# Decline Bench Press



## Dananaman (Jan 2, 2013)

Anyone else find that this hits the chest like no other?


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## lolik (Apr 24, 2010)

if done correctly it can be a great exercise


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## JS95 (Aug 29, 2010)

find it hits my shoulders more


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## Ginger Ben (Oct 5, 2010)

Best way to bench for me but I do swap it with incline DB press for variety and balance.


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## Dananaman (Jan 2, 2013)

Jimmysteve95 said:


> find it hits my shoulders more


You're definitely doing it wrong, sure you're not thinking incline?

Even if incline hits your shoulders you're doing it wrong.


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## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

Decline db's for me, I love em. I can feel the squeeze like no other position, mainly due to it being the most natural position for working the pecs.


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## Mighty Sparrow (Apr 10, 2011)

Not a fan at all, much prefer cables.


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## synthasize (Aug 15, 2009)

Dananaman said:


> You're definitely doing it wrong, sure you're not thinking incline?
> 
> Even if incline hits your shoulders you're doing it wrong.


No, they're both compound exercises, your shoulders will be engaged either way

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk


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## -AC- (Jul 9, 2011)

decline has been shown to recruit more muscle fibres in the chest than doing flat or incline.

really steep decline close grip is my favourite tricep exercise. the squeeze you can get is awesome on your tri's. if you keep your elbows tucked in and concentrate on not engaging your pecs that is.


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## jstarcarr (Aug 6, 2010)

I think its an awesome exercise for chest cant beat it.


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## johnny_lee (Jun 15, 2011)

yeah i love it we dont have a decline bench in our gym so just stick the heavy wieghts behind so the bench doesnt roll back and you end up with alot of weight on your head lmfao.


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## ulster_timbo (Jan 6, 2011)

I find decline work is essential for even chest growth. Since i started incorporating this into my routine, my lower chest area has improved **** loads, as the

other exercises just are not hitting that area of the chest anywhere near as hard.


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## Paul_k2 (Mar 21, 2009)

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and decline is sh1t......... for me. All these studies and what not, i'm sure i've read before that you can't target your lower or upper chest as the two muscle attachments are right in the arm pit/ shoulder area and they both activate during any chest excercise. I do a lot of incline presses/ flys and find i can target my chest as a whole (mind to muscle connected if you like) and decline just hurts my elbows i think its an individual thing and i also think alot of it is due to genetics the way the chest grows.

I'm ready for a grilling now


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## ulster_timbo (Jan 6, 2011)

Paul_k2 said:


> I'm gonna go out on a limb here and decline is sh1t......... for me. All these studies and what not, i'm sure i've read before that you can't target your lower or upper chest as the two muscle attachments are right in the arm pit/ shoulder area and they both activate during any chest excercise. I do a lot of incline presses/ flys and find i can target my chest as a whole (mind to muscle connected if you like) and decline just hurts my elbows i think its an individual thing and i also think alot of it is due to genetics the way the chest grows.
> 
> I'm ready for a grilling now


Nah thats a fair opinion mate, you know yourself that there is guys out there dont even work out and naturally have well developed pecs all round, where as theres me who always had a decent upper and middle section on the pecs, but lacked at the lower...... UNTIL I incorporated decline work.

So genetics I would say play a huge part!!!!!


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## vetran (Oct 17, 2009)

Paul_k2 said:


> I'm gonna go out on a limb here and decline is sh1t......... for me. All these studies and what not, i'm sure i've read before that you can't target your lower or upper chest as the two muscle attachments are right in the arm pit/ shoulder area and they both activate during any chest excercise. I do a lot of incline presses/ flys and find i can target my chest as a whole (mind to muscle connected if you like) and *decline just hurts my elbows* i think its an individual thing and i also think alot of it is due to genetics the way the chest grows.
> 
> *I'm ready for a grilling now*


thats why you dont like them,so shut the fck up i love em lol.


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## Paul_k2 (Mar 21, 2009)

ulster_timbo said:


> Nah thats a fair opinion mate, you know yourself that there is guys out there dont even work out and naturally have well developed pecs all round, where as theres me who always had a decent upper and middle section on the pecs, but lacked at the lower...... UNTIL I incorporated decline work.
> 
> *So genetics I would say play a huge part*!!!!!


I do calves raises and my chest grows, i'm not complaining tho  lol


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## Brutal1 (Jan 25, 2011)

I dont have a decline bench so usually just put a 20k plate or 2 under the foot of the bench, anyone else have this problem of not having a decline?? Im interested to know how high i should be raising the bench???

Ive just started decline and love it, feels so much more natural than flat bp.


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## powerhousepeter (Dec 4, 2010)

i hate decline, wrecks my shoulders no matter how i do it, always have bad doms in delts what ever my rep range, and ive messed about loads with technque, incline all the way for me for pressing


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## robc1985 (Jan 28, 2010)

Dorian Yates swears by it


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## powerhousepeter (Dec 4, 2010)

robc1985 said:


> Dorian Yates swears by it


Never used to, used to push incline


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

I always do either decline press or weighted dips - for my body the two most effective pec exercises by far.


