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Article: Decline Builds Pecs Better Than Incline

Can't say I buy this one fully, haven't done decline in about 8 years and focus mostly on incline. My chest has grown tremendously in the meantime. Honestly I've avoided decline so my lower pecs don't grow too much and I look like I have titties haha
 
Just started incorporating decline presses. I happen to like incline but just neglected decline but this has changed.
 
My chest was one of my big weak points (relative to everything else). Had great looking arms but a weak chest. At this point I was still trying tp do heavy barbell bench press because that's all I was reading: do heavy bench for bigger pecs...

Well, this may work very well for people of particular builds, but for me its a very ineffective exercises. Only took me 7-8 years to realize it lol

For my build, I get the most out of incline DB presses (Because I can tweak the angle of the press to suit my build way better than using a barbell), weighted bar dips,, pec dec, cable flyes, and DB pullovers. You may look at that list and say da fuuuck? But I've learned that those exercises are what works best for me.

Decline presses feel very ineffective for me to the point where I consider them a waste of time. They may work well for some people but for me they're useless.

DB pullovers help work those little muscles between your lats and upper abs (serratus, ect..). If you don't have an especially strong looking chest I recommend trying to develop these muscles. Having them adds to the entire picture. And most guys with big chests usually don't have them because they're covered up by fat.
 
I've switched out incline bench for reverse grip bench and it seems to be stimulating upper chest growth better than incline.
 
Type O Hero said:
My chest was one of my big weak points (relative to everything else). Had great looking arms but a weak chest. At this point I was still trying tp do heavy barbell bench press because that's all I was reading: do heavy bench for bigger pecs... Well, this may work very well for people of particular builds, but for me its a very ineffective exercises. Only took me 7-8 years to realize it lol For my build, I get the most out of incline DB presses (Because I can tweak the angle of the press to suit my build way better than using a barbell), weighted bar dips,, pec dec, cable flyes, and DB pullovers. You may look at that list and say da fuuuck? But I've learned that those exercises are what works best for me. DB pullovers help work those little muscles between your lats and upper abs (serratus, ect..). If you don't have an especially strong looking chest I recommend trying to develop these muscles. Having them adds to the entire picture. And most guys with big chests usually don't have them because they're covered up by fat.
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ur list of chest exercises actually is very similar to mine, I also like doing cable cross overs, I have def focused hard on incline db presses to develop my chest tho, I start with that exercise more than any other. I can go very deep comfortably and really mentally put the emphasis on my pecs
 
I've neglected decline up until 2 weeks ago. Always performed incline which I happen to like but I've read from other sources that declines are the way to go.
 
I love decline bench to start. However, incline dumbbell gives me a much better stretch.

Incline barbell is impossible for me to do anyway, anything over 155 kills my shoulder
 
Clipper83 said:
I love decline bench to start. However, incline dumbbell gives me a much better stretch.

Incline barbell is impossible for me to do anyway, anything over 155 kills my shoulder
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Completely understand and that makes sense. Fortunately, I don't have any shoulder issues.
 
Clipper83 said:
I love decline bench to start. However, incline dumbbell gives me a much better stretch. Incline barbell is impossible for me to do anyway, anything over 155 kills my shoulder
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If im not mistaken ive read that incline is actually easier on the shoulder joint than flat BB bench! I think i may have read it in seans powerlifting log or somewhere, not exactly sure!
 
Would be nice to see a comparison of decline bench to dips. I generally prefer dips if only because it's pretty hard to drop a bar in my mouth if my hand slips, but I guess some people would think that's silly.
 
Dorian Yates is a big fan of decline. I've actually started incorporating then into my workouts with great results. Incline is good but variety is better.
 
Decline I think is a great way to add variety to a workout. I think it helps, as I focus on them a quarter of each year. However, incline benching helps me to strengthen my flat and decline bench. I dont have scientific proof, but thats what has worked for me
 
dunkfunk2000 said:
Decline I think is a great way to add variety to a workout. I think it helps, as I focus on them a quarter of each year. However, incline benching helps me to strengthen my flat and decline bench. I dont have scientific proof, but thats what has worked for me
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Ya man,, I agree, inclines can actually help your declines! I love doing heavy bb declines, and as I go up in weight I bring my grip in just a quarter inch,, by set 5 Im doing 315 for 3-4 reps and I only weigh 185. Declines are making me thicker and stronger,, great for triceps too.
 
NattyForLife said:
If im not mistaken ive read that incline is actually easier on the shoulder joint than flat BB bench! I think i may have read it in seans powerlifting log or somewhere, not exactly sure!
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Maybe for some people's body structure, but def not mine. I broke my collar bone in high school and my shoulder hasn't been the same since. I'd love to do heavy incline barbell though
 
I never do incline bench press. I do guillotine press & reverse grip bench press for upper pectorals but dips have always been my favorite pectoral exercise.
 
Rule #1 for selecting exercises: Don't assume something is going to work for you just because it works for others.

People write up articles all the time saying how certain exercises below others out of the water. To a degree this is true but you have to find what works for you. If I find something that really works for me then I'll certainly let others know. But I'm not going to make it sound like you have to do exactly what I'm doing to experience results.
 
It may hit more fibers but with pretty much get that from all the flat benching. If you want a big chest you gotta focus on inclines. But make sure angle is below 45 degrees or you hit too much delt. Wider than shoulder width grip. Do em first instead of flat bench and you will see some chest development. Use d/b's for flat benching.
 
No need to worry about grip width with Incline db's, u actually have a free range of motion and can focus on having ur pecs do the majority of the work. Hell even Ronnie Coleman says he mostly used incline db's to develop his upper chest. He says he likes to attack problem areas with db's, buuut he also is a big supporter of regular bench press haha "everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, nobody wants to bench press"
 
Arnold focused on inclines as well that's why I trained chest the way I did... wide db fly presses and squeeze on way up NOT at the top when arms locked...
 
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