Flat Bench or Not

[Scalleywag]

I have heard mixed reviews on Flat Bench. What do you guys think about it and what do you all do to get optimum chest growth?

[Phreak]

Re: Flat Bench or Not

i think it is a good exercise. the only reason i don't do it is because of a shoulder injury.

it really depends on your build when it comes to picking the ideal chest exercise... some people respond best to incline barbell, while others respond best to decline dumbells. you just have to experiment around to see what works best for you.

of course there are guidelines to follow (basic presses with freeweights, etc.) but the short answer is that everybody is different, and only trial and error will show you what truly works best for YOU.

[a-bomb83]

Re: Flat Bench or Not

some say yay, some say nay. i'm a yayer. i find that if form is of no concern, then injury shouldn't be a problem. flat and incline are the best for optimal growth.

[lxorl]

Re: Flat Bench or Not

i never do flat bench with a bar... hurts my shoulder and I am weak as hell on it.... i can hang pretty well with incline dumbells but flat bench doesnt do much for me.... also working with bars makes me develope lopsided... i am stronger on my left and it will grow faster.... i have to even out the distribution of weight by using dumbells or machines that let my sides work independently

[Phreak]

Re: Flat Bench or Not

some say yay, some say nay. i'm a yayer. i find that if form is of no concern, then injury shouldn't be a problem. flat and incline are the best for optimal growth.

not necessarily true. everybody is different. i know folks who grow best from decline presses, myself included. i know others who grow better from dumbells than barbells.

and injury is a problem when you have a pre-existing condition that can be aggravated by certain movements, despite how good your form is

[pigmeat]

Re: Flat Bench or Not

flat barbell bench is really not good for your shoulders at all...ask every lifter who sustained injury lifting and 90% will say they did it benching....alot of it is that the bench is an ego lift, and people try and lift weight they have no business lifting.
I DONT BENCH HEAVY ANYMORE...JUST HIGH REP SETS I reserve my heavy lifting for incline, decline and dumbells

[DJDIGGLER]

Re: Flat Bench or Not

flat barbell bench is really not good for your shoulders at all...ask every lifter who sustained injury lifting and 90% will say they did it benching....alot of it is that the bench is an ego lift, and people try and lift weight they have no business lifting.
I DONT BENCH HEAVY ANYMORE...JUST HIGH REP SETS I reserve my heavy lifting for incline, decline and dumbells

Very logical point. If you work out at 100% intensity going for 1 rep maxs(like I do sometimes) you chance sustaining an injury.

Honestly I don't see how people can say one is better than the other. they each have their own purpose. Incline works the upper chest, flat works the middle and side of the chest, decline works the bottom of your chest which makes it form a ridge. So how you guys are saying it depends on the person makes no sense to me. Sure maybe one area will grow better than the other from person to person, but you should still be hitting all angles of your chest for proper proportional growth!

[Waterboy]

Re: Flat Bench or Not

I mix them up. Do a few weeks doing all straight bar for flat and incline, thenswitch uo for a few weeks to all dumbell. For me, I use the dumbell weeks to work on the tie-ins from chest to shoulder. I can move the weight closer or farther away to isolate the specific area. Mind you, I do not go that heavy with dumbells. I make sure my form is very strict.

[Testify]

Re: Flat Bench or Not

The falt bench is a staple. You should be doing it unless you can't due to injury.

[Slightly Enhanced]

Re: Flat Bench or Not

flat barbell bench is really not good for your shoulders at all...ask every lifter who sustained injury lifting and 90% will say they did it benching....alot of it is that the bench is an ego lift, and people try and lift weight they have no business lifting.
I DONT BENCH HEAVY ANYMORE...JUST HIGH REP SETS I reserve my heavy lifting for incline, decline and dumbells

I must be odd, Incline is what killed and still kills my shoulder

[Phreak]

Re: Flat Bench or Not

Very logical point. If you work out at 100% intensity going for 1 rep maxs(like I do sometimes) you chance sustaining an injury.

Honestly I don't see how people can say one is better than the other. they each have their own purpose. Incline works the upper chest, flat works the middle and side of the chest, decline works the bottom of your chest which makes it form a ridge. So how you guys are saying it depends on the person makes no sense to me. Sure maybe one area will grow better than the other from person to person, but you should still be hitting all angles of your chest for proper proportional growth!

completely and utterly untrue. the muscle contracts as a whole. changing the angle can increase the force exerted on/by certain areas, but, as i said, the muscle contracts as a whole. and in the end, genetics will determine the shape of your chest.

genetics and biometrics are the most important factors here, and they vary widely from one person to the next. this is why it depends on the individual when choosing the exercise that works best for building a certain muscle group. there are guidelines that you can follow, but it's all trial and error in the end.

those f'ing weider principles....

