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Why am I so much stronger with decline benchvs Flat.

TheMaster

TheMaster

Banned
So my lifts continue to get stronger with decline while I don't progress nearly as fast on flat. I am very tall with long arms. For example I broke another PR today on decline which was 250, then directly after that I could only get 205 on flat bench.
 
I think it's pretty common for folks to be able to put up more weight on decline than on flat. In some cases structural issues could be involved. In the aftermath of a significant shoulder injury that I should have fixed (but didn't), at one point I could do 415 for 1 on decline, while at the same time I was somewhere between 245 and 260 for 1 on flat bench.
 
TheMaster said:
So my lifts continue to get stronger with decline while I don't progress nearly as fast on flat. I am very tall with long arms. For example I broke another PR today on decline which was 250, then directly after that I could only get 205 on flat bench.
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It's a shorter ROM and you're using less shoulders typically in decline. Are you arching at all when you flat bench?
 
get off flat and work on incline- leave the the decline bench alone
 
Aleksandar37 said:
I get why you're recommended incline, but why completely drop flat?
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because he is not doing it right- odds are his ROM is not at the curve it needs to be at. secondly, he probably isnt contracting after the negative which is forcing more tri and shoulder to do the actual press.
 
smith_69 said:
because he is not doing it right- odds are his ROM is not at the curve it needs to be at. secondly, he probably isnt contracting after the negative which is forcing more tri and shoulder to do the actual press.
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Agreed, but that's why I recommended he look up proper technique and work on it rather than just completely dropping it.
 
Decline bench press recruits more pectoral muscles than incline and flat. It explains why you can move more weight but don't discount the fact that it also means that greater recruitment will also result in greater pectoral development than both aforementioned.

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David Dunn said:
Decline bench press recruits more pectoral muscles than incline and flat. It explains why you can move more weight but don't discount the fact that it also means that greater recruitment will also result in greater pectoral development than both aforementioned.

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his ROM would explain why he can lift more. If you are benching 100 on decline and using full pec muscle you should have no issue pressing 100 on flat.
 
Yes but I'm not in this for strength/ powerlifting. Strength is important to me but chest recruitment is my main priority. I am over 6'4. Declines are proven to be better for very tall bodybuilders. Correct?
 
Start incline, then flat, then some kind of isolation movement such as dumbbell or cables flies; then, as a finisher superset decline bench (I prefer dumbbells over barbell though) with forward leaning dips, it'll kick your chest's ass. :)
 
smith_69 said:
get off flat and work on incline- leave the the decline bench alone
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^^^^This. Incline has done leaps and bound for my chest development and chest strentgh. I added alot to my flat bench just through incline. And to clarify when its chest day i do everything incline, never touch flat or decline at all. Only things for chest i dont do incline are dips, flies and pull overs. I will go months before testing out some flat bench. I use here and there but incline is king from what ive seen. Thats the look!
 
TheMaster said:
Yes but I'm not in this for strength/ powerlifting. Strength is important to me but chest recruitment is my main priority. I am over 6'4. Declines are proven to be better for very tall bodybuilders. Correct?
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I know this might be hard to understand but don't completely dismiss strength training. No matter what you're doing you want to be getting stronger. Focus on progressive overload. If you don't want to train in the lower rep ranges that's ok but remember those low heavy reps later translate to heavier weight being moved in hypertrophy rep ranges. Also play around with the rep tempo for your sets. Doing slower reps with lighter weight might help to engage your pecs better
 
If you don't know how to bench press, decline also forces you to use lats, which is a very important aspect to benching big and benching safely.
 
herderdude said:
If you don't know how to bench press, decline also forces you to use lats, which is a very important aspect to benching big and benching safely.
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I have trouble engaging the lats. I have to consciously think about it to do it which I'm not always doing
 
So I'm on you tube watching some Steve Kuclo features on bench press and he's talking about Incline and bench in general. He said what he found by tweaking around with range of motion was that stopping a few inches above his chest allows him to lift more weight for more reps. It still activates his chest muscles but limits accessory muscle recruitment such as the main one being his shoulders. He said this is a good thing to fool around with to see if it works well for you. Since I'm over 6'4 with long arms I think this philosophy may work for me also when it comes to range of motion.
 
BlockBuilder said:
I have trouble engaging the lats. I have to consciously think about it to do it which I'm not always doing
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I do, too. At this point, Its all I think about. I'm doing decent enough at everything else at the moment, So lats make or break me. I have to think "straight arm pulldown" on the unrack, "row it into me" on the descent, and "shoulders down into the pad" on the ascent, or I will likely miss or hurt myself.
 
Those are really good cues. I never thought of it that way before. I have trouble as well recruiting my lats during flat bench. I mostly incline and do 190-200 for reps and my flat bench, when I do it, doesn't seem that far ahead of it. Like 215-225 for a handful of reps.
 
TheMaster said:
So I'm on you tube watching some Steve Kuclo features on bench press and he's talking about Incline and bench in general. He said what he found by tweaking around with range of motion was that stopping a few inches above his chest allows him to lift more weight for more reps. It still activates his chest muscles but limits accessory muscle recruitment such as the main one being his shoulders. He said this is a good thing to fool around with to see if it works well for you. Since I'm over 6'4 with long arms I think this philosophy may work for me also when it comes to range of motion.
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How's your hand position?

I used to have a rough time with heavy incline presses but almost had to bring my hands in like a close grip press to be successful but my shoulders tolerate it ssooo much better. I feel ROM is extremely dependent on the person and keeping an eye on the shoulder is very key like you said. My wingspan can have me go over the top when re-racking
 
TheMovement said:
How's your hand position?

I used to have a rough time with heavy incline presses but almost had to bring my hands in like a close grip press to be successful but my shoulders tolerate it ssooo much better. I feel ROM is extremely dependent on the person and keeping an eye on the shoulder is very key like you said. My wingspan can have me go over the top when re-racking
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I knew a guy who went over the top (on one side) when re-racking. Wrecked the f*ck out of his shoulder, and was not back in the gym for a LONG time. If your incline has adjustable uprights, take advantage of them.
 
smith_69 said:
and yea- less range of motion-
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yea there is less rom, but your shoulders are utilized much more with flats, and that why I said naa, I should have explained better, yes there are other things that build mass for chest, but I'm am sure you and me will disagree about declines
 
j4ever41 said:
yea there is less rom, but your shoulders are utilized much more with flats, and that why I said naa, I should have explained better, yes there are other things that build mass for chest, but I'm am sure you and me will disagree about declines
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to a degree- i would rather do decline db flies, low cable crossovers

in the end , if it works for you, then keep at it. that is all that matters, but good points
 
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