# does anyone rate decline bench?



## B-rad (Aug 18, 2013)

as above does anyone rate it I only ever do flat and incline, I wanna know what you guys think as I might start adding it in my sessions.

thanks


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## L11 (Jan 21, 2011)

Best chest exercise for me bar none


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## Guest (Jan 6, 2014)

dips incline decline

only 3 things I do for chest


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## ashmo (Jul 1, 2011)

My favourite.


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## B-rad (Aug 18, 2013)

if I done incline and decline instead of flat would my chest have decent thickness and shape??


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## Sharpz (Oct 1, 2012)

B-rad said:


> if I done incline and decline instead of flat would my chest have decent thickness and shape??


Yes mate - depending on genetics of course


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## B-rad (Aug 18, 2013)

would you say decline shapes your chest more than strengthening it


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## L11 (Jan 21, 2011)

B-rad said:


> would you say decline shapes your chest more than strengthening it


I think you're over-complicating it..

It takes the emphasis off the shoulders for me and that's I prefer it


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## B-rad (Aug 18, 2013)

L11 said:


> I think you're over-complicating it..
> 
> It takes the emphasis off the shoulders for me and that's I prefer it


Im over thinking now, do you ever do flat?


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## L11 (Jan 21, 2011)

B-rad said:


> Im over thinking now, do you ever do flat?


Nah.. Never


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## B-rad (Aug 18, 2013)

L11 said:


> Nah.. Never


just decline and incline


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## L11 (Jan 21, 2011)

B-rad said:


> just decline and incline


My chest routine is barbell decline bench, flys on the selectorised machine, close grip incline on the smith


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## G-man99 (Jul 15, 2008)

Decline BB my favorite.

I never BB flat but will use DB's sometimes as well as incline DB's


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## digitalis (Sep 13, 2011)

It's great for the tri' as a narrow grip. Takes a lot of the anterior delt out.


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## raptordog (Oct 9, 2008)

Decline bench, followed by incline dumbbell press then d/b or cable flys, throw in some dips or machine press...your on a winner


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## C.Hill (Nov 21, 2010)

Would love to decline but just can't feel it in the chest?

Flat bench kills my shoulders.

Incline bench is where it's at for me, really thickened my chest up the last 6 months of doing it.


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## Ricky12345 (Jun 13, 2012)

Is there much off a difrence then maybe I should get on decline flats stalled for me ages ago strength progresses like mad on it but growth doesent


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## digitalis (Sep 13, 2011)

Ricky12345 said:


> Is there much off a difrence then maybe I should get on decline flats stalled for me ages ago strength progresses like mad on it but growth doesent


If you stall on any exercise mate just switch to a similar one. Never hit a plateau then, I used to change "main" exercise every 2-3 workouts max.


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## Ricky12345 (Jun 13, 2012)

digitalis said:


> If you stall on any exercise mate just switch to a similar one. Never hit a plateau then, I used to change "main" exercise every 2-3 workouts max.


I will switch over to decline tomoz mate I just loved flat as strength was going awsome but I'd rather look the part than lift the part


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## simonthepieman (Jun 11, 2012)

G-man99 said:


> Decline BB my favorite.
> 
> I never BB flat but will use DB's sometimes as well as incline DB's


This x2 for me.

I do like BB incline now and again


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## Mike90 (Nov 21, 2013)

C.Hill said:


> Would love to decline but just can't feel it in the chest?
> 
> Flat bench kills my shoulders.
> 
> Incline bench is where it's at for me, really thickened my chest up the last 6 months of doing it.


Did you have a specific incline angle that worked for you mate or did you change the angles during your workout? I'm trying to get more thickness where my pec/delt tie in is, collarbone area. Happy with lower and middle chest, upper is just lacking too much mass for my liking, looks worse as im holding no water too atm. Cheers


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## BruceT (Jul 26, 2013)

Ricky12345 said:


> I will switch over to decline tomoz mate I just loved flat as strength was going awsome but I'd rather look the part than lift the part


What's your form like, and what were you benching (kgs) when on flat?

Too much shoulder in the press?


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## Craig92 (Dec 31, 2013)

I do flat bench, incline and decline.

I'm **** at incline so I'm trying to work on that at the moment.

