Incline Barbell Bench Press

Trains the Clavicular Head.

How to do it

Set an adjustable bench to an incline of roughly fifteen to thirty degrees. Steeper than about forty-five and the front deltoid starts taking the movement over, which is exactly what this exercise is chosen to avoid.
Set the safety pins to just below your chest height in that position, or use a spotter.
Lie back with your eyes under the bar, feet flat on the floor, and squeeze your shoulder blades down into the bench.
Take a grip slightly wider than shoulder-width, so your forearms will be vertical at the bottom.
Unrack the bar and hold it above your upper chest with straight arms.
Lower under control to the top of your chest, just below the collarbones — higher than a flat bench press, because the bench angle has changed where the bar meets you.
Keep the elbows at roughly forty-five degrees rather than flared, then press back up until the arms are straight.

Setting the bench too steep. Past about forty-five degrees the movement becomes an overhead press with a slight lean, and the clavicular head of the pectoralis major stops being the muscle deciding the outcome. Fifteen to thirty degrees is the working range.
Lowering to the same point as a flat bench press. On an incline the bar should meet the upper chest, not the lower sternum. Lowering too low turns the shoulder into an awkward position for no benefit.
Treating incline as a substitute for flat pressing. Incline emphasises the upper fibres, which are the most commonly underdeveloped part of the chest, but it does not train the sternocostal head as thoroughly. Both angles belong in a program.
Letting the hips lift off the bench. Pushing the hips up flattens the effective angle and quietly converts an incline press back into a flat one.