Decline versus Flat Bench

[DannyboyXJ]

I did decline yesterday for the first time; loved it. I've never been able to because this is the first time I've had a "real gym" to work out in (just started college woot!)

Anyway, I bench (rep) 160 on flat. On decline, I could do 150 (after I got the form down). Both are 3 sets of 6-7 reps.

Now, my question is WTF? Shouldn't decline have a bigger gap w/ flat bench like with incline versus flat? I mean, I do a lot of DB flies (35lb DBs); been doing those at my house for awhile; could they help with decline?

I was just really surprised... I def. feel a difference after doing decline, incline, and flat bench all with BB.

--Dan.

[squat it all!]

not sure i understand.... how much did you do on decline?

[DannyboyXJ]

Around 115-120

--Dan.

[squat it all!]

you said 160 on flat and 150 on INCLINE, but not decline...

[DannyboyXJ]

you said 160 on flat and 150 on INCLINE, but not decline...

Whoops; meant decline, fixed! My bad

160 - flat
115 to 120 - incline
150 - decline

--Dan.

[squat it all!]

ah, ok. i get it now.

for me, decline is much heavier than flat, which is much heavier than incline. i think decline is an awkward movement, and takes a lot of concentration to touch the bar at just the right spot on your chest. in other words, finding your grove on decline is harder than on flat or incline, but once you do, you can move some big weights

(IMHO, of course)

[DannyboyXJ]

Hmm, cool; I'm just new to decline so I expected it to be much less than flat like incline is...

--Dan.

[Canadian Crippler]

Your decline should be bigger than your flat, actually.

[squat it all!]

for some people it is... but it is generally less range of motion than flat or incline, so it is easier to move the bar. have you ever seen people lift their butts off the bench when they do flat bench? this is cheating, of course, but what their doing is trying to improve leverage and decrease the ROM to finish the rep. declines are great since they have a smaller ROM, leading to bigger weights once you get the "groove" down.

[squat it all!]

have you tried decline DB press?

[DannyboyXJ]

have you tried decline DB press?

No, yesterday was my first time doing any type of decline press.

I've done DB flat and incline but never decline; what makes it better than BB?

--Dan.

[squat it all!]

not saying it's better than BB, just different. i prefer BB cuz of the heavier weights, but DB's on a decline have a feeling i haven't duplicated anywhere else. the closest is probably dips (weighted or just bodyweight). since i'm so short (5'6" --insert umpa-lumpa jokes here--), i have a hard time unracking/reracking the bar on the decline bench. DB are easier for me to get into place. just food for thought...

[Meat_Head]

IMO your decline should be behind our flat bench at least to start out with. With proper form on the decline press you should be bringing it down to at least your nipples, maybe a little higher on your chest. Remember, the bigger the range of motion you get, the bigger a stretch in your pecs you'll get - that recruits more muscle fibers.

I prefer decline to flat bench now. Flat and incline bench work my shoulders way more, and if I take a wide grip and push my elbows out to use my chest more on those exercises it hurts my shoulders. On decline however I have no pain in my shoulders, and the more I push my elbows out the more I feel my pecs working specifically. Give it a try - elbows out, bring the bar down to your mid chest, you should feel a good stretch in the pecs.

[Shark]

Think about the range of motion. The smallest is decline, then flat bench, then incline. This is why for most people, they lift the most on decline, then flat bench, and then incline.

[IZich]

Think about the range of motion. The smallest is decline, then flat bench, then incline. This is why for most people, they lift the most on decline, then flat bench, and then incline.

yup. my flat is about 275 1RM, while my decline is in the higher 200's, around 285. My incline is significantly lower than these two.
I think there are some other good supporting arguments to this, about how the flat bench utilizes smaller supporting muscles (possibly deltoids? I read it on here a few weeks ago), making it a little harder, but the decline pushes the weight almost entirely over the pecs and triceps.

[Meat_Head]

Think about the range of motion. The smallest is decline, then flat bench, then incline. This is why for most people, they lift the most on decline, then flat bench, and then incline.

That's backwards in my opinion. Incline has the smallest range of motion unless you bring the bar down very low on the chest which puts unnecissary stress on your shoulders + puts you at a mechanical disadvantage. With flat bench the range of motion is moderate unless you employ powerlifting tecniques to make it shorter. With decline, most people only bring the bar down around their upper abs, which is cheating. I did that for a while to, but once I started bringing it down to the proper place on the chest and got into that groove, the range of motion became huge.

[squat it all!]

i can attest to that. i always feel flat bench in my shoulders, whereas decline hits right on the pecs for me. i decline about 30 lbs. more than flat.

[obsessivegrowth]

it is important to note that if you have a high blood pressure you need to be wary of declines....the extra weight plus blood rushing to top half of body = not good news.