# Flat bench or incline press????



## bigwmd (Jul 25, 2009)

Hi guys just wanted to start a debate on wether you think that the flat bench press or incline press is a superior form of exercise for the chest?

I have been doing the flat bench as the staple in my chest session for many years now with inclines usually being the second exercise in my routine and have made good progress, but just like many others i have now hit a plateua so will be swapping the two exercises around.

What do you all think?


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## T.F. (Aug 28, 2008)

Flat bench.

Also decline > incline IMO and possibly > flat too.


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## Dagman72 (Apr 2, 2009)

bigwmd said:


> Hi guys just wanted to start a debate on wether you think that the flat bench press or incline press is a superior form of exercise for the chest?
> 
> I have been doing the flat bench as the staple in my chest session for many years now with inclines usually being the second exercise in my routine and have made good progress, but just like many others i have now hit a plateua so will be swapping the two exercises around.
> 
> What do you all think?


Reading other posts, there are quite a few people think the decline press is the best of the three.


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## Rick89 (Feb 27, 2009)

incline at 30 degrees!


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## adlewar (Oct 14, 2008)

neither..............decline:thumb:

but do whatever works for you.........

i boom on decline BP and flat cable flys, yet my partner cannot progress on them, listen to your body......


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## robisco11 (Dec 8, 2007)

decline....incline....flat...for me anyway.


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## bigwmd (Jul 25, 2009)

I do decline but its usually every other week. Why/how is the decline superior?


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## bassmonster (Aug 29, 2009)

it really depends on what works best for you so i don't really believe one is superior than the other. for me, i find flat gives me the best pump...


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## GoBig (Nov 30, 2009)

bigwmd said:


> Hi guys just wanted to start a debate on wether you think that the flat bench press or incline press is a superior form of exercise for the chest?
> 
> I have been doing the flat bench as the staple in my chest session for many years now with inclines usually being the second exercise in my routine and have made good progress, but just like many others i have now hit a plateua so will be swapping the two exercises around.
> 
> What do you all think?


Lately I have been pre-exhausting my pec/tri-cept , With one or two specific movements each , Such as Pec-deck/close-grip flat bench press.

Then moving on to heavy (but slightly liter then I could typically handle) working sets with Incline dumbells ..... So my chest workout would look something like this.

Warm up

(1) Pec-deck

(2) close grip press's

(3) Incline dumbell flies (heavy)

(4) Incline dumbell press (heavy)

(5) seated machine press's (heavy)

(6) cable scoops (slow & 2 sec pause)

(7) weighted dips (heavy)

Sorry I know you said Barbell .... I had been stuck in a rut lately as well, and have been seeing some nice gains and better pumps by pre-exhausting , And also switching to Incline dumbells. My body seems to respond very well to higher volume training ... hence to 7 movements. I also use a rep range of 8-6-4-2


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## Dsahna (May 25, 2009)

Flat!!!

I used to do flat and incline,now i only do 4-5 sets of flat and my chest is stronger than ever!


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## RyanClarke (May 7, 2009)

Effectiveness is dependant on your body structure, Long arms will not benefit from flat benching.. and so on. Theres pros and cons for both IMO


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## BLUTOS (Mar 5, 2005)

slight inline, I put a 2.5 pound plate on the selector part of the bench, its not a huge incline nor is it flat.


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## GunnaGetBig (Dec 14, 2008)

RyanClarke said:


> Effectiveness is dependant on your body structure, Long arms will not benefit from flat benching.. and so on. Theres pros and cons for both IMO


Interesting you say this.....I have long arms and find Flat Bench not very beneficial.

What would you suggest for someone with longer arms? Dumbells?


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## Jake1436114563 (May 9, 2008)

T.F. said:


> Flat bench.
> 
> Also decline > incline IMO and possibly > flat too.


Why? Flat bench emphasises mid and lower pecs.

Decline emphasises lower pecs.

People who just do flat/decline end up with droops pecs that look like bitch tits.


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## Jake1436114563 (May 9, 2008)

Once practised I believe one can bench more when in a declined position.

Although, it's not healthy (blood pressure etc).

I prefer a low incline. Hits the chest evenly.


