Not quite. You're hinting more towards primary and secondary movers and which muscles get activated or used during the lift. I'm talking specifically about range of motion. Think of the decline bench press as a half squat...you're basically limiting the actual bar path travel bc of the decline. The following is a quote by Mark a rippetoe which explains it much better than I can:Originally Posted by davesah1
Again, if you like the lift you shouldn't let anyone talk you out of it especially if you're still making progress. My point is basically that you should optimize your time in the gym and can do so by choosing other lifts IMO. As stated in the quote, dips are an excellent movement that targets "lower pecs" and you're not limiting ROM (unless you do half dips or something) while allowing the use of more muscles to perform the lift. Also my goals lean to strength as I want to compete in powerlifting whereas your goals may be vastly different than mine. Whatever you do, be safe and keep busting ass in the gymThe decline press is a rather useless exercise because the angle of the body in the decline position shortens the distance the bar can travel, decreasing the amount of work done in respect to the distance the load moves. This has the effect of increasing the weight that can be used in the exercise by decreasing its difficulty. This leads to inflated perceptions of one’s ability, and is essentially masturbation, much like that which is possible with a 30 degree leg press or a half-squat. It gets recommended for its effects on the “lower pecs”; dips perform this function much more effectively, which at the same involving more muscle mass, more balance and coordination, and more nervous system activity… Declines are dangerous because if their point of contact on the lower sternum gets missed, the next stop is the throat. Couple this with heavy weight and a lousy spotter, and you might have a really bad “chest” workout.
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