How important is incline press?

[Datoyminaytah]

How important is incline bench press for balanced development? So far I only do flat bench press and shoulder press with dumbbells.

[emf]

i believe that a bench press with a slight angle is better then flat.
the more angle the more shoulders of course, but i have always done what we call flat bench presses at aboutt 12 degrees.
incline presses at more of an angle are also necc. for comp. development.
just dont do to many as they do overlap the shoulder workout quite a bit

[Mark1T]

IMO, DB Incline Presses (30 to 35 degrees) are extremely important for chest development. Many people do inclines and don't do flat. I do both. The upper chest ties into the delts. IMO again, incline DB or BB (if your shoulders can handle it) work, is essential to bodybuilding.

[Whiskeyjack]

How important is incline bench press for balanced development? So far I only do flat bench press and shoulder press with dumbbells.

Incline benches work the upper pecs. I get far more out of them than flats. I do both flats and inclines (at 30 degrees) on a smith machine. Of course, unlike me, some people can get a big chest easily, just from flats; I imagine those lucky dogs would do even more amazingly with inclines.

[kmachate]

I agree with Mark.. I never do flat, only incline and decline. (And dips, and flyes... )

[lukamar]

My uppers have been bad since I lost weight last year and I do 30 deg inclines first. I was watching a show and Charles Glass said he always had his guys do incline first and then flat. I've changed to that and I can at least feel I've worked the upper that way. Maybe I'll see it some time.

[Datoyminaytah]

just dont do to many as they do overlap the shoulder workout quite a bit

This is exactly one of the things I am trying to figure out. Where to fit inclines without overworking anterior delts.

[Mark1T]

This is exactly one of the things I am trying to figure out. Where to fit inclines without overworking anterior delts.

Hence why we suggested 30 to 35 degree angle for the incline bench. This concentrates on the upper pecs. The higher you go, the more you work your anterior delts. If you go by this, you will not overwork your anterior delts. There you go.

[KLMARB]

This is exactly one of the things I am trying to figure out. Where to fit inclines without overworking anterior delts.

Try low-station cable flys, they work well for upper chest development without so much stress on the anterior delts. If you superset with a press you might find them even more effective....

[Baldsnake]

Back in ancient times I did only incline angled pec work. Bench, dumbell presses and flies. Just the way I was taught by my mentor Harry Pearl (Bill's bigger brother). I did weighted dips as my only non inclined pec work. Idea was to get that upper pec/delt tie in. I will attach a pic from some 20+ years ago which shows these results.

[MacGyverDel]

... all I do now is incline. Every so often I'll play with flat bench but just to sea how heavy I can go. I do try and do bw dips every 2nd chest/tricep day ah which is today.

[chrisbute]

Inclines are very important for upper chest. As some people have said, it is a great tie in with the delts. I do flats with different grips. Doing this stresses the chest a bit differently.

I guess the rule of thumb is to hit your chest at different angles for overall chest development. Don't forget declines if you have access to a decline bench.