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## Propper Joss (Aug 22, 2009)

Have long arms. Hate flat bench. I like decline b-bell press or 45 degree incline d-bell press.


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## Tom1990 (Dec 21, 2008)

slight inclined DB's


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## PHHead (Aug 20, 2008)

I would say flat bench press is best for packing on overall mass but its also terrible for injuries!


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## Prodiver (Nov 14, 2008)

Jake said:


> Why? *Flat bench emphasises mid and lower pecs.*
> 
> *
> *
> ...


No they don't. This is old bodybuilding bollox.

A paper recebtly cited on here showed that because of their attachment points the pec muscles contract as one, and you can't emphasize a particular part. The lower pec muscles are actually behind the major pec muscles, not lower down.

You may feel a greater stress on the pecs doing inclines, but that's because the tendons are put under strain at an unusual angle, not specifically the pecs themselves.

Your pecs' shape is largely genetically determined, and they will grow bigger overall with exercise.

The pecs are designed to bring your outstretched hands - like Leonardo's Renaissance Man - forward and down to your nuts, so exercises like decline dumbell or barbell presses and strict cable crossovers which mimic this motion of the upper arms are most effective.

Flat benching is great for upper body thickness and overall strength, but does not emphasisze the pecs especially, bringing the delts and triceps heavily into play, and not moving the pecs as much as declines.

The more inclined the press, the more the delts are brought into play, so presses more upright than 45º are really shoulder exercises...


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## hilly (Jan 19, 2008)

been doing decline only for the past 4 months and chest has come on leeps and bounds in thickness.

have now added in incline to add a bit of variety. Now normally i would say both decline and incline hit my chest much more than flat but due to the gym being full of little kids lately i have benched twice in the last 2 weeks flat and my chest has been sore as hell.

I think mixing it up is important and all play apart altho i stay away from flat bench mostly because it plays havoc on the shoulders


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## T.F. (Aug 28, 2008)

Jake said:


> Why? Flat bench emphasises mid and lower pecs.
> 
> Decline emphasises lower pecs.
> 
> People who just do flat/decline end up with droops pecs that look like bitch tits.


Common and incorrect assumption.

http://www.edulife.com.br/dados%5CArtigos%5CEducacao%20Fisica%5CMuscula%C3%A7%C3%A3o%20e%20Condicionamento%20Fisico%5CEletromiografia%20do%20Peitoral.pdf

Edit: Patrick has beat me to it i see.


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## adlewar (Oct 14, 2008)

Jake said:


> Why? Flat bench emphasises mid and lower pecs.
> 
> Decline emphasises lower pecs.
> 
> People who just do flat/decline end up with droops pecs that look like bitch tits.


ha ha load of sh!t................ :confused1:


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## T.F. (Aug 28, 2008)

:lol: I hadn't seen the last line until there now, dear me :lol:


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## Nutz01 (Jan 27, 2009)

Jake said:


> Once practised I believe one can bench more when in a declined position.
> 
> Although, it's not healthy (blood pressure etc).
> 
> I prefer a low incline. Hits the chest evenly.


I find I can bench 10 kg more on declined


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

flat bench, and even more if you use dumbells and pronate a bit of your hands to take the front delt out of the equation.

I do both flat and inclines myself.


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

For me, weighted dips plus high incline press is a better combination for chest growth than concentrating on flat pressing. Having long arms relative to the width of my chest I find flat pressing hits my triceps and front delts a little too much. Dips with a wide grip work my lower and mid chest well however, and high inclines either with a medium-slightly narrower than shoulder width grip or done with DBs hits the upper chest better.


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## gold95 (May 23, 2009)

GoBig said:


> Lately I have been pre-exhausting my pec/tri-cept , With one or two specific movements each , Such as Pec-deck/close-grip flat bench press.
> 
> Then moving on to heavy (but slightly liter then I could typically handle) working sets with Incline dumbells ..... So my chest workout would look something like this.
> 
> ...


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## GoBig (Nov 30, 2009)

It is a lotta work , I sometimes wonder if Im sane. But seriously .......

