Is incline dumbbell bench press and dips sufficient?

[HenryBraxton]

I was wondering if it was fine that I skipped out on flat bench press (dumbbell or barbell) in favour of incline and dips. Would I be missing out or is this working all parts of the chest sufficiently? I personally don’t enjoy flat bench press, but if it is suboptimal I’ll just have to perfect it. I’d appreciate advice from anyone who’s knowledgeable on resistance training. Thanks in advance!

[superman704]

It's not sufficient

[GeneralSerpant]

If your goals are overall chest development, then bench press can be a valuable exercise to get proficient at. It's generally known that no exercises are absolutely necessary when considering balanced muscle development. Incline and dips will serve as two really good exercises, but either way it's good to supplement with other exercises, bench or not.

[BenMcLeodNZ]

But why don't you enjoy bench press? Probably because you find it hard (which means it's working). If you do still hate it you could probably do the two exercises mentioned plus pec fly. You wouldn't be aesthetically worse off, you would be a bit weaker but only in **** you don't like doing anyway, so no problems.

[Crsk]

No you don't need bench press to grow. You have quite a few options to replace for growth; cable/db Flies, Push-ups, single-arm push. Did you ever try a flat DB press?

Incline & dips would hit the chest significantly, then add some isolation work and you're all set.


It's the same with squats and deadlifts.

[Shihanlifter]

Yes it's sufficient. Overhead pulls (pullups and chinups) also contribute to upper chest growth. But an incline press combined with dips will work the entire chest. I'd also recommend incorporating standing presses.

[superman704]

You need to bench press to get a big chest (this has been my personal experience)

[BIGNHYOOGE]

You need to bench press to get a big chest (this has been my personal experience)

He did bench press. But in an incline lol.

Dips and Inclines are awesome don’t worry about trying to hit every goddamn angle of your chest. If we are going down that path then it’s virtually impossible to achieve anything. Keep in mind pulldowns and pull-ups and dB presses also work the chest. Cg bench Work the chest just as well. The goal is not to do too much and too many exercises. The goal is to pick the most optimal and efficient movements to get the most out of the workout. Less is sometimes more. You want to do the bare minimum to achieve the desired result. Of course I’m not saying to do nothing at all or to do a movement with light intensity. There’s a balance that needs to be achieved. Do the minimum to achieve the most optimal and sufficient amount of muscle stimulation possible so as to trigger the growth mechanism

[Tommy W.]

You don't need flat bench, you don't NEED any exercise for that matter. It comes down to which exercises you feel are working the target muscle the best. Personally, Hammer Strength incline press and weighted dips built the best chest I ever had. Everyone is different, however, and you just need to try a certain exercise for awhile and see how you respond to it

[gcoulson]

You don't need flat bench, you don't NEED any exercise for that matter. It comes down to which exercises you feel are working the target muscle the best. Personally, Hammer Strength incline press and weighted dips built the best chest I ever had. Everyone is different, however, and you just need to try a certain exercise for awhile and see how you respond to it

Do like me some Hammer Strength incline machine to annihilate the chesticles!

[Tommy W.]

Do like me some Hammer Strength incline machine to annihilate the chesticles!

Yep. Starts wide and narrows at the top just like it should. It's when you get that crossing over that the chesticle magic happens. Second best is DB incline press starting wide and finishing close at the top,

[sooby]

Depends what you mean by sufficient.

But if you can get strong at these two movements I could imagine you could build a very good chest.

I wouldn't however limit myself to these two exercises. Any particular reason why you want to skip bench press?

[WolfRose7]

Yep. Starts wide and narrows at the top just like it should. It's when you get that crossing over that the chesticle magic happens. Second best is DB incline press starting wide and finishing close at the top,

Staaap. Don't have any hammer strength machines in any gym near me.

Not that I don't already bench 4 to 5x a week but still, would love a hammer strength press machine

[GeneralSerpant]

Staaap. Don't have any hammer strength machines in any gym near me.

Was your gym raised in a barn?

[superman704]

He did bench press. But in an incline lol.

Dips and Inclines are awesome don’t worry about trying to hit every goddamn angle of your chest. If we are going down that path then it’s virtually impossible to achieve anything. Keep in mind pulldowns and pull-ups and dB presses also work the chest. Cg bench Work the chest just as well. The goal is not to do too much and too many exercises. The goal is to pick the most optimal and efficient movements to get the most out of the workout. Less is sometimes more. You want to do the bare minimum to achieve the desired result. Of course I’m not saying to do nothing at all or to do a movement with light intensity. There’s a balance that needs to be achieved. Do the minimum to achieve the most optimal and sufficient amount of muscle stimulation possible so as to trigger the growth mechanism

I meant flat bench press. Incline bench press mostly works the front delts and to a lesser degree the upper chest. The flat bench press works the entire chest

[Shihanlifter]

I meant flat bench press. Incline bench press mostly works the front delts and to a lesser degree the upper chest. The flat bench press works the entire chest

Well that's not exactly true. Maybe if you're pressing at a very steep incline (more than 45 degrees).

The flat bench does work the entire chest but puts more of an emphasis on the sternal fibers (mid and lower) than on the clavicular (upper) portion. This is remedied by incorporating standing presses and overhead pulls. Alternatively, switching the flat presses out for an incline press and more of a decline-focused movement, such as dips or decline bench.

[superman704]

I only know what worked for me