Upper Pecs - Incline Presses or Not?

[JL_204]

I dont do too much incline. I mainly stick to flat bench and i dont have an un-balanced chest.

 

[Singleton]

I feel that inclines have helped. I'm doing them now and I really notice a more developed upper chest. I have the kind of chest with a flat breastplate and wide shoulders, so I look rather flat-chested with a bony clavicle. Kinda sucks for me, but inclines seem to be helping in the upper chest development.

 

[b fold the truth]

My pressing workout is as follows:

Standing Overheads
Incline Variation (log or barbell)
Close Grip Variation (board presses or no boards)

I like this just about the best for my needs and doing inclines DO help with my chest development...especially when LOOKS are the concern. If I drop inclines for a few weeks...I can tell a difference in how my chest looks.

Beyond all the science out there, you eventually have to find what works for you even without reason. I've found that inclines and close grips not only have the greatest carry over to my strength needs but also give me more chest development than just regular flat bench.

As far as saying that soreness is not an indicator of growth...completely true. The two are not really connected that much at all. The indicator of growth is GROWTH. One grows through training and all the recovery factors...not soreness. Soreness surely can be a very good indicator of what muscles have been stressed though as well as a signal as to what is being worked more or what may be a weakness.

B True

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Many people will notice an increase in their chest with incline bench presses simply because in order for the flat bench press to put the muscle under a stretched load (very important, yet overlooked for hypertrophy) with the flat bench, you must use a rather wider grip and sink deep. Dumbbells allow this more than barbells, but by doing this you put the rotator cuffs at serious risk for injury. Thusly, the flat bench press would be the best chest exercise, on par with dips, if one were able to sink deep enough without hurting the shoulders.

In order to avoid rotator cuff injury for those prone (some get by without problems), while still developing the chest, dips and incline bench presses will work wonderfully. That doesn't mean your chest won't grow with flat bench presses. It just means that the results may be sub-par.

 

[badslinky]

I was always a hard gainer when it came to my chest but the one excercise that changed that for me was incline dumbbells.

 

[elitft_bouncer]

I think this is correct...read myth #4 and #5 on this page..
http://www.usapowerlifting.com/newsletter/13/coaching/coaching.html

....In one study it was found that the wider grip placed more stress on the sternocostal head than the narrow grip. The narrow grip seemed to activate the clavicular head more effectively then a wide grip. The narrow grip also activated the triceps more than the wide



....... the research has actually shown that decline and flat stimulate the sternocostal head in similar fashions (Barnett, Kippers & Turner, 1995). Glass and Armstrong (1997) reported that the Decline BP activated the muscle in the clavicular head as effectively as the Incline BP

This should be true because I've also read one of lou simmons article in which he says the same thing as well.

 

[gjohnson5]

I'm not so sure if I believe that flat benches build upper pecs more then inclines. I know atleast one person who inclines more then he flat benches. Infact the guy can barely bench 250 but can incline 325, 335

I think the angle and muscle memory do have an effect on how much you can incline. I would do both. Inclines also hit shoulders more then flat bench.

Variety is the key to a big chest. I don't believe in doing the same movement over and over again, because it just leads to plateau

 

[bignate73]

ooh. cool! another old post that someone voted on to bump it.

This ones for you G 5.0!!!

<bump>

 

[gjohnson5]

ooh. cool! another old post that someone voted on to bump it.

This ones for you G 5.0!!!

<bump>

True but it's still a good question. I'll need to reread the myths about the grip and angle affecting different portsions of the pec.

 

[thewanderer690]

dude Bolo Yeoung was 48 years old when he made bloodsport so he looks pretty damn good for 48 plus he won some asian bodybuilding championships when he was younger.