How many of those believe that incline presses & incline work are important?

[Johnnny]

Dave949

They have and are entitled to their opinions just as I have mine. I base mine on muscle physiology and personal experience. I am assuming you are referring to the fact that I do not believe that declines or dips "works" the so called "lower" pecs just as flys and pec decks supposedly works the so called "inner" pecs. I would love to see these peeps (nimrods as you say) from this so called "other" site flex (just) their lower pecs while the rest of the pec is relaxed or flex (just) their inner pec while the rest of the pec remain relaxed...................

Karma for you warning me about these nimrods bro

I hear ya.

 

[WalkingBeast]

the other important thing missing from this thread for a newb is to not get carried away reading this and go and do 5 sets of flat followed by 5 sets of inlcines followed by declines followed cable flyes followed by pec deck..

unless your walkingbeast who is just that a beast lol..i dont recco his routine for everyone yet i dont criticize him because its obvious what he does works for him..

like most said you have to find what works for you..try prioritizing inclines for a few months..check your growth then when you seem to plateau on inlcines switch it up and prioritize flats

ThanX for the kind words brother!! Working on it!! Thats very similiar to what Id reccomend to lifters just starting out also. 6 sets of incline and 6 sets of flats with some fly work afterwards. Im pretty convinced in my mind that just about anyone can adapt to high volume and intensity. On the flipside though, many people dont have to train so obsessively to get great results. I cant overlook that. All I know is whats worked for me up to this point. Even that is hard to determine since there are so many variables and so many things that change over the years. Though I cant see anything good coming out of these very low volume routines. Definately not for me atleast. I started with high volume from the very beginning working the 12-15 rep range. KILL THAT SHIT!!

 

[WalkingBeast]

What do you guys think is the best angle..45..35 degrees?? For inclines??

Id tell you, but I dont know how to measure that shit! haha My favorite incline bench is the Icarian bench. I can also lift the most weight on it. I can get a good arch on it too, which helps. Ive been training on a stricter incline bench lately, and cant really arch. Its a nice change up. I got real good results on the Icarian bench though.

 

[buttbeater]

inclines are essential for upper pec growth, my upper pecs do not get stimulated without them.

 

[ManOfArms]

i dont think its helpful i think it is essential. incline andything:
barbell, flyes, dumbells

got that right!

 

[Johnnny]

I'm sure glad you all think so b/c on another site, there would be plenty of ppl who will disagree with you.

 

[Tom Treutlein]

http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi?;act=ST;f=14;t=1757;hl=flat+or+incline

Enough discussion about it there.

My personal opinion? I agree with Casual. You can emphasize both best with flat bench. You don't stimulate the upper more with incline benches, you just stimulate the lower less.

In essence, it is the same thing. People use incline benches to make their upper chest grow more - and it does, in proportion to the sternal head, compared to what flat bench would do.

If, for arguements sake, growth was measured in points, and flat bench caused a 25 "point" growth in clavicular, and 50 points in sternal, then incline may cause 20 points in clavicular (or less) and only 30 points in sternal. Did that make sense? The ratio of growth for sternal:clavicular changes drastically when inclines are used, rather than flat bench presses. Some people may not like the thick "gladiator" shaped pecs they get from flat bench only, which is why incline presses are used.

 

[Prime Rib2]

I'll say this. 6 months of direct incline work gave me more results than 3 years of flat work.

Flat press is good for ego's, blowing up shoulders and tearing pecs.

 

[chewyxrage]

currently I switch it up every other week -

example - week 1
5 sets flat
3 sets incline
3 sets flies

week 2
5 sets incline
3 sets flat
3 sets flies


Is that a bad idea? Some people here have said focus on one for 6 months at a time, etc. Am I going nowhere switching it up every week?

 

[JohnnyCoho]

I switch up similar to Chewy every week and incorporate; Incline DB press (30-40 degrees on bench), flat bench and weighted dips.

There was a great post by Punch a while back, "My experience Training with Frank Zane" (good read if ya get the chance) Talked about doing incline DB Press,...

"FZ never trained w/ insane weight. He showed me journals form 20 years ago when he was in the gym w/ Arnold and saw the jaw dropping poundage he used. FZ's workouts were all based on feeling every single rep as if he were only doing one rep, it had to count. When we did Dumbell incline presses for example, he picked up the 60's and lowered the weight w/ a 4-5 second count. As he approched the bottom part of the press he turned is palms in so they were facing one another and sunk the weight past his shoulders. I was like, you must be kidding me....he did this for 10 reps. He asked me what wieght I normally used, I said 100's to 120's. He told me to pick up the 75's. I did and every time I lowered the weight he told me I was going to fast, honestly, he was starting to piss me off...I focused 100% and lowered the weight at the correct speed turning my wrists in and slowly pushing the weight up. Let me tell you...I was humbled and after 2 sets, shaking"

I've incorporated these into my program and lift slow and controlled like "every single rep was only a one rep",..they will tear ya up and humble ya too. Watch guys all the time at the gym crankin' the weights out with no time under tension and they always look at us in wonder at the amt of weight (light to moderate) we use on certain lifts and speed (slow negs) and then want to know why they're not gettin any bigger.