Alternative to Flat Bench?

[vornado]

About 4 years ago I broke my collar bone into 3 pieces while playing hockey. It took about 8 months to fully heal from the injury because of how the bones were aligned (two overlapping parts of the collar bone with a chunk that cracked off in between them). I've tried flatbenching since then, but every time I try to put a decent amount of weight up I get an intense/sharp pain from that area. The weird thing is, I only get the pain while flat benching, incline and decline don't bother me at all.

Starting next Monday I'm getting back on a regular workout plan as my last one got fucked up by the amount of work and classes that I took last quarter. I was wondering how good of a substitute dumbbell presses are to bench presses, as these don't bother my collar bone at all. Most of the threads that I've read on here since joining hail the bench press as one of the best exercises to get bigger, but flat benching just doesn't seem like an option for me.

 

[kiosk]

consider dips as well....next to bench I think they the best for chest/tri growth.

 

[vornado]

consider dips as well....next to bench I think they the best for chest/tri growth.

Thanks, I planned on adding those into my routine as well. Are dumbbell exercises in general as good as their barbell counterparts? Such as doing dumbbell incline presses instead of barbell presses? From my experience and what I've read its more difficult to press a certain weight with dumbbells because you have to control your form as well in each arm.

 

[Madcow2]

Dumbells provide better range of motion but unfortunately it isn't enough to fully compensate for the decrease in load when moving from the barbell.

Have you tried a more moderate incline? Get an adjustable bench and get in the power rack and see what's comfortable. Incline barbell and drip work is fine but a lot of people who have issues with flat do very well on slight incline presses (i.e. somewhere between flat and traditional incline - the lower end is better for a substitute).

 

[vornado]

No I haven't. I'll give that a try though, thanks.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Do as MC said. Incline bench presses, dips, and standing OHPs will work the chest just fine. You can probably get away with dips and OHPs alone. The former is a great chest/tricep builder. If vanity is a concern, keep dips in mind as an accessory. Sadly, they're difficult to constantly progress on, in comparison to presses.

 

[bignate73]

take a look at your bar path as well. where do you lower the bar to on your chest?

 

[NorgePrecision]

Definitely try different angles on the bench to find out exactly where it hurts. Go just above and just below that angle. If you mix it up you will see nice gains in the chest. As long as your not competing for any powerlifting competitions, you should still meet your goals.