best chest exercise overall!

[yungfaceb3]

At my gym we are all having a little vote for what is the best overall chest exercise. All the personal trainers, sales staff, even service staff are on it as are some of the regualrs that workout there. So far it is a toss up between Incline dumbell presses and flat barbell bench. I think flat barbell bench with a normal grip because that hits the chest inner, outer, upper, lower the most overall and you can use the most weight. My pinkies are on the little grip line when I bench...that it my "normal grip." flat db presses and flat bb presses are about tied. incline db presses have a SLIGHT very slight lead. what do you think?

[xlxBigSexyxlx]

squats




if I remember right, incline bench recuits the most fast twitch muscle fibers. So I would say Incline Dumbell Press

[takedownII]

yeah, anything incline, the upper chest makes the chest look right imo...

[quarry206]

Mens health did an article about this sometime in the late 90's.. They took the percentage of muscle used during the workout of six chest excerises .. And this is how they ranked

1-DB decline
2-Barbell decline
3-DB incline
4- DB flat bench
5- incline barbell
6- flat bench barbell

But u have to realize they used this in a controlled study.. Most people in the gym use such bad form that it will always depend on the person doing it, grip, body position and strengths/ weakness in their body... So in my opinion it all depends on how u do the excerise which one is the best..

[B.E.N.]

EMG results are as follows:

Pectoralis major
Decline dumbbell bench press – 93
Decline bench press (Olympic bar) – 89
Push-ups between benches – 88
Flat dumbbell bench press – 87
Flat bench press (Olympic bar) – 85
Flat dumbbell flys – 84

Pectoralis minor
Incline dumbbell bench press – 91
Incline bench press (Olympic bar) – 85
Incline dumbbell flys – 83
Incline bench press (Smith machine) – 81

But I agree...depends on you. I personally would go with Incline BB.

[yungfaceb3]

okay okay. You all broke it down for me...lol...I appreciate it. It was only "expected" that the classic barbell benmch press would be way overated. and almost every single person that voted for this with the exception of possibly one person doesn't have good form...they can work pretty heavy poundages but they bounce it off the chest and don't controll it on the way down. The few current and/or one time competititve bodybuilders claimed that incline dumbell presses were by far the best no if ands or buts about it. Surprisingly..nobody said decline dumbell...and if you think about it..decline dumbell presses really do hit the chest alot....in pretty good isolation and a great range of motion. Men's health seems to relay the message that anything barbell isn't as good as dumbells and that flat bench barbell actually uses the least muscles of the chest. I am not bashing mens health or quarry 206...i entirely trust and beelive that reference but at the same time I must state my position of disagreement. I mean it is hard for me to beleive that proponents of the flat barbell bench such as Arnold Scwarzenegger developed such a massive and full chest that is quite possibly unsurpassed even to this day from performing an exercise that was the staple of his chest routine that was the least effective for muscle usage/ growth. I do not think that arnold's chest would have been better if had used more decline db presses (which he personally didn't do very often he preferred dips for this area.) Arnold was a big supporter of Incline presses, however, and for many years of his career would start off his chest workout w/ incline bb presses followed by db incline preses at various angles b4 going on to normal bench presses. He used barbells more frequently than db's for chest work and I think that done with proper form that flat barbell bench presses involve many more muscles than given credit for ...more than likely not the most...but most defiennetly not the least of the six. flat bench db are low too....but I just don't get it. These 2 exercises without question produce the most strength and growth in the avergae individual...and how can this be possible if they don't use as many muscles as any of the other exercises?

[dwaynewade]

Mens health did an article about this sometime in the late 90's.. They took the percentage of muscle used during the workout of six chest excerises .. And this is how they ranked

1-DB decline
2-Barbell decline
3-DB incline
4- DB flat bench
5- incline barbell
6- flat bench barbell

But u have to realize they used this in a controlled study.. Most people in the gym use such bad form that it will always depend on the person doing it, grip, body position and strengths/ weakness in their body... So in my opinion it all depends on how u do the excerise which one is the best..

Yup, seen this before and totally agree.

[Perforator]

Arnold could have only done push-ups and had a chest better than most.

