Upper Pecs - Incline Presses or Not?

[Chambewy20]

What the hell is this one above me referring to, must be too early.

For me, incline does a lot more for chest than flat, plus I struggle with gains with incline and feel it much better. I do it when my shoulders feel beat up, nice little break and taste of reality every once in a while. Also for some reason, there seems to be a direct correlation between my incline strength and my raw flat strength, me incliney better, me flatty better...

p.s. i did heavy weighted dips, well heavy for my fatass, yesterday and could feel it all the way to the middle of my chest, good stuff but I have tender shoulders therefore I'm a big chicken, first time i've done this in years....

 

[overcome73]

IMO, I have always stuck with flat benches as a base. I would say Dips are also very effective for not only the chest, but the shoulders and tris as well. They are the squat of the upper body. Inclines are effective, but I like to set the bench lower on the incline. That is why I prefer incline Dbell. The lower bench seems to place more emphasis on the chest and less on the shoulders.

The bottom line is that the overall "base" size that you need comes from basic exercises....If I could start over, knowing what I know now, taking away all the injuries and starting from scratch, I would base my routine around Flat Bench, Dips, Squat, Deadlift, Pushpress, Barbell Rows and chins. Nothing else...no cables, no dumbells, no hammer machines. Two years of training like that, eating like you are trying to erase civilization and there is no reason you could not add 30 lbs to your frame!

 

[thewanderer690]

What the hell is this one above me referring to, must be too early.

For me, incline does a lot more for chest than flat, plus I struggle with gains with incline and feel it much better. I do it when my shoulders feel beat up, nice little break and taste of reality every once in a while. Also for some reason, there seems to be a direct correlation between my incline strength and my raw flat strength, me incliney better, me flatty better...

p.s. i did heavy weighted dips, well heavy for my fatass, yesterday and could feel it all the way to the middle of my chest, good stuff but I have tender shoulders therefore I'm a big chicken, first time i've done this in years....

he put up a picture of bolo yeoung from bloodsport as a guy whose upper pecs werent developed enough

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

IMO, I have always stuck with flat benches as a base. I would say Dips are also very effective for not only the chest, but the shoulders and tris as well. They are the squat of the upper body. Inclines are effective, but I like to set the bench lower on the incline. That is why I prefer incline Dbell. The lower bench seems to place more emphasis on the chest and less on the shoulders.

The bottom line is that the overall "base" size that you need comes from basic exercises....If I could start over, knowing what I know now, taking away all the injuries and starting from scratch, I would base my routine around Flat Bench, Dips, Squat, Deadlift, Pushpress, Barbell Rows and chins. Nothing else...no cables, no dumbells, no hammer machines. Two years of training like that, eating like you are trying to erase civilization and there is no reason you could not add 30 lbs to your frame!

Eating like that will just lead to unncessary fat gain.

Why does it always have to be extremes with people?

 

[overcome73]

Anthrax, with all due respect, if we are talking about adding size to one's frame, there has to be additional calories added. So many people are afraid to add fat. They train and want to look like an abercrombe model. Think of someone looking to sculpt a perfect body. You first need enough clay (muscle) on that foundation before you can begin to sculpt. People should not be afraid to add a little fat when they are looking to add to their foundation.

 

[theprofessor]

Eating like that will just lead to unncessary fat gain.

Why does it always have to be extremes with people?

not at all true. i can eat weinershnitzel and 5000cal. and NEVER go over 10%
but in general, yes, you'll probly get a bit fatter

 

[Tweakle]

There is a thread @ dante's board about the 'fattening' which is interesting, I'm personally coming to believe that bloat-size that's gained when going above 12% will all be lost when dieting back down. (assuming most trainees care about getting under 12%, which might be a leap )

Eat big, but dont get sloppy with it

 

[xblitz44x]

5500+ calories per day and I haven't noticed a difference in fat.

 

[Tedster]

Some good info on building the pecs. I personally alternate flat with incline on chest days and don't bother with decline. On incline days, I also do dips because incline just doesn't seem to work my chest/triceps quite as hard as flat bench. However, I can't do as much weight on incline compared to flat either.

 

[shivastool]

Is it really possible to focus on sections of the muscle fibers? Aren't muscles not just stimulated or not? I thought adding incline just incorporated more shoulders into the exercise. Even so I still do them.... out of ignorance really. I mean if you can focus on upper pectoral or lower couldn't you do the same for say, the bicep?

I have to say that flyes and cable crossovers really helped me build the inner chest...the seperation, so to speak. So there are different emphasis. Just like hammer curls work the bicep different than preachers.