Struggling with Inclined Press

[eddie.mac]

I am progressing pretty well with my chest workout except for one big exception. I am struggling with doing Inclined Bench Press. I use the Smith Machine. I have gone up to 105 pounds and I can do the first set pretty well. But by the time I get halfway through the second set I am struggling. Usually by my last 2 sets I drop down weight to 100 pounds but it still a little bit of a struggle. Should drop weight, reps, sets? Any advice would be great. Thanks.

[thailegacy]

Originally Posted by eddie.mac

I am progressing pretty well with my chest workout except for one big exception. I am struggling with doing Inclined Bench Press. I use the Smith Machine. I have gone up to 105 pounds and I can do the first set pretty well. But by the time I get halfway through the second set I am struggling. Usually by my last 2 sets I drop down weight to 100 pounds but it still a little bit of a struggle. Should drop weight, reps, sets? Any advice would be great. Thanks.

not a fan of machines... suggest barbell... use drop sets or strip sets.... that will work u beyond failure.... start doing barbell rows and presses.. they will help your incline too.

[John Prophet]

so what makes u think u are struggling?

if you already do flat benches first, then its natural that strength begins to fade on the other exercises


the only way you can do the same weight and reps on, say, all 3 sets on any exercise is if the first set isnt THAT challenging.

Like, lets say you do 3-4 sets of bench press. Ok, then u go to inclines. So you do your first set with 105 and its a pretty hard set..lets say u get 8 reps. Well you probably WONT get 8 reps on that second set. Thats just the way it is.


now some people do programs where they do the same reps on each set...like the standard "5x5" workout. Well of course that means the first set isnt that hard. each set gets harder due to fatigue. as they get stronger they finally actually get 5 reps on all 5 sets and they add 5-10 lbs and start over trying to get 5 reps on each set the next workout.


so basically what I am saying is that u have basic 2 approaches:

1) You can go for as many reps AS POSSIBLE on each set. That means "going to failure"..or close to failure. That generally means u wont get that many reps the next set.

2) holding back some on the first set(s) and trying to get the same reps on each set. When u do finally get the same reps on each set, u go up in weight some the next workout and start all over again


either method is fine.


if u use method 1 there r a couple ways to approach it. You can either just accept that youll usually get less reps on each set and u move up in weight when u feel it is needed. Or you can drop the weight on succesive sets

so if u go to failure or close to failure but keep the same weight, it might look like this:

105x10
105x9
105x7

next workout could be
105x11
105x10
105x8

u might decide to go up to 110 next time



or the other method would be like this
105x10
100x10
95x10


or you might combine methods...which is what I think is a good practical model
105x10
105x8
100x9

so in that case you kept the same weight but then when u figured youd drop too low in reps the next set u just dropped the weight some


if u keep the same weight each set and try to work up to the same reps, that means u DONT do as many reps as possible on the first set. once u reach your rep goal, u dont try to get more reps. Lets say u want to work up to 3x10. Ok, so when u get that first ten you DONT o for 11. U stop at 10.

so over a few workouts it might look like this

105x10
105x9
105x7

next time

105x10
105x10
105x9

next time
105x10
105x10
105x10

so then u go up to 110 (or 115) next time and start over, u might get this
110x10
110x9
110x8

etc

a philosophical side note....if you ARENT struggling then your body has no reason to adapt. So get used to struggling

[Wildtim]

Thats perfectly said. There's no way I could have descrbed it that well.

[asmolenski]

I think what has already been said is right on. What is your goal? I like to train for both strength and size - I will go as heavy as I can on my flat bench with 4-6 reps for a few sets and then for the rest of my chest routine I will lift whatever weight I need to make 8-12 reps feel good. I don't really care how much weight I am lifting as long as my chest is sore the next day. The incline bench is a tough exercise to get used to when using free weights - it always feels awkward and the deltoids seem to play a bigger role in inclines than they do in the flat bench. I personally dont like the smith machine and I dont see many guys with big chests messing with it much. You may also want to ad some incline dumbell flyes into your routine to help isolate the upper pecs and that may help with your strength on the incline press.

[eddie.mac]

Thanks John. Thats some great feedback! What I meant is that compared to other exercises where I can keep the same weight for all 4 sets or even increase, with inclined press after a set or two I can not keep up the same weight.

Thanks Everyone!

[Bob45]

Have you tried doing inclines first? Don't burn yourself out with the acclimating sets too. I like to go all out in the last two heavy sets.

[John Prophet]

Originally Posted by eddie.mac

Thanks John. Thats some great feedback! What I meant is that compared to other exercises where I can keep the same weight for all 4 sets or even increase, with inclined press after a set or two I can not keep up the same weight.

Thanks Everyone!

I would just chalk it up to the idiosyncrosies of the particular movement...I wouldnt give it any more thought

how is your overhead pressing? because incline is a lot of front delt

[eddie.mac]

how is your overhead pressing? because incline is a lot of front delt[/QUOTE]

I really haven't had any issues with overhead presses. Nothing out of the ordinary.

[Mark1T]

Originally Posted by thailegacy

not a fan of machines... suggest barbell... use drop sets or strip sets.... that will work u beyond failure.... start doing barbell rows and presses.. they will help your incline too.

If you were more educated with training, had more experience to give more of an informed opinion about machines, you would probably be more developed than you are right now - mentally, but especially physically. But, thanks for the stab at it

[dbx]

Originally Posted by John Prophet

the only way you can do the same weight and reps on, say, all 3 sets on any exercise is if the first set isnt THAT challenging.

Like, lets say you do 3-4 sets of bench press. Ok, then u go to inclines. So you do your first set with 105 and its a pretty hard set..lets say u get 8 reps. Well you probably WONT get 8 reps on that second set. Thats just the way it is.

This ^ is often entirely dependent on rest time between sets, so he shouldn't take this as an absolute

Originally Posted by John Prophet

now some people do programs where they do the same reps on each set...like the standard "5x5" workout. Well of course that means the first set isnt that hard.

Again, not necessarily so.

Originally Posted by eddie.mac

I have gone up to 105 pounds and I can do the first set pretty well. But by the time I get halfway through the second set I am struggling. Usually by my last 2 sets I drop down weight to 100 pounds but it still a little bit of a struggle. Should drop weight, reps, sets? Any advice would be great. Thanks.

I didn't notice where anyone asked, but...just how many sets are you doing? And with what rep range? After flat bench, you might just simply be overdoing it by the time you get to incline.

[Bronzebird]

I start out with wide grip and 180lbs till failure (12reps, 10, 8). Then regular bench 180 and I get 3-4 max on first set. Then I drop weight to 145 and pump out 10,10, 8. Then I go to incline and hit first set at 145 with 3-4 reps and drop weight to to 125x 8,7,6. Then I hit the decline at 180x8,7,6. So i agree that inclines require more work. So...I really hit failure reps with extra slow return. Good Luck my friend!!