_bench"
  ],
  "variation_group": "bench-press",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Lie on an incline bench and grip the barbell slightly wider than shoulder-width.",
    "Unrack the bar and lower it to your upper chest.",
    "Pause on your chest for 1-2 seconds.",
    "Press the bar back up until your arms are fully extended.",
    "Keep your shoulder blades retracted throughout.",
    "Repeat for the desired number of reps."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Leg dich auf eine Schrägbank und greife die Stange etwas breiter als schulterbreit.",
    "Nehme die Stange aus dem Rack und senke sie zur Oberbrust.",
    "1–2 Sekunden auf der Brust halten.",
    "Drücke die Stange zurück, bis die Arme vollständig gestreckt sind.",
    "Schulterblätter durchgehend zusammengezogen halten.",
    "Wiederhole für die gewünschte Anzahl an Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Túmbate en un banco inclinado y agarra la barra ligeramente más abierta que la anchura de los hombros.",
    "Saca la barra del rack y bájala hasta el pecho superior.",
    "Haz una pausa sobre el pecho durante 1-2 segundos.",
    "Empuja la barra hacia arriba hasta que los brazos queden completamente extendidos.",
    "Mantén los omóplatos retraídos durante todo el ejercicio.",
    "Repite el número de repeticiones deseado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Keep your wrists stacked over your elbows during the pause.",
    "Maintain full-body tension while the bar rests on your chest.",
    "Avoid bouncing the bar off your chest after the pause."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Lass die Stange in der Pause nicht in die Brust einsinken.",
    "Halte die Handgelenke gerade und direkt über den Ellbogen.",
    "Lass das Gesäß während des gesamten Satzes fest auf der Bank."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "No acortes la pausa cuando la carga se haga pesada.",
    "Mantén las muñecas firmes sobre los codos durante el recorrido.",
    "Mantén los pies firmes en el suelo durante toda la serie."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/paused-incline-bench-press-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/paused-incline-bench-press-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "paused-incline-bench-press");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.