Flat or Incline Bench? Any difference?

duracell_bunny

I had a brain blank in the gym this morning - do I use a flat or incline bench for chest press and flies?

I remembered by the time I got home that I do them on an incline bench but googled it anyway and it seems like they can be done either way but target different muscles. Are there pros and cons to doing it either way? I'm female, looking to work more on my arms and my shoulders and back (lats, traps, deltoids) than my chest/pecs, etc.

Edited to add: I also bench press on an incline bench.

duracell_bunny

Nobody? Anybody?

RyanTubs

duracell_bunny wrote: »

I had a brain blank in the gym this morning - do I use a flat or incline bench for chest press and flies?

I remembered by the time I got home that I do them on an incline bench but googled it anyway and it seems like they can be done either way but target different muscles. Are there pros and cons to doing it either way? I'm female, looking to work more on my arms and my shoulders and back (lats, traps, deltoids) than my chest/pecs, etc.

Edited to add: I also bench press on an incline bench.

Flat bench based on this, incline targets chest/pecs.

ray jay

RyanTubs wrote: »

Flat bench based on this, incline targets chest/pecs.

And flat benching doesn't?! I can't imagine anyone who's ever actually benched could come out with this statement, it's just baffling.

OP you could select some exercises using this as a guide but based on what you've listed try overhead pressing, rows, pull/chin ups and whatever for your bi/triceps. Is there any particular reason you're avoiding chest exercises?

duracell_bunny

ray jay wrote: »

OP you could select some exercises using this as a guide but based on what you've listed try overhead pressing, rows, pull/chin ups and whatever for your bi/triceps. Is there any particular reason you're avoiding chest exercises?

I'm not sure if I have all the right names for the exercises..but off the top of my head I already do the following:-
squats with overhead press, pulley row, floor row, squat row, clean & press, lunges with lateral raises, front raises, split lunges, squat jumps, leg press, step ups, shrugs, incline chest flies/press, incline bench press, overhead tricep extension, regular bicep curls and hammers, tricep dips, lat pulldown (wide grip and internal/bicep grip), incline mountain climbers, plank climbers and a whole load of floor/ball work.

I’m not purposely avoiding the chest. I just needed to work on the other areas and never really thought about the chest. It’s not like I’m a guy trying to get impressive pecs!

I was really just wondering, after this morning, if there was a difference to using a flat or incline bench or if it was simply personal preference. I find that I can lift heavier weights when using a flat bench.

Thanks for the link btw - I think I'll save that as a favourite and look through it later.

Dermighty

An incline bench will focus a bit more on your upper chest muscle more and flat benching will focus on your middle and lower chest muscle more.

Both are good, if you could only do one I'd do flat benching.

ray jay

Also incline benching will involve your anterior deltoids more, especially if you're using dumbbells and flaring your elbows.

john_cappa

Dermighty wrote: »

An incline bench will focus a bit more on your upper chest muscle more and flat benching will focus on your middle and lower chest muscle more.

Both are good, if you could only do one I'd do flat benching.

No it doesnt! Common myth.

_pure_mule_

Switch it up every workout for variety, that way you will benefit more from the exercise as your body won't be used to doing the same exercise. As someone above me correctly stated incline will target upper chest more so while flat bench will target the middle area of your chest more so. Not a huge difference but you wou would be better off to do the 2 for variety and muscle confusion.

john_cappa

Can you expain how incline will target the "upper" chest more or flat benching will target the "middle" chest more?

Its is a myth.

_pure_mule_

It's not a myth, it's a scientifically proven fact that incline chest press will target the upper chest more. Although as I said in a previous comment the difference is very minimal and without doubt the flat bench is the way to go for most gym users but for those who are more serious and want to develop their chest to its full potential well then it would be essential to add an incline chest press to their programme. I will try and find a link to the study. But at the end of the day it depends on what works for the person, some may find the incline press a waste of time and others may sware by it for upper chest development( me being the latter).

john_cappa

Scientific fact?lol....same as the muscle confusion you mention above?