[Ronnie Rowland]

The 15 degree decline bench press works best for many because it hits the mid-lower sections hard which makes up the bulk of the chest.

There are exceptions to this rule as some of the short armed barrel chested people get just as much or more from flat presses or inclines.

You would be surprised to know of how many bodybuilders I have trained who had pectorals that looked like pancakes until I introduced them to proper form,the 15 degee barbell decline press, flyes following presses and Slingshot Pyramiding.

[yungfaceb3]

yeah I can see how decline can be #1. It does hit the chest really good, in better isolation that flat, and it does hit the lower/mid section of the chestthat is the largest part of the muscle. But at the same time i must ask, why is flat bench considered by most ppl to be the greatest exercise for growth/ strenght in regards to the chest?

[sorel_C]

always been and always will be barbell presses,,(for me at least), but form is critical for you to get proper chest development

[quarry206]

I don't take offense.. Bash it .. I didn't write the article. I was just quoting what I remembered

I think one thing everybody will agree on is when it comes to bodybuilding. Its about finding what works for u.. And also how u like doing ur split..

On barbell depending on how wide u use a grip or short depends how much ur triceps and delts help out...

On dumbbells depending how low u go, or how controlled u keep the weight all play into how much it will work the chest..

The best chest workout is whatever u find out that works for u.. I'm a powerlifter and I value barbell flat heavily but then again I'm worried about pushing weight not how much of the muscle I'm using.. I hardly use anything but flat bench barbell then DB and thro in decline to finish and I bench 450lbs at 198lbs raw and no juice.. But because I find that works for me... Find what works for u and that is the best excerise

[Ronnie Rowland]

yeah I can see how decline can be #1. It does hit the chest really good, in better isolation that flat, and it does hit the lower/mid section of the chestthat is the largest part of the muscle. But at the same time i must ask, why is flat bench considered by most ppl to be the greatest exercise for growth/ strenght in regards to the chest?

Simply because it's an ego lift used in power-lifting and it usually works great for those who have a genetically gifted chest. For many people, the flat press works the front deltiods and tricep more than the actual chest itself regardless of the form used.

The best way to find out which of the two exercises (decline vs flat) works best for you is to do a bunch of sets of each exercise once a week and see which one makes your chest the sorest as opposed to the anterior deltoids.

In general, those with short arms and a barreled chest/gifted chest will obtain more stimualtion from flat presses because it increase the range of motion where as those with a flat rib cage and longer arms will gain more from decline presses because it shortens the stroke-hence taking more of the triceps and deltoids out of the movement.

Make sense?

[yungfaceb3]

yeah i understand. I knew it had to do with anatomy, but I guess I wasn't in that train of thought because I am so used to seeing ppl of all statures slave away at the flat barbell bench. You are right as well..it is a en ego trianing exercise for the most part..me personally...when I do it I have extrmemely strict and smooth form because I concentrate on isolating the chest. About the short barrel chested doing flat and long arms doing decline....I heard this beofre...but i have also heard that short armed people should not do flat becuase with short arms and theire build they are not able to push the bar far enough to get a good range of motion and these people should do more dumbells or decline, and ppl w/ longer arms benefit from flat becuase they push the weight up farther and bring it lower thus increasing there range of motion. I personally never obtain sore deltoids from chest...yes theytend to burn a little bit from doing presses at flat, incline, and decline, but my chest takes the vast majority of the effort as should be. As a longer armed person...i have always felt that decline, be it dumbell or barbell, places a lot more stress on my shoulders than either flat or even incline does. i still get a good pump in my chest from declines..but it hots my delts alot too. This could also be due to the fact that I do flat and incline more frequently, but i think even when i did decline just as much it still had the same effect.

[sonnygll]

Dumbbell bench on a slight incline. Very good for targeting the entire chest. If you must pick only 1 that has to be it.