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## 1010AD (May 30, 2009)

robc1985 said:


> Dorian Yates swears by it


That's when I started doing decline chest, watching DY's blood and guts trainer on you tube, I feel it hits the chest more than flat bench but its got to be with DB for me.

Jimmysteve95 check it out if it hits your shoulder more coz yes you will use your shoulders but only as a secondary muscle


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## Dananaman (Jan 2, 2013)

synthasize said:


> No, they're both compound exercises, your shoulders will be engaged either way
> 
> Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk


They're both compounds, but the primary muscle for the exercise are the pecs. So if done correctly they shouldn't hit the shoulders 'more'. Especially decline benching.

And if you're hitting your shoulders 'more' when incline benching, then you're at too much of an incline.


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## 1010AD (May 30, 2009)

Dananaman said:


> They're both compounds, but the primary muscle for the exercise are the pecs. So if done correctly they shouldn't hit the shoulders 'more'. Especially decline benching.
> 
> *And if you're hitting your shoulders 'more' when incline benching, then you're at too much of an incline*.


 x2 and thats the problem I have when doing incline,my form has never been good when it comes to incline not sure why (only with DB)


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## Akuma (May 16, 2008)

Alot of People love decline because you can slam on a ton of weight bringing in so much tris, but in truth although it does give a decent squeeze its not the key to a big chest, its incline for that im afraid (and deep flat dumbell/barbell pressing), the reason people dont get the squeeze on incline is because thier is less muscle thier which is why it needs to be worked more, decline has its place but if you want a thick perked chest youve got to incline, the pros will tell you that.


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## infernal0988 (Jun 16, 2011)

decline presses what part of the chest does it work more upper or lower peck? I would imagine upper but never done em before


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## Brutal1 (Jan 25, 2011)

@Akuma, Wow mate, please tell me your not natural??? If you are then bloody hell i think i could be on a g of test and a cocktail of other meds and still be nowhere near what you've got...grrrrrrrr 

@infernal its supposed to be the lower part of the pec that the decline hits, and also the tri's


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## Akuma (May 16, 2008)

Brutal1 said:


> @Akuma, Wow mate, please tell me your not natural??? If you are then bloody hell i think i could be on a g of test and a cocktail of other meds and still be nowhere near what you've got...grrrrrrrr
> 
> Cheers. Lifetime natural, my bro plays basketball trains a bit and he looks crazy, lucky genetics, with the right training and eating you would shock yourself,seen it plenty of times before


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

Incline is definitely important too, mostly for the stretch at the bottom of the movement which decline press can't give. Exercises which work a muscle from the position of maximal stretch resistance tend to hit deeper fibers more than similar exercises which do not, and this always makes them useful, even if they are exercises with a shorter ROM than others.


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## 1010AD (May 30, 2009)

infernal0988 said:


> decline presses what part of the chest does it work more upper or lower peck? I would imagine upper but never done em before


I believe it works all the chest not just part of it.


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## Geonix (Apr 4, 2011)

Looking back at it my chest looked the best when I did 32k declines each chest session, dont really do any decline no more and it shows, great exercise, definitively getting back on it now i'm at a new gym.

Poor results on decline and injuries is due to technique or your just going too heavy 

Same as every exercise if your use the 'mind to muscle' approach you do get much better results in my eyes.


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## a.notherguy (Nov 17, 2008)

cant get away with it myself. no matter where i lower bar to, wherei hold the bar etc my tris give out before my chest. i prefer dips


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## rocky666 (Jul 9, 2009)

listen if your a shouder guy and crap chest type try the decline. ive advocated it 4 years now. all this hitting different parts of the chest is bull in my opinion. i only do decline bench press because had a bad shoulder 4 years from flat benching. so 4 me it works ur delts less. Dorian always did incline first so hasnt always avocated decline.


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## Geonix (Apr 4, 2011)

To be perfectly honest, all these people who say do this, that to a certain extent is fine but do remember nearly has different genetics so the results will be different hence you use exercise that stimulate YOUR body... the most out of experience of usage.


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## rocky666 (Jul 9, 2009)

yes i did say try the decline cos ive put numerous people onto decline and its worked for most not all. at the end of the day its genetics and everyones different so im not preaching just advising.


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## JANIKvonD (Jul 7, 2011)

U need them all, Inc flat dec. Decline is an ego press....that's why I love them


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## Dananaman (Jan 2, 2013)

rocky666 said:


> listen if your a shouder guy and crap chest type try the decline. ive advocated it 4 years now. all this hitting different parts of the chest is bull in my opinion. i only do decline bench press because had a bad shoulder 4 years from flat benching. so 4 me it works ur delts less. Dorian always did incline first so hasnt always avocated decline.


Exactly!


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## Dananaman (Jan 2, 2013)

rocky666 said:


> yes i did say try the decline cos ive put numerous people onto decline and its worked for most not all. at the end of the day its genetics and everyones different so im not preaching just advising.


Disagree with "its genetics". Genetics maybe when it comes to packing on muscle or strength. But technique doesn't come into genetics. Decline is an awesome chest exercise, nothing to do with genetics. Same for every human body, it's physics.


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## Dananaman (Jan 2, 2013)

1010AD said:


> I believe it works all the chest not just part of it.


It works the whole chest.

But will hit the lower chest more than incline or flat.


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