incline bench carry over

[slashkills]

I know you big guys already talked about this in another thread but i was hoping to get some more thoughts on it. How well does incline bench carry over to flat bench?

I think it helps a newb alot more than an experienced lifter. It hits triceps and front delts well. If your weak i think any exercise that makes those muscles stronger will improve your bench. For a more advanced lifter who really needs more specific movements to increase his bench i dont think incline would be as effective.

My flat bench seems to have helped my incline bench. I havent done incline since i think january and hit a 30lb PR the other day on it.

any thoughts?

[sayagain]

I've been doing inclines as an ME movement lately and think it has decent carryover. At least for me. I lift raw and think it helps my low end strength, which for me is where I'm weakest. I've hit PR's on the incline the last 3 times through my rotation and my flat bench has also been going up. I would be interested to hear the opinions of some of the bigger benchers though.

[walkerxsan]

i'm not a big bencher, but i've also had big gains with incline, i started doing incline and closegrip and it really helped my flat bench. i've found dumbbell presses of have helped as well, but not as much, probably just for stability. i tried picking up a bb routine, that worked well weirdly enough.

[SEOINAGE]

I'm curious too, I don't mind inclines as assistance with barbell or dumbells, but last time I used it as a ME I hated it.

[walkerxsan]

i did incline as a 5x5, so i don't know how well it'd work in a westside ME day. i hated closegrip, at higher weights i started getting wrist pains so i did them too quickly and might've been using momentum.

[NickAus]

Some top raw benchers swear by them, some hate them.
How does that help-I think it means they are definitely worth a try.
They may help alot or you might find you don't get much out of them.
I personally think you would do better using inclines as a second movement for 5's.
Good luck.

[Cyrus Ford]

Just be careful on the inclines, they can be hard on your shoulders. That's one exercise where you want to make sure you've warmed-up really good. As far as carry over to the flat BP; it has its benefits by hitting the front delts and the top of the chest really well. Every pressing exercise works the triceps to some degree, it depends on your grip how hard you hit it.

[mattdunkin]

If you feel it works for you,then by all means include them.I personally only do close-grip inclines now,but that's just me.