[DJDIGGLER]

Re: Flat Bench or Not

completely and utterly untrue. the muscle contracts as a whole. changing the angle can increase the force exerted on/by certain areas, but, as i said, the muscle contracts as a whole. and in the end, genetics will determine the shape of your chest.

genetics and biometrics are the most important factors here, and they vary widely from one person to the next. this is why it depends on the individual when choosing the exercise that works best for building a certain muscle group. there are guidelines that you can follow, but it's all trial and error in the end.

those f'ing weider principles....

Weider principles my ars! That is common knowledge! For one I'd love for you to explain to me how when my shoulder was injured and I wasn't able to do inclines due to my shoulder injury that the top of my pec was tiny and my collar bone would stick out like a 90 year old woman.

Now after my injury healed and I'm able to do incline's my upper part of my pec has returned to normal size and it now covers up the collar bone that used to stick out!

Now if we go by what you just said, that means that when I was doing flat bench when I was slightly injured my upper pec should have grown big at the top if that's what my genetics say. So how come it only grew big after I started doing inclines again?

Not only that but if you use proper form you can feel the burn in the different area's of your pecs as per which workout you are doing ie....incline = upper pec, flat = middle of pec, decline = bottom of pec....

[Phreak]

Re: Flat Bench or Not

Weider principles my ars! That is common knowledge! For one I'd love for you to explain to me how when my shoulder was injured and I wasn't able to do inclines due to my shoulder injury that the top of my pec was tiny and my collar bone would stick out like a 90 year old woman.

Now after my injury healed and I'm able to do incline's my upper part of my pec has returned to normal size and it now covers up the collar bone that used to stick out!

Now if we go by what you just said, that means that when I was doing flat bench when I was slightly injured my upper pec should have grown big at the top if that's what my genetics say. So how come it only grew big after I started doing inclines again?

Not only that but if you use proper form you can feel the burn in the different area's of your pecs as per which workout you are doing ie....incline = upper pec, flat = middle of pec, decline = bottom of pec....

wrong again. unfortunately the "common knowledge" you are talking about is a direct result of those weider principles that have been burned in to bbing mantra since the 60's.

AND IT'S BULLSHITE

how are you certain that incline's caused your upper pec to develop after your injury? maybe your injury prevented you from fully utilizing the muscle no matter what movement you chose to do, and other assiting muscles took over the load? this happens all the time when training with injuries.

and who's to say that flat bench is the best overall pec development exercise for you? you are taking my statement and assuming that it must be. i never said it was.

in fact, my whole point was that muscle groups contract as a whole. changing the angle of attack can increase the load on certain areas of the muscle, but it doesn't stop your (chest in this case) from contracting as one, both upper and lower.

and in the end, your chest is going to grow as your genetics have predetermined.

i can take two guys right- say one of them has the genetics for bottom-heavy development in his pecs (guy a) and the other has the genetics for top heavy development (guy b). let's have them both do flat bench; same weight, same reps, same frequency. same diet, same rest too. in the end, guy a will have a better developed lower chest and guy b will have a better developed upper chest!

and the same thing will happen if i have them both do incline, or decline. or if i have one do incline and the other do flat or incline. in the end, their chests will contract as a whole and genetics will determine development.

two of my old training partners had a similar situation. one had a flaring outer quad sweep, looked incredible. the other had incredibly developed teardrops. these guys did the same leg workout (i was there for all of them)- barbell squats and leg presses with the exact same stance.

and no matter what, brandon had the sick sweep with ok teardrop, and mike had the sick teardrop with hardly any sweep.

i used to believe all that muscle mag bullshit back in the day... "oh man, my inner chest needs some work, let's do some crossovers." "dude, my upper chest won't grow, i need to concentrate on inclines."

it's all crap.

your genetics, which determine your biometrics, make certain movements better or worse for overall development. changing the angle, or your stance, or your position may change the way the muscle group is hit on each rep, but in the end it is pre-programmed to grow a certain way.

once i learned this, and picked my movement (decline barbell press) my upper pecs grew faster than ever.

consistency of diet and rest and brief, intense, frequent training sessions of one compound movement are the best way to complete development IMO.