[Ronnie Rowland]

yeah i understand. I knew it had to do with anatomy, but I guess I wasn't in that train of thought because I am so used to seeing ppl of all statures slave away at the flat barbell bench. You are right as well..it is a en ego trianing exercise for the most part..me personally...when I do it I have extrmemely strict and smooth form because I concentrate on isolating the chest. About the short barrel chested doing flat and long arms doing decline....I heard this beofre...but i have also heard that short armed people should not do flat becuase with short arms and theire build they are not able to push the bar far enough to get a good range of motion and these people should do more dumbells or decline, and ppl w/ longer arms benefit from flat becuase they push the weight up farther and bring it lower thus increasing there range of motion. I personally never obtain sore deltoids from chest...yes theytend to burn a little bit from doing presses at flat, incline, and decline, but my chest takes the vast majority of the effort as should be. As a longer armed person...i have always felt that decline, be it dumbell or barbell, places a lot more stress on my shoulders than either flat or even incline does. i still get a good pump in my chest from declines..but it hots my delts alot too. This could also be due to the fact that I do flat and incline more frequently, but i think even when i did decline just as much it still had the same effect.

Yes, there's a lot of variables to consider. For instance, Arnold had long arms (not exaclty great for flat bench presses) but he also had a genetically gifted chest (provided leverage to engage the pecs) and he had lagging triceps (made his chest take over more of the movement).

[yungfaceb3]

yeah decline db's hit the chest pretty damn good. I tweeked the angle of decline a little yesterday and did a few sets and man i felt it pretty damn good i must say. As a longer armed person with a lagging (though catching up) chest I still thiink my starting/core exercise for bringing up my chest will have to be flat barbell bench...though every third workout or so i will use all dumbells. Also...i think i am going to substitute decline dumbell presses for dips from now on...i feel that decline db presses targets the chest in much gretaer isolation and i think i will make it a new part of my regular routine. I usually start with flat bb bench..then to incline db press...then to db flyes..and then to dips..which will now be replaced by decline db presses. on heavy days i will use all barbell. My shoulders/ arms are my dominant area of my physique...but they recently seem to be almsot shrinking. I haven't lost strength and the size seems to be same on closer investigation...but i think my chest and back are finally catching up and making my body look more proportioned. anyways..back to chest training. My old manager, a competitve bber, says he only uses dumbells and strats off with incline then does flat. His incline however, is only about a 10 degree incline or a single knotch upwards on a adjustable bench and his flat is ..well flat. he says this works his upper chest just fine as well as his middle and lower chest. I still feel as if my upper chest suffers when doing incline this low so i must do it up higher. waht do you think about the angle of incline?

[dank1970]

well I'm not sure how I would break it down and be able to tell which exercise would give the best results. I mean I do them all and mix up my routine so how would I know for sure what works best. I can say I like how the arnold dumbell press and cable flys make my chest feel.

[Whiteyebrowe!]

I saw a simliar study way back, done by muscle and fitness and the most (EMS)simulis was from the flat bench BB. To me i thought that was obvious.. Is this really up for debate?lol

[Ronnie Rowland]

yeah decline db's hit the chest pretty damn good. I tweeked the angle of decline a little yesterday and did a few sets and man i felt it pretty damn good i must say. As a longer armed person with a lagging (though catching up) chest I still thiink my starting/core exercise for bringing up my chest will have to be flat barbell bench...though every third workout or so i will use all dumbells. Also...i think i am going to substitute decline dumbell presses for dips from now on...i feel that decline db presses targets the chest in much gretaer isolation and i think i will make it a new part of my regular routine. I usually start with flat bb bench..then to incline db press...then to db flyes..and then to dips..which will now be replaced by decline db presses. on heavy days i will use all barbell. My shoulders/ arms are my dominant area of my physique...but they recently seem to be almsot shrinking. I haven't lost strength and the size seems to be same on closer investigation...but i think my chest and back are finally catching up and making my body look more proportioned. anyways..back to chest training. My old manager, a competitve bber, says he only uses dumbells and strats off with incline then does flat. His incline however, is only about a 10 degree incline or a single knotch upwards on a adjustable bench and his flat is ..well flat. he says this works his upper chest just fine as well as his middle and lower chest. I still feel as if my upper chest suffers when doing incline this low so i must do it up higher. waht do you think about the angle of incline?

