Yeah yeah yeah everybody loves the good ol’ fashioned bench press. Hell, there’ve been articles claiming the superiority of the incline bench around for many years. Still, it’s very obvious when you go into a gym which exercise is preferred by the vast majority of lifters. Sometimes, it’s tough to get on one of the six flat benches at the gym. However, it’s never difficult to get on one of the three incline benches.
Mind you there’s nothing wrong with wanting to focus on the flat bench. It’s one of the three lifts done at powerlifting competitions. Also, what other exercise do you get asked how much you can lift on it more than the bench press? You may very well never get asked about any other exercise. And of course, it’s a relatively easy exercise to perform, though you’ll likely see guys using horrible form on it.
I’ve done my share of bench pressing for sure. For a while I started my chest workouts with inclines. Eventually I went back to starting with flat benches. Recently however, I’ve made the change again and now go with inclines to get my chest training going. I still do a couple of sets on the bench press after the inclines.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with benching first. I just have a personal preference for the incline for a variety of reasons. Maybe you can give it a try to see if it’s something you might consider doing as well. Here I will go into the three reasons I prefer the incline bench press in no particular order.
Reason #1 - Incline Presses Feel More Natural To Me
I feel like I need to stretch more when I warm up for incline bench presses. When I’m good and ready though, I feel like the movement comes more natural to me. What I really like is the deeper stretch between the eccentric and concentric parts of the lift. This helps give my upper pecs a nice contraction at the top. I’ve had elbow pain in the past as well that would bother me when flat benching and not as much when doing inclines.
This is obviously a personal reason for focusing more on inclines. I’m sure I’m not the only one out there that feels like this comes more naturally. Heck, this could be the case for you and you might not even realize it. Next time you work chest, give it some thought.
Reason #2 - Incline Benches Force You To Use Better Form
I’ve seen some lifters use some pretty ridiculous form on the classic flat bench press. Whether it was online or in person, you’ve certainly seen this as well. There are guys who will do just about anything to get up more weight. It’s almost too easy for some to raise their entire bodies up to shorten the distance of the lift. This really does nothing besides inflating the ego, and even then we all know they can’t legitimately lift the weight. Some lifters can even arch their lower back to an extreme and still keeps their rear ends on a bench for an official lift. I guess this is one thing if you are competing, but for the average gym goer, are you really training your chest properly if you do this?
I feel that when seated on an incline bench, it’s not as easy to cheat. Of course it can still be done. You can raise your hips up while incline benching, but it’s not going to make as much of a difference as it will when you do flat benching. If you do full reps you are going to be pushing the weight a much farther distance than you would be on a flat bench done with extreme back arch or raising your body up. This will enable the pecs and front delts to do most of the work.
Reason #3 - Starting With Inclines Is Different
Why train the same as everybody else? You can if you’d like, but I like to do things my own way. Starting my chest workouts with inclines and doing more sets of it have enabled me to get much stronger on the exercise. Having a strong incline bench stands out. This is especially true when you take into account that it’s a secondary exercise for most lifters. Slapping more weight on an incline than many can do on a flat bench feels good, let me tell you.
The Most Popular Reason For Most
This is the reason most articles promote the incline bench over the flat version. The thought is that you can overdevelop your lower pecs when you flat bench more than incline. However, you’re gonna hit your upper pecs too when you do flat benches. Inclines are going to work your lower pecs to a degree as well. So is it going to make a huge difference? I would say it depends on how you bench and whether you do enough inclines in comparison. If you feel like your lower pecs are noticeably more developed, it’s a good to prioritize the incline bench press.
The Downside To Prioritizing The Incline Bench Press
One thing I’ve noticed since I’ve started my chest workouts with inclines before going to flat benches is that I can’t bench as much. It is what it is. After a few all out sets on incline the pecs can’t handle the type of weights I used to be able to put up on the flat bench. Nowadays, I go for more reps on the flat bench anyway.
I’m also sure at some point that I’ll make some changes to my chest workouts. This may be going back to flat benching first and doing more sets of it. I could even alternate which bench I prioritize from one workout to the next. There really is no wrong way as long progressive resistance is used with good form.