Personally I think each exercise is equally important for a good chest.


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## simonthepieman (Jun 11, 2012)

digitalis said:


> If you stall on any exercise mate just switch to a similar one. Never hit a plateau then, I used to change "main" exercise every 2-3 workouts max.


spot on. It's like the westside approach, i change the first lift or rep scheme regularly and never or rarely stall. Just focus on beating that lift or rep scheme when i did it last


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## lickatsplit (Aug 21, 2012)

decline bench will work the lower part of the pecs. incline the upper, flat a more all over pec workout.

I don't really do decline and mostly incline as I prefer to work on the line running from under my neck.


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## Stephen9069 (Dec 11, 2013)

I only do flat and incline then weighted dips think iv only declined a handful of times


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## simonthepieman (Jun 11, 2012)

lickatsplit said:


> decline bench will work the lower part of the pecs. incline the upper, flat a more all over pec workout.
> 
> I don't really do decline and mostly incline as I prefer to work on the line running from under my neck.


do people still believe things like this?


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## lickatsplit (Aug 21, 2012)

simonthepieman said:


> do people still believe things like this?


yeah I do, clearly


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## simonthepieman (Jun 11, 2012)

lickatsplit said:


> yeah I do, clearly


Pretend to do a decline bench now and tense your chest as hard as you can. Can you not feel your upper and inner chest engaged


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## G-man99 (Jul 15, 2008)

simonthepieman said:


> do people still believe things like this?


Yeah man, bro science is still going strong!!!

Didn't you know the chest is made up of 3 muscles????


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## C.Hill (Nov 21, 2010)

Mike90 said:


> Did you have a specific incline angle that worked for you mate or did you change the angles during your workout? I'm trying to get more thickness where my pec/delt tie in is, collarbone area. Happy with lower and middle chest, upper is just lacking too much mass for my liking, looks worse as im holding no water too atm. Cheers


Dunno really it's about 35degrees? Nothing major. Works a treat!


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## Snorbitz1uk (Sep 21, 2005)

i do decline bench followed by incline. never do flat bench at all


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## rsd147 (Nov 14, 2012)

I always do Decline. I used to do Flat etc but did abit of research on this Dorian Yates also swears by them and explains why he used them as opposed to Flat


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

I've not done decline for over 10 years.

Only ever gave me shoulder pain.

If you have a tricep dip machine you can do decline press without the shoulder problems. This is much better for me.

I've built a good chest without using decline so it's not essential.


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

lickatsplit said:


> decline bench will work the lower part of the pecs. incline the upper, flat a more all over pec workout.
> 
> I don't really do decline and mostly incline as I prefer to work on the line running from under my neck.


That's not true.


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## Mrw26 (Oct 27, 2013)

I'm a big fan of decline barbell but I know a lot of people that hate doing it. If you can do it pain free and feel it adds to your routine then put it in for a few weeks and see how it goes


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## BLUE(UK) (Jan 9, 2008)

I honestly believe it depends on your shoulder 'width' which will determine if you find flat bench press painful in the shoulders.

Those with narrower shoulders will suit the flat bench better than those with wide shoulders since those with wider shoulders tend to have shoulders that rounden forwards slightly hence pressing with them IMO. I have such wider shoulders.


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## skipper1987 (May 1, 2013)

Imo its the hands down beast chest builder!!!!


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## JackMatt (Jan 6, 2014)

At the moment I'm sticking with incline and flat, simply because it puts more load on my shoulders and they are my focus at the moment. Running a Push,Pull,Legs routine.

Decline was in my sets prior to that and it's given me some nice thickness. Seem to have retained the shape, but decline strength is probably down after a month.


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## Donny dog (May 1, 2013)

So in summary then.

Decline bench with barbell is the king of mass builders but if you jump back on the flat bench after 6 weeks or so you wont be able to lift anywhere near the same weight as before you started on the decline?

Kind of caught between the devil and the deep blue sea imo then.


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## bigchickenlover (Jul 16, 2013)

Yes if I bench its decline all the way! Snuffed flat bench a long time ago!!