A 15 degree incline press works well for many, but some do better working on a 30-45 angle. It's all about experimenting to see which works best for your body type.

[Ronnie Rowland]

well I'm not sure how I would break it down and be able to tell which exercise would give the best results. I mean I do them all and mix up my routine so how would I know for sure what works best. I can say I like how the arnold dumbell press and cable flys make my chest feel.

Here in lies a problem. You are doing so many different exercises you cannot say for sure which exercises work best. I would suggest finding out and dropping less effective movements!

[yungfaceb3]

yeah the slingshot guru is right. you should figure out which exercises benefit you the most and discontinue those that are less effective for those that are moreso effective. my lats refused to get wider until i did this...my chest also did not seem to grow until i did this

[JC2007]

Weighted dips followed by incline dumbell.

[dank1970]

Here in lies a problem. You are doing so many different exercises you cannot say for sure which exercises work best. I would suggest finding out and dropping less effective movements!

how long should I give an exercise a go till I know its effectiveness?

[Ronnie Rowland]

how long should I give an exercise a go till I know its effectiveness?

Choose only one chest exercise and peform about 10 sets of 10 reps. The next day, judging from where you experience the most muscle soreness, you can get the answer to which exericse is working the chest best and in what area was hit the hardest. Judging the pump you get is also an indicator.

[dank1970]

Choose only one chest exercise and peform about 10 sets of 10 reps. The next day, judging from where you experience the most muscle soreness, you can get the answer to which exericse is working the chest best and in what area was hit the hardest. Judging the pump you get is also an indicator.

thanks

[cjp4eva]

Simply because it's an ego lift used in power-lifting and it usually works great for those who have a genetically gifted chest. For many people, the flat press works the front deltiods and tricep more than the actual chest itself regardless of the form used.

The best way to find out which of the two exercises (decline vs flat) works best for you is to do a bunch of sets of each exercise once a week and see which one makes your chest the sorest as opposed to the anterior deltoids.

In general, those with short arms and a barreled chest/gifted chest will obtain more stimualtion from flat presses because it increase the range of motion where as those with a flat rib cage and longer arms will gain more from decline presses because it shortens the stroke-hence taking more of the triceps and deltoids out of the movement.

Make sense?

oh man this is exactly my problem, i see everyone doing flat bench press and they say that they feel it on the whole chest, but then when i go do it i barely feel it on my chest i feel it on my shoulders and triceps thanks for clearing that up!

[eljeffe]

I don't take offense.. Bash it .. I didn't write the article. I was just quoting what I remembered

I think one thing everybody will agree on is when it comes to bodybuilding. Its about finding what works for u.. And also how u like doing ur split..

On barbell depending on how wide u use a grip or short depends how much ur triceps and delts help out...

On dumbbells depending how low u go, or how controlled u keep the weight all play into how much it will work the chest..

The best chest workout is whatever u find out that works for u.. I'm a powerlifter and I value barbell flat heavily but then again I'm worried about pushing weight not how much of the muscle I'm using.. I hardly use anything but flat bench barbell then DB and thro in decline to finish and I bench 450lbs at 198lbs raw and no juice.. But because I find that works for me... Find what works for u and that is the best excerise

the best advise you will find on this board, if only more people realized this there would be so many fewer repeat posts.

[rockinred]

Some good advice on this thread, but I want to clear up one comment. Flat barbell is by no means just an ego booster. It is great for stregnth training, great addition to chest workouts, but like anything... you have to find a place for it in your workout routine and don't focus on any one thing solely. A lot of what is being compared is kind of splitting hairs. Like one person said, if there was that big of a difference, you would be able to look at one guy and say, that guy looks like he does a lot of decline DB or whatever. They all work different parts of the chest and it depends on what you are trying to accomplish or isolate, weak points. Just my 2 cents.

[DSM4Life]

You want the real answer ? There is no single movement. If you did the same movement over and over again over time your body would get use to it and stop growing. You need to trick your body by constantly changing up the exersice.

Some do it by adding more weight but most do it by changing the movement.

Example:

For a couple weeks use BB then change to DB's then change to only machines etc etc.