Look there is no study as it is complete myth. Broscience. Call it what you will. You cannot target specific areas of your chest to induce growth of one side over the other or change the shape of the muscle.

Mellor

john_cappa wrote: »

Can you expain how incline will target the "upper" chest more or flat benching will target the "middle" chest more?

Its is a myth.

You often read stuff like dumbell flys for "inner" chest, which is nonsense. As is decline for "lower" chest. Neither muscles exist.

From my understanding the chest muscle (pec major) does have an "upper". Specifically the clavicular head, and main portion is the sternal head. Incline benching recruits the clavicular head to a greater degree than flat benching.

Now, i'm just talking about recruitment. I'm not saying that its leads to "fuller" chest, or stronger upper etc. It's still one muscle.
I think there's a benefit to incline presses. But for me its things like working shoulders and not microdifferences between sternal and clavicular heads.

_pure_mule_ wrote: »

Switch it up every workout for variety, that way you will benefit more from the exercise as your body won't be used to doing the same exercise. As someone above me correctly stated incline will target upper chest more so while flat bench will target the middle area of your chest more so. Not a huge difference but you wou would be better off to do the 2 for variety and muscle confusion.

Muscle confusion???
You've lost me on that one. Any chance there's a study on that you can dig out.

Motorist

I believe he's referring to physiological muscular adaptation sometimes referred to as keeping the muscle "guessing". Changing around causes body to adapt in different ways and cause unique metabolic and neuromuscular results. Also to train different muscle fibre types

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_url?hl=en&q=http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/content/154/2/442.short&sa=X&scisig=AAGBfm2L9jkLidz_4BPChpUk3JiCISO2JA&oi=scholarr

Tip 1: Gentil, P., Oliveira, E., Bottaro, M. Time under tension and blood lactate response during four different resistance training methods. Journal of Physiological Anthropology. 2006 Sept. 25(5), 339-344.

Tip 2: Tran, Q., Docherty, D., Boehm, D. The effects of varying time under tension and volume load on acute neuromuscular responses. European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2006 Nov. 98(4), 402-410.

Mellor

Motorist wrote: »

I believe he's referring to physiological muscular adaptation sometimes referred to as keeping the muscle "guessing". Changing around causes body to adapt in different ways and cause unique metabolic and neuromuscular results. Also to train different muscle fibre types

Obviously changing exercises cause different adaptions.
But is it not far more likely that the different adaption is due to the different muscles/plane of motion/rep structure being trained and not due to confusion or guessing.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_url?hl=en&q=http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/content/154/2/442.short&sa=X&scisig=AAGBfm2L9jkLidz_4BPChpUk3JiCISO2JA&oi=scholarr

"Skeletal muscle adaptation to endurance training in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease."

Relevance?
Cardio training increases fitness and and VO2max in sick people. Hardly surprising is it.

Tip 1: Gentil, P., Oliveira, E., Bottaro, M. Time under tension and blood lactate response during four different resistance training methods. Journal of Physiological Anthropology. 2006 Sept. 25(5), 339-344.

That study is comparing different training methods on blood lacate levels, with reference to time under tension.

The methods are 10RM, super-slow, isometrics and adapted vascular occlusion.
This has nothing to do with muscle confusion. It doesn't even refer the 4 methods to increases in either proformance or growth .

Tip 2: Tran, Q., Docherty, D., Boehm, D. The effects of varying time under tension and volume load on acute neuromuscular responses. European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2006 Nov. 98(4), 402-410.

That one is comparing volume x load and TUT to fatigue.
Results, increases volume load and time under tension increases fatigue. :eek: Shocker.

What am I missing.

The Guvnor

You know what I would do is this:

Say you are doing DB's and you start off on a decent incline - like say notch 4 on the bench:

Do 2 sets at 4 then drop to 3 and do 2 more sets etc.

This way you can maximise the stress on your pecs etc.