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

Donny dog said:


> So in summary then.
> 
> Decline bench with barbell is the king of mass builders but if you jump back on the flat bench after 6 weeks or so you wont be able to lift anywhere near the same weight as before you started on the decline?
> 
> Kind of caught between the devil and the deep blue sea imo then.


I wouldn't say it's the king. Just a good exercise if you can handle it structurally.

I would say using DBs is better as this would allow more freedom of movement in the shoulder.

Don't be too concerned with weight when bodybuilding. It's the stress on the muscle and the muscular response to that stress which produces an increase in size.

I have plenty of power lifters in my gym much stronger than me on bench but nowhere near my level of development in terms of shape.

Different disciplines.

Like the people who tell me I HAVE to touch my chest on bench press to get a 'real rep'. Not really understanding that this point in the exercise ie touching chest is actually more stress on joints and tendons than chest.


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## simonthepieman (Jun 11, 2012)

Tinytom said:


> I wouldn't say it's the king. Just a good exercise if you can handle it structurally.
> 
> I would say using DBs is better as this would allow more freedom of movement in the shoulder.
> 
> ...


I'm not an expert on physiology, but would decline be better on the shoulders than flat in terms of where the opposing force of the weight hits the shoulders (if that makes sense?)

You kinda give an alternative answer by accident in your post above that maybe DBs are better than both because you can control the ROM isolated the muscle better and use less weight more more stimulus and therefore safer (in theory)???


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## Donny dog (May 1, 2013)

Tinytom said:


> I wouldn't say it's the king. Just a good exercise if you can handle it structurally.
> 
> I would say using DBs is better as this would allow more freedom of movement in the shoulder.
> 
> ...


This is where im caught between two minds you see. I obviously want to develop some size in my body but I don't just want to be a decent size without being able to lift a decent weight too.

I think the best call for me for now is to switch between flat and decline regularly every 4-6 weeks.


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## NorthernSoul (Nov 7, 2011)

I feel so much more stretch on the decline. Probably because physics allows the bar to go lower if your bench is declined but you know what i mean. I feel that further the stretch the more you will work your chest.


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

simonthepieman said:


> I'm not an expert on physiology, but would decline be better on the shoulders than flat in terms of where the opposing force of the weight hits the shoulders (if that makes sense?)
> 
> You kinda give an alternative answer by accident in your post above that maybe DBs are better than both because you can control the ROM isolated the muscle better and use less weight more more stimulus and therefore safer (in theory)???


I get on a lot better with DBs in terms of shoulders. My shoulders are quite wide and it's been said previously that this could be an issue.

It's confusing the term 'lighter' as yes the DBs are lighter in terms of weight but in terms of load on the muscle DBs exhibit more overall load because they have to be balanced by the arm. That's not really a concern on a BB as the load is shared over the arms and the torso.

So although DBs are lighter I feel I get more from a DB lift in terms of targeting the muscle than a bar. Same with a DB or BB row. I get a better contraction from a DB row (both handed) than I do a BB row.


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

Donny dog said:


> This is where im caught between two minds you see. I obviously want to develop some size in my body but I don't just want to be a decent size without being able to lift a decent weight too.
> 
> I think the best call for me for now is to switch between flat and decline regularly every 4-6 weeks.


If you can handle the exercise I don't see why not.

From my point of view I rarely do BB press as it normally causes issues. Incline is about the only one I can do.

I'm Lucky in my gym I have a lot of variant machines to use so the lack of a BB press is not a massive issue.

However I will say that doing flat floor press has recently helped me loads to bring a little more fullness.

But at my level all development now is very small which means I need to constantly be doing things slightly different in my workouts to get any sort of change.


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

I think depth of ribcage and relative length of arms to torso make the decline bench great for some and not so great for others.

Personally I do very well with decline presses (bb or db) and weighted dips and less well with flat benches - although when I've trained seriously in the last few years I have spent a lot more time altering and experimenting with flat benching technique and am finding I get more out of it now than I used to, especially when using a guillotine elbows flared style arm positioning.

Also finding wide grip reverse grip flat benches very good for the upper pecs, and better than inclines or regular flat benches.


