Inclined bench press vs regular b press

[imported_da1andonlychacha]

the moral of the story is - weightlifting will give you droopy man-boobs, force you to buy expensive, prototype underwear, and destroy your shoulders - take up figure skating instead.

 

[vicious]

Which leads to the answer to all bodybuilding questions --

What would Brian Boitano do?

cheers,
Jules

 

[Tom Treutlein]

What would Brian Boitano do
If he was here right now,
He'd make a plan
And he'd follow through,
That's what Brian Boitano'd do.

When Brian Boitano was in the olympics,
Skating for the gold,
He did two sow cows and a triple lutz,
While wearing a blind fold.

When Brian Boitano was in the alps,
Fighting grizzly bears,
He used his magical fire breath,
And saved the maidens fair.

So what would Brian Boitano do
If he were here today,
I'm sure he'd kick an @$$ or two,
That's what Brian Boitano'd do.

I want this V-chip out of me,
It has stunted my vo-ca-bu-lar-y.

And I just want my Mom
To stop fighting everyone

For Wendy I'll be an activist, too,
Cuz that's what Brian Boitano would do.

And what would Brian Boitano do,
He'd call all the kids in town,
And tell them to unite for truth
That's what Brian Boitano would do.

When Brian Boitano travelled through time
To the year 3010,
He fought the evil robot king
And saved the human race again

And when Brian Boitano built the pyramids,
He beat up Kublia Khan


Cuz Brian Boitano doesn't take #### from an-y-body

So lets all get together,
And unite to stop our Mom's
And we'll save Terrance and Phillip too,
Cuz that's what Brian Boitano do.

And we'll save Terrance and Phillip too,
Cuz that's what Brian Boitano dooooooo,
That's what Brian Boitano do.

 

[yshemesh]

i can get a fantastic stretch with the Bench Press, by letting my elbows stick out on the eccentric.

 

[imported_dkm1987]

Quote[/b] (Tom Treutlein @ Jan. 10 2005,1:10)]

And you said I have too much time on my hands, OMG.

 

[vicious]

Ever watch South Park, dkm?

cheers,
Jules

 

[Sphinx]

That was Ssssuper!

Hidey-Ho!

 

[Falco]

Quote[/b] (vicious @ Jan. 08 2005,7:54)]

Quote[/b] ]if bench stimulates more of the pec than incline, how is incline superior?

Optical illusion, really. When you overdevelop the lower pecs (the major pec muscle), you get droopy manboobs. The incline isn't superior, but it can give you the illusion of support by bringing the very small and minor upper pecs into bolder relief.

I stopped doing the flat bench quite some time ago because of said man boobs. All I do for chest now is Incline DB presses.

When I was younger, the BP was the only exercise I knew, so I did it all the time. My lower chest is (IMO) way out of proportion for my body and I am forever trying to correct it, but I can't seem to add enough to to my upper chest/shoulders to balance it out, and no amount of dieting seems to shrink 'em.

 

[imported_da1andonlychacha]

on a practical note, is there actually a way to do the bench press w/ a parallel grip? what about the reverse grip?

Oh, and back to Bosox's ?, do dips contribute to the man boob problem?

 

[leegee38]

I've found Gironda's neck press to be a good "version" of doing bench presses. A relatively close grip (about shoulder width) and forcing your elbows out while lowering to the neck limits the amount of weight you can use, but it greatly increases the stretch. I can actually feel the upper pecs stretching and contracting, while regular bench presses and inclines seem to hit me harder in the frontal delts.

 

[imported_dkm1987]

Quote[/b] (vicious @ Jan. 11 2005,10:24)]Ever watch South Park, dkm?
cheers,
Jules

Not in the last couple years only back when my boys where still living at home, I think the last one I saw was when Cartman had the Alien Anal Probe , I guess the Boitano thing came from there?

 

[semajes]

Please forgive my ignorance, but I don't understand how bench presses will hurt the rotator cuff.

Also, as long as I'm asking, what are the best exercises for protecting/strengthening this region -- are we just talking about rear delt exercises or something more specific?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jester]

I'm also wondering how it is that a flat BP will cause severe RC damage. I haven't experienced any problems with the flat bench....?

 

[vicious]

Quote[/b] ]I haven't experienced any problems with the flat bench....?

They don't manifest until you get into the heavier weights when the tiny size of your RC muscles can't catch up with your primary movers. If you like going low in the movement (which is also where pec stimulation is optimal), you're especially sensitive to this. IMO, most of this is solved by switching to DB presses or drips and using a parallel grip (and both are superior to tricep and pec development.) But flat bench press is the glamour movement.

Quote[/b] ]Also, as long as I'm asking, what are the best exercises for protecting/strengthening this region -- are we just talking about rear delt exercises or something more specific?

Definitive guide is the "7-minute Rotator Cuff Solution" book. This link is good too

http://www.bodyresults.com/E2RotatorCuff.asp

 

[Jester]

How do flies and dips compare for the pecs? Obv. flies don't really involve the triceps the way dips do.

For a pure chest exercise, is it better to use flies - flat or incline - than dips ?

 

[vicious]

Hard call between flies and dips.

Cover higher range of motion, however the peak tension of most fly movements are limited due to weak link being at peak contraction (whereas with most press movements, the weak link is at the bottom, which is the pec at its most stretched position) This difference isn't really compensated until you train heavy or into negatives.

DB flies have the advantage of incorrect direction of resistance; largely, your training loads are equivalent to performing partials through the bottom half of the motion. In that context, flies work pecs better than dips.

Best pure chest exercise is a fly movement with accentuated stretch. You can do with incline bench flies or flat-bench flies if you can lower the DB as low as possible. You could also use a cable machine and make sure to go far back as possible. In all cases, to compensate for the inherent leverage problems, you'd want to slightly cheat on the concentric portion when it becomes really tough. That can be accomplished by going into a pressing movement when raising the weight, and super-deep fly movement when lowering.

cheers,
Jules

 

[Jester]

Would there be any particular benefit or lack of benefit to using flies and dips instead of any pressing exercises (BB or DB) for training the chest...?

 

[vicious]

Dips, DB presses, AND flies are better at working the pecs than the flat bench BB. Problem with the flat bench is that you can't really go low enough (as compared with the other movements) to apply sufficient load at stretch without messing up your rotator cuff or endangering yourself. (Hint: It's just a crappy, crappy exercise. ) That being said, once you go heavy, the difference is mitigated.

cheers,
Jules

 

[imported_ejones]

Vicious,

I think me and some other members on the board would be curious to hear what exercises you think are best for the other major muscle groups if it's not too much of a hassle.

 

[Jester]

I'd like to second that request. Although BB'ing/training involves a lot of personal preferences, I'm still very interested to find out what other experienced people recommend.

Lance mentioned in his recent HST thread that you (amongst others prehaps?) said that incline hammer curls were best for bis.

So yeh, we'd be very interested to know what you would recommend as the best exercises for the major muscle groups