My shoulders/front delts over shadow my pecs , I have a bit of a void in the upper pec area , So i have been focusing on primarly upper pec devolopment. I have been pleased with my progress so far , I sometimes try a lotta odd-ball ideas that I cook up, not all of them work clearly


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## phys sam (Jan 11, 2008)

why is this in the injury forum?


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## Jake1436114563 (May 9, 2008)

People can say what they like, and add all of the scientific bollocks. I know through experience.

When i was flat benching only i never got DOMS (YES I KNOW!!! Not a direct sign of growth stimulation, yet IS a direct sign of which area has been worked) in my upper pecs and they definitely didn't grow much.

Switched to low incline and bam, they came along quickly.

This is my experience of it, not based on science but experience.

My 2 cents.


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## phys sam (Jan 11, 2008)

great get it in the right section


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## gold95 (May 23, 2009)

Jake said:


> People can say what they like, and add all of the scientific bollocks.* I know through experience.*
> 
> When i was flat benching only i never got DOMS (YES I KNOW!!! Not a direct sign of growth stimulation, yet IS a direct sign of which area has been worked) in my upper pecs and they definitely didn't grow much.
> 
> ...


x 2 (if only all those guys with huge chests knew they were wasting their time doing inclines/declines/flat :lol: )

i do inc DB press & flat DB flyes & after 6-8 weeks swop the flat & inc


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

phys sam said:


> why is this in the injury forum?


It is? :whistling:

Nice call, I moved it.

Nice to see you stop by phys sam:thumb:


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## T.F. (Aug 28, 2008)

Massive guys that got like that on incline chest should feel free to post their massive chest pics


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## MillionG (Nov 17, 2009)

I have realllllly long arms, so flat bench always came along really slowly for me, so for now I do incline DB press and dips..

I might return to flat benching once my tri's and delts are up to a good standard, means I wont be limited by them when benching, only limited by my pecs.


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## T.F. (Aug 28, 2008)

Not try decline, Mill?

Shorter ROM, more pressure on the pec. Try it man!


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## MillionG (Nov 17, 2009)

T.F. said:


> Not try decline, Mill?
> 
> Shorter ROM, more pressure on the pec. Try it man!


Never tried it, we don't really have a proper decline bench at my gym, only ones with very slight angles.

I'll give it a go though on the smith machine to try it out


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## sidefx (Nov 28, 2009)

Jake did you take that picture of the eggs....


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## GunnaGetBig (Dec 14, 2008)

Jake said:


> People can say what they like, and add all of the scientific bollocks. I know through experience.
> 
> When i was flat benching only i never got DOMS (YES I KNOW!!! Not a direct sign of growth stimulation, yet IS a direct sign of which area has been worked) in my upper pecs and they definitely didn't grow much.
> 
> ...


Nobody's denying that. What people are saying is that doing decline will have a greater impact on the upper chest as opposed to incline not flat/incline!

Yes incline might hit your upper more than flat but according to the results, decline will hit it even more!


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## Prodiver (Nov 14, 2008)

GunnaGetBig said:


> Nobody's denying that. *What people are saying is that doing decline will have a greater impact on the upper chest as opposed to incline not flat/incline!*
> 
> Yes incline might hit your upper more than flat but according to the results, decline will hit it even more!


No sorts of presses have a greater impact on the upper chest than the lower - certainly not inclines.

The "upper" and "lower" pecs are misnomers: the pectoralis minor is behind the major pec and covered by it.

The pectoralis minor and pectoralis major muscles work together: their tendons are inserted together near the top of the humerus (upper arm bone).

Declines and cable crosses give the biggest range of movement to the pecs and stress them more than any other type of press.

And greater stress means greater growth.

It may be that some guys feel they get more out of inclines, but this is most likely because they do them more efficiently than they do flat or decline presses.

But there's absolutely no doubt that incline presses put the least stress on the pecs. It's easy to show that from about 45º up inclines cause the pecs to elongate rather than contract, so the delts rather than the pecs must be lifting the weight.


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## pea head (May 28, 2008)

I havent done flat bench for over 6 yrs now.


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## Irish Beast (Jun 16, 2009)

I dont do decline ever. All the blood rushes to my head and i feel ill and faint.

Also with my current bench I would need to be elastic man to get into the incline position!


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