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## simonthepieman (Jun 11, 2012)

Tinytom said:


> I get on a lot better with DBs in terms of shoulders. My shoulders are quite wide and it's been said previously that this could be an issue.
> 
> It's confusing the term 'lighter' as yes the DBs are lighter in terms of weight but in terms of load on the muscle DBs exhibit more overall load because they have to be balanced by the arm. That's not really a concern on a BB as the load is shared over the arms and the torso.
> 
> So although DBs are lighter I feel I get more from a DB lift in terms of targeting the muscle than a bar. Same with a DB or BB row. I get a better contraction from a DB row (both handed) than I do a BB row.


Thanks for that, great answer.

Without going too OT. I have trouble isolated my back on rows and pull ups. I tend to use bars and single attachment that both hands grip too. Would DBs be a potential remedy to this? If so what kind of ROM and angle should I aim for?

I have a similar structure (I daren't say the word build) to you, short, stock and broad


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

Agree with Det.

I can't do dips in any form or my shoulders really hurt.

So it's really finding what works for you.


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## simonthepieman (Jun 11, 2012)

dtlv said:


> I think depth of ribcage and relative length of arms to torso make the decline bench great for some and not so great for others.
> 
> Personally I do very well with decline presses (bb or db) and weighted dips and less well with flat benches - although when I've trained seriously in the last few years I have spent a lot more time altering and experimenting with flat benching technique and am finding I get more out of it now than I used to, especially when using a guillotine elbows flared style arm positioning.
> 
> Also finding wide grip reverse grip flat benches very good for the upper pecs, and better than inclines or regular flat benches.


I tried reverse grip a few times and never felt comfortable


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

simonthepieman said:


> Thanks for that, great answer.
> 
> Without going too OT. I have trouble isolated my back on rows and pull ups. I tend to use bars and single attachment that both hands grip too. Would DBs be a potential remedy to this? If so what kind of ROM and angle should I aim for?
> 
> I have a similar structure (I daren't say the word build) to you, short, stock and broad


I think I may have a video of the exercise on my YouTube. If not I'll get one today as I'm training later.

You can really get a tight contraction on DBs.

However might be that you aren't locking your back in tight enough on the exercise. I see this quite regularly even with experienced trainers. The difference is massive. I'll try and get a demo video done today.


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

Decline bench on a tricep machine.






Simon this is an example of how you lock your back in but I'll get another later of the DB row.


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## paul xe (Sep 24, 2011)

Tinytom said:


> Agree with Det.
> 
> I can't do dips in any form or my shoulders really hurt.
> 
> So it's really finding what works for you.


Glad to hear you say that as I thought it was just me and I was doing them incorrectly!

I get a sharp pain in my front delts when doing body weight dips, don't suffer too bad on the dip machine though, maybe because I'm more vertical on the machine.


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

Dip machine is different because you are pushing the weight down and not your body weight up.

Slightly different in terms of strain as there's no necessity to hold your body weight while pressing.


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

simonthepieman said:


> I tried reverse grip a few times and never felt comfortable


Can't unrack from the bar without a spotter IMO - that's the tricky bit for me.

For technique it's also a fussy one - wide grip, elbows tucked in, bar lowered above lower chest/sternum but raised in an arc so that the bar rests with straight arms over upper chest. Have to start light and forget about going heavy for low reps - a mid range repper this one for sure.

Have done a few sessions of just RG benches recently though and the chest DOMS is very odd indeed afterwards - all upper pecs, no lower pec at all, and the pump when doing them swells out the upper pec much more than the lower. Definitely hits the target well.

The only thing to say that's cautionary though is that working the pectoralis minor like that can too easily result in those muscles becoming too tight and pulling the shoulders forward - poor posture and higher shoulder injury risk. If going to target the pec minor for specific work then shoulder mobility/stretching, rotator cuff work, AND lots of attention to the rear delts and mid traps also important to avoid developing imbalances at the shoulder joint.


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## raptordog (Oct 9, 2008)

A little video explaining the decline bench...... 






It explains details in the first few minutes so you don't have to watch the whole thing.....

Make of it what you will......


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## SkipsnQuips (Jan 13, 2014)

I love the 'guillotine bench press'.


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## cudsyaj (Jul 5, 2011)

decline and incline, in that order... rarely do flat, if I do I use dumbbells


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## 36-26 (Jun 30, 2009)

Yes I rate declines very highly.


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