If you want to develop full chest muscles, many people think of doing reclining exercises. Because it can use heavier weights, the bottom stretches the pecs better, increasing the thickness of the pecs faster than other movements.
There are two different angled bench presses in the gym.
One is a flat bench, where the bench press and bar are low, which is the regular “flat bench press”.
There is also an incline bench, the bench press and the bar are high, which is another movement “Incline Bench Press”.
The flat bench press and the incline bench press have the same action pattern and can build thick chest muscles. It’s just that the former has a higher training frequency, while the latter belongs to the revised version.
Then here comes the question: If I use the incline bench press instead of the flat bench press, can I build thick chest muscles?
1. The difference between the flat bench press and the incline bench press
The flat bench press, its supine angle is 180 degrees on the plane, when preparing the posture , the head, back and buttocks are in a straight line.
After lifting the bar, the barbell is located in the middle of the pectoralis muscle; in the formal operation, the barbell is placed near the lower part of the pectoral muscle; push the barbell upwards back to the original position.
The movement trajectory of the flat bench press will have a certain arc angle, which stimulates the middle of the pectoral muscle more, and can improve the overall thickness of the pectoral muscle and the line on the outside of the pectoral muscle.
The incline bench press is a 45-degree incline bench press, with the head, upper back, and buttocks in a straight line in the ready position.
After lifting the bar, the barbell is located at the upper part of the pectoral muscles; in the formal operation, the barbell is placed under the collarbone; push the barbell upwards back to the original position.
The movement trajectory of the incline bench press is closer to straight up and down, and it stimulates the upper part of the pectoral muscles more, which can improve the coordination of the overall pectoral muscles and improve the separation between the front shoulder and the upper part of the pectoral muscles.
2. Can the incline bench press replace the flat bench press to train thick chest muscles?
The answer is: You can build thicker chest muscles, but the overall effect is not as good as the flat bench press.
Because the incline bench press is essentially a variant of the flat bench press, the purpose is to compensate for the lack of upper chest muscles.
In actual training, the incline bench press has less stimulation on the pectoral muscles, and more stress on the front shoulders and triceps.
For some people with poor shoulder flexibility, the barbell cannot be lowered to The lowest position, and at the very bottom may be exhausted and unable to push the bar up.
Using weights in this way will be compromised, the overall training effect will be poor, and the risk of barbell dropping will be higher.
The flat bench press, it can use a wider grip, the barbell’s landing point is more concentrated in the middle and lower part of the pectoral muscles, which can be completed Maximize pectoral stretch.
Even if you can only do half of the movement, the barbell is not fully attached to the pectoral muscles, and the training effect can still be achieved.
With the continuous improvement of the strength, the flat bench press can use a larger load. Under the premise of no assistance, the barbell can also be slid to the abdominal position, which is a good way to avoid the lack of strength. falling problem.
Overall: Incline bench press puts more pressure on the shoulders, making it more difficult to lift the weight. It focuses more on the upper part of the pectoral muscles, often I still don’t feel it after practicing.
The flat bench press can continuously increase the weight of the barbell through repeated training and a wider grip, and pay more attention to the middle of the chest muscles, which is better for improving the overall circumference of the chest muscles.
3. The training plan for chest training day
Although the incline bench press is not as effective as the chest muscle trainingFlat bench press, but still needs training for overall pec coordination.
If your overall chest muscles are not thick enough, you need to practice more flat bench presses, add flat dumbbell bench presses, and finally do Incline bench press and other isolation movements.
If your pectoral muscles already have a certain circumference, but the upper part of the pectoral muscles is very weak, then you need to practice first The incline bench press, but also the incline dumbbell bench press, and finally the flat bench press and other isolation movements.
Two sets of reference plans are given here:
Plan 1: Focus on the middle of the chest
Flat Bench Press: Moderate 8 sets*8 reps
Flat Dumbbell Press: 3 incremental weight sets, 3 sets*12 reps, 3 sets*10 reps, 3 sets*8 reps
Incline Bench Press: Light Weight 5 Groups*10 Reps
Mechanical Flying Birds: Light Weight 5 Groups*15 Reps
Plan 2: Focus on upper chest
Incline bench press: 3 weight increments Set: 3 sets* 11 reps, 3 sets*9 reps, 3 sets*7 reps
Incline dumbbell bench press: heavier weight 6 sets*10 reps
Flat bench press: 5 sets*12 Times
Low-position rope fly: 5 sets of light weight * 15 times
The specific weight used, the number of training sets, and the number of times need to be adjusted up and down according to their own abilities.
Incline bench press is not a direct substitute for flat bench press. If your overall pectoral muscles are weak, you should practice flat bench press honestly.
Wait until the overall circumference of the chest muscles has increased significantly, and then practice the incline bench press, so that the chest muscles will be more coordinated and beautiful.