Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is?
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Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/12/2008 3:20:56 PM
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joey0
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Sometimes my pecs look like tits, partly because my posture, and also I think because I only do flat bench and dips for chest. Everybody says that incline is supposed to build up your "upper pecs" which sounds great but whenever I do incline I feel like it's all shoulders and no chest, hence why I rarely do incline. I don't have a video of my form but can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?
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RE: Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/12/2008 3:51:33 PM
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PumaKrieg
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It has been shown that working a muscle from different angles, such as the chest with incline, decline and flat bench will actually produce better results than with those that did not.
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(in reply to joey0)
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RE: Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/12/2008 4:45:45 PM
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Bigc_sams777
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quote:
Reply Try an incline that is less steep. The steeper the incline, the more the shoulders are involved. Also a wider grip works the outter chest and shoulders more than a grip that is more narrow, so maybe ur grip is too wide. I sometimes do a burn out set of front raises right before incline so my shoulders are burnt out and I have to use more chest during the set. Works for me.
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RE: Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/12/2008 4:55:56 PM
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brihead301
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I wouldn't say that incline bench is pointless, but basically flat bench and OH presses are all you need to do for pushing movements. Maybe switch up barbells for dumbells sometimes too, but that's about it. The tits thing is just from extra body fat.
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RE: Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/12/2008 5:31:24 PM
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David1991
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Bigc_sams777
quote:
Reply Try an incline that is less steep. The steeper the incline, the more the shoulders are involved. Also a wider grip works the outter chest and shoulders more than a grip that is more narrow, so maybe ur grip is too wide. I sometimes do a burn out set of front raises right before incline so my shoulders are burnt out and I have to use more chest during the set. Works for me.
if anything you'd want to do the opposite. doing a pre-exhuast set of front raises will just make ur shoulders even more tired when u do the incline press and that will limit how much ur chest is involved even more. if he was going to do any type of pre exhaust superset with an isolation exercise i would suggest incline flyes or even normal flyes so that even when the shoulders do start to fail the chest has been thoroughly pushed.
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RE: Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/12/2008 5:33:48 PM
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Forsaken3400
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do DUMBELL INCLINE BENCH
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RE: Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/12/2008 5:51:22 PM
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Stillseeingreen
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I just want to start by saying there is no such thing as an outter chest, somebody mentioned that above. Grip width for bar-involved chest exercises only determines the extent to which muslces other than the Pectoralis Major are used.
Your pecs could "look like tits" for a number of reasons, one of the more obvious reasons could be bodyfat (I have no idea what your bodyfat is) but too much fat in the chest could definitely affect the shape.
The incline question: Your shoulders might be proportionately less trained then your chest. Your chest could be genetically more developed than your shoulders, resulting in your shoulders becoming exhausted from the stabilizing role they play before the chest is near maximum effort. It could also be as you speculated, maybe your form is off. The only advice ive ever got on incline bench that was at all helpful was to try and come close to grazing your chin as you bring the bar down, this forces the clavicular head of the pectorals to take a more active role in the lift (or least it has worked for me). Posting a video of your form could be very helpful too, somebody is bound to see something that can be improved.
< Message edited by Stillseeingreen -- 5/13/2008 8:40:15 PM >
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Yet
Usually when I get to the top of my deadlift I'll do a reverse-grip curl.
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RE: Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/12/2008 6:01:18 PM
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Tommy_Boy420
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Forsaken3400
do DUMBELL INCLINE BENCH
i dont know man...if hes worried about the shoulders getting too involved, the DB incline incorporates more shoulders and you can feel it too..
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RE: Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/12/2008 8:20:29 PM
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joey0
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lol, I guess I should clear up the tits thing, what I meant was that they only look like that when I'm not holding my shoulders up and back, when I do they don't look like tits but I think they would look better if the upper part was more developed.
quote:
ORIGINAL: brihead301
I wouldn't say that incline bench is pointless, but basically flat bench and OH presses are all you need to do for pushing movements.
Incline sort of feels like a combination of OH press and flat bench, but I feel like I could work shoulders and chest better with OH press and flat bench, rather than working both with incline.
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16 yrs 5'7'' 190 lbs
Bench - 225x2
Deadlift - 335x1
Squat - 245x5
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(in reply to brihead301)
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RE: Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/13/2008 2:31:58 AM
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renxiii
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also try to check you estrogen levels...maybe thats the cause.
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RE: Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/13/2008 5:16:56 AM
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TheSilverFox
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incline relies more on the triceps and shoulders. yes.. it's hitting the upper region of the chest more than flatbench would.
sounds like you need to work your shoulders more, and maybe triceps too? i used to hate incline b/c of the same reason you mentioned. so i worked on shoulder and tricep strength and now incline bp is no problem
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RE: Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/13/2008 6:10:16 AM
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xXxDavexXx
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quote:
ORIGINAL: TheSilverFox
i worked on shoulder and tricep strength and now incline bp is no problem
Ditto
lol, I went a lil crazy with the triceps. My biceps are starting to catch up now :\ ALL my presses reaped the tricep work I put in.
I was told some propped external rotators thrown in on chest day would help with my Bench press and DB presses also. I'll give anything a shot.
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keep it stupid simple
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RE: Is Incline bench as pointless as I think it is? - 5/13/2008 1:01:17 PM
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David1991
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Stillseeingreen
I just want to start by saying there is no such thing as an outter chest, somebody mentioned that above. Grip width for bar-involved chest exercises only determines the extent to which muslces other than the Pectoralis Major are used.
Your pecs could "look like tits" for a number of reasons, one of the more obvious reasons could be bodyfat (I have no idea what your bodyfat is) but too much fat in the chest could definitely affect the shape.
The incline question: Your shoulders might be proportionately less trained then your chest. Your chest could be genetically more developed than your shoulders, resulting in your shoulders becoming exhausted from the stabilizing role they play before the chest is near maximum effort. It could also be as you speculated, maybe your form is off. The only advice ive ever got on incline bench that was at all helpful was to try and come close to grazing your chin as you bring the bar down, this forces the clavicular head of the pectorals to take a more active role in the lift (or least it has worked for me). Posting a video of your form could be very helpful too, somebody is bound to see something that can be improved.
i've heard that before too, seemed helpful when i did it
(in reply to Stillseeingreen)
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