Incline vs Flat, DB vs BB

[Boss101]

On every board that I visit I always read members saying that incline presses are better then flat presses. Same for DB's and BB's again everyone says to use DB because they are better.

Does anyone know why or does it not make a difference whether you use flat/incline or DB/BB.

 

[mrzap]

Well with dumbells you work more stabalizers and it forces each arm to work as hard.

Incline (from what I read) is better because it hits upper chest more than flat.

 

[PolishHammer1977]

Each exercise stimulates you in a different way. It makes sense to be strong is all of them so you have no weakness.

 

[Boss101]

Incline (from what I read) is better because it hits upper chest more than flat.

I always thought that your chest was made up of two muscles the left pec and the right pec and it didn't make a difference whether you bench flat or on an incline because the muscle contracts on any angle.

 

[rjl296]

the pec attatches along the sterum. Thus you can work "upper" and 'lower' sorta.

 

[b fold the truth]

First thing I'd do...is run a search...

B True

 

[Boss101]

First thing I'd do...is run a search...

I hate when people say that. If you don't want to answer the question just don't reply.

I wouldn't start a thread if I couldn't find the answer on my own.

 

[b fold the truth]

I hate when people say that. If you don't want to answer the question just don't reply.

I wouldn't start a thread if I couldn't find the answer on my own.

Sorry that you don't like it...but this question (or one VERY close to it) is asked on here at least every 2 weeks. I hate to see a heated discussion about a topic...with LOTS of information discussed...be brought up on a bi-weekly basis.

No offense directed directly at you...but the search button is a very useful tool. I use it on a daily basis...and I encourage everyone else (including yourself) to use it to research as much as possible on here.

B True

 

[casualbb]

I distinctly remember discussing this before, but here's the short of it:

I always thought that your chest was made up of two muscles the left pec and the right pec and it didn't make a difference whether you bench flat or on an incline because the muscle contracts on any angle.

That is somewhat correct. Any time you bring your arms together at an angle in front of your body (ie not vertically) you're engaging your pec. But how much stress falls upon the different sections of chest DOES depend on the angle.

Try an experiment. If you're lean enough to see your chest straitions, stand in front of a mirror. Mimic the flat bench motion. You can see that the very middle fibers experience the greatest change of length in the motion. You can also see that your upper pecs and front delts do shorten and lengthen noticeably. All of the aforementioned muscles will thus grow from the exericise. Now, mimic an incline bench motion. You can see that your upper pecs and front delts now have the greatest change in length, with mid and lower pec contributing less. So, yes, doing incline does stress upper chest.

That being said, complete chest development can be had with only incline press and chest dips.

As to BB vs. DB, I just do DB because I want symmetry.

-casualbb

 

[strider364]

It all really depends on your goals and how YOUR body responds to each movement.