Flat Bench Press......... Over rated??

I was thinking about this the other day, and I truly do think that flat bench presses are over rated..... I believe you involve your shoulders and tri's too much..... and a lot of guys trying to push really heavy weight on bench press to boost their ego, actually incorporate shoulders and tri's even more then most.....

I think dumbbells are superior, and if you are going to do bench presses I think it should be incline....


What do you guys think??

I BARBELL BENCH MAYBE 2- 3 TIMES A YEAR AND THE REST IS All dumb bells, works beter for me and my shoulder, kinda keeps to the natural motion more then that flat bench barbell shit does, but if i could to be honest i would do more bar bell it just isnt in the cardsa nymore with my shoulder problems unless i stay light which sucks, every now and again ill go flat barbel to see where i at max wise, other then that not to much for me

I gave up BB bench about 3 yrs ago after a minor pec tear. DB's work SO much better, you just have to be able to take out the ego portion. I will do BB once every 2-3 months.

hmmm, sounds like me, pretty scary actualy, i think ill start bb again,lmao

also that ego shit is a joke! Im a form guy and I laugh at those who throw weight around with their entire body,lol, ill stand next to anyone, well most anyone with my proper weight and form any day....if ya look good ya look good the weight means nothing after 30,lol...yrs old that is....uhhhh

I think flat barbell benching is the best chest exercise. I do it almost every chest workout. I think it is a great mass building compound movement. I learned a technique from some champion Marine heavyweight powerlifters a long time ago that really puts the majority of the workload on the pecs.
When you lay on the bench arch your back. Don't bridge and raise you ass off the bench-just arch your back to get your sternum high. Use a fairly wide grip. When bringing the bar down touch the bottom of your sternum-then when pressing the weight up the bar should travel in an arcing fashion as the bar ends up being directly over your eyes. Of course use a pause at the bottom of the lift-any bouncing creates momentum and takes stress off the pecs at the most critical point of the exercise.
i can honestly say when I flat barbell bench like this I absolutely do not feel anything in my tri's, virtually none in my delts. My pecs scream.
Something kinda cool happened about 4 weeks ago when I was benching. I asked a new staff member at the gym to spot me on my heavy set. When I got done he asked me if I had trained with powerlifters. i laughed a little, and said yeah. He could tell by the technique.
My non-lifting buddies nicknamed me "chest" several years ago as my chest is probably my best bodypart....and I think it is from heavy benching using this technique.

well bro like i said i would incorporate it more if i could, you guys got me all hyped up on bb now i might give it a shot again for a few weeks and se how my sholder goes, but i tink db build better pecs to be honest

yeah, it does work on the ego a little I must admit. But I also use it as a barometer for my overall body strength and use it to monitor any diet changes or gear changes...if my bench goes up I am probably doing something right, if it goes down I look at what I am doing a little closer.
Talking about ego-here is something funny. I was about 22 or so the first time I benched 315. I hit it for a max rep one night. I was totally stoked! 315...the "holy grail". 3 big ass plates on each side. I was so fired up I went back to the gym the next night to do it again!!! Just as I worked my way up to 315 a Marine powerlifter (he was one of the guys that eventually got my technique right) started warming up next to me with 315!!! His name was Dan Martinez. Then his lifting bud-Gary Ward-comes in to join him. Gary was the first Marine to bench 600 if memory seves correct. Martinez went up to 515 for a set of 3 right next to me! I sheepishly broke down my bar as my ego crumbled.....

i think DB press/incline are best thing for chest, but to bad im gonna have to switch over to barbell cause my gyms highest db are 85lbs and they are too light, my gym sucks

Presser said:

hmmm, sounds like me, pretty scary actualy, i think ill start bb again,lmao

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nah follow my lead buddy and you can be like me when you're my age! lol

It's a definite preference issue. I think that I respond better to barbell movements rather than dumbells. That goes for shoulder press, biceps and triceps exercises, and all of the chest exercises.

By the way: Since a lot of you guys are seem to be dumbell whores, have you ever heard of powerhooks? I just found out about them and ordered them from powerhooks.com. check them out.

KidRok said:

nah follow my lead buddy and you can be like me when you're my age! lol

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:arcade:

in a way its over rated, cause people always ask me how much i bench, when i say 365 there like i thought youd do more. that pisses me off, because i could put up more if i was slopy with my form. but i also think its a nessacary lift that gives better results than most lifts...MM,

I should also add that besides using mainly DB's I almost always start with inclines.

I must admit I do flat bench for every chest workout......and I can see why it's over-rated the way you bros are giving your opinions, BUT...........have you tried flat benching with your feet in the air or on the end of the bench? It's stupid to have a big bench with sloppy form and be proud of it, but to press 400+ lbs. without using lower extremities or arching the back......now that's something to be proud of. We all must strive for a goal to build confidence. This is what works for me and beleive me....I feel it all in the pecs.

I bench. If I start with dumbell flat, I go with incline bar and the other way around.

I am not one that feels front delt stress or tri stress from it, all that much.

supersport made a few good points about form but he left one out that is very important: The scapula HAVE to be pulled together and the shoulders back as far as the will go to hit your chest the hardest. I can certainly see where keeping your lats wide and shoulders forward would incorporate the front delts tremendously.

I warm up very methodically, though. When benching, I start with only 25s on the bar and move up - 135,185,225,275 and so on until I get to my top weight and then I start my work sets. Every warm up is only a handful of reps, though, so that I am warm but not exhausted when it is time to start. I have had to deal with shoulder problems from my baseball years and when I warm up well like this, I never have any shoulder problems and haven't for years. I do get razzed about the 25s when warming up, though. lol

The bench has worked well for me in that when I go heavy, I use the barbell whether it is for chest, delts or whatever. It is just too much effort and too much energy to get heavy dumbells into place.

Just my opinion but........

Skip

i personally like flat barbell bench press

i always get the best pump from this exercise, and with inclined db presses

What was that famous quote from one of Shakespeares plays?

"To Bench or not to Bench, that is the question!"

it was something like that anyway...lol.