Incline or flat bench press first? Which is better for a fuller chest?

[shanehanner]

I have found that alot of pros rarely do flat bench but rely more on incline press. Now I think that is stupid. I LOVE FLAT BENCH!!! But I always do flat first, starting off with 225 for 10 and working up to 275 for about 3 or 4. Afterwards I head straight for incline bench and my ability to push weight drops significantly.
I usually start off with 185 or around there and stay with that weight the whole time, going down in reps for each set.


My question is whether doing incline first would be better for developing a fuller chest.

[amusclehead]

i would starts w/ incline first, or something like chain/pause pressing; never did like starting w/ a regular flat

[Gabe]

Incline bench is the better chest builder, use dumbells for a better rom. Flat bench is actually not the greatest chest builder, it is more of a tri-delt pusher, so its good for strength, but in terms of bodybuilding, incline is more effective.

[shanehanner]

thats what I thought guys.

amusclehead...I know what chain presses are (but I dont have any and cant take them in my gym) but what are pause presses?

and gabe, I do use dumbells but only once in a while, I like to stick with the bars to use heavier wieght. I do them once every 5 chest workouts.

but anyways I will show you how my routine looked before and how I would like to change it to get more growth, tell me what you think.

before

flat BP
incline BP
dips
cable flyes

new one

incline bp
dips
flat BP
flyes

please tell me what you think, and notice what order I put them in more max strength. for example when I come straight into the gym fresh I can dip for about 10 reps w/75 pounds for sets. but when I do them after heavy flat and incline pressing for 8 sets I can only dip with about 25-30 for 8-10 for sets. Got me?!

[amusclehead]

Originally posted by shanehanner
thats what I thought guys.

amusclehead...I know what chain presses are (but I dont have any and cant take them in my gym) but what are pause presses?

regular flat bench, pause for 2-3sec. at the bottom

[shanehanner]

and explode up, right?! yeah I got ya. but when you pause are you resting the wight on your chest or holding it just above it, and how often do you do these? sets, reps, times a month?

[LAXmatt0473]

Originally posted by shanehanner
and explode up, right?! yeah I got ya. but when you pause are you resting the wight on your chest or holding it just above it, and how often do you do these? sets, reps, times a month?

hold it just above your chest and dont lock out your arms at the top this way you keep more tension on the pecs

[A-rod]

I like to strat with either falt or decline and move on to inclines later .....

[LAXmatt0473]

yeah i do flat decline incline

[amusclehead]

Originally posted by shanehanner
and explode up, right?! yeah I got ya. but when you pause are you resting the wight on your chest or holding it just above it, and how often do you do these? sets, reps, times a month?

i don't do flat bench anymore, just pause pressing. same for hypertrophy, except pause more effective for strength imho

don't rest weight, just pause.

[shanehanner]

but you are in fact bench pressing...right? Only difference is at the bottom of each rep you pause a few second then explode up, right? As opposed to constant motion.

I am going to do this to check it out, I am always looking for new ways to shock my muscles and get stronger, i am just trying to understand every aspect and the philosophy behind it.

[amusclehead]

Originally posted by shanehanner
but you are in fact bench pressing...right? Only difference is at the bottom of each rep you pause a few second then explode up, right? As opposed to constant motion.

.

yep.

[mattman]

Amusclehead do you ever do decline db or bb in place of weighted dips for one workout?

Also, I wonder how often I should replace the pause presses with floor presses?

Thanks