How often do you flat bench?

[nuttynutskin]

What the title says... How often do you guys flat bench? Right now I'm only benching once a week with more emphasis on overhead pressing. I'm kind of torn tho honestly as far as what I want to concentrate on more. I'll probably just switch it up here and there.

 

[NeighborMike]

not too often...i do other chest work out, often with dumbbells

 

[CFC]

I do incline and decline but rarely flat. When I do, it's just for high reps to get some blood in the area. I mostly work with cables for chest nowadays. It's not sexy but it works!

I'm pretty sure you're powerlifting though right? So I'd want to do at least one flat bench session per week, possibly two, focusing on different methods (eg explosive speed vs weight etc).

 

[GrymReefer]

Never ever ever. Sometimes I sit on the flat bench just to tease it.

Shoulders do not function within that range of motion. I cannot create a large enough subacromial space for my shoulder to reduce the risk of impingement. Also cannot overhead press without the sensation of my left shoulder slowly coming out of socket.

 

[Serotonin101]

Flat bench wrecked my shoulder. Haven't done it in about 2 years.

 

[nuttynutskin]

I'm pretty sure you're powerlifting though right? So I'd want to do at least one flat bench session per week, possibly two, focusing on different methods (eg explosive speed vs weight etc).

Yeah, powerlifting or strength training, whatever you want to call it. My main goal right now is to improve my numbers on the big 3 lifts, or big 4 really if you count overhead press. I pretty much have my routine down now except if I want to bench twice a week because that would mean both bench and ohp on Fridays. That's what I used to do and got fairly strong, but it still means a submaximal effort on ohp if I bench beforehand. I think what I may do is just rotate and have one week more bench oriented and the next more press oriented. Either way tho I'm going to be benching at least once a week.

 

[RedLeader]

Twice per week. On the first day, I'll do two warm-up sets and then five sets of 1-5 reps (as soon as I get 5x5 at a weight, I increase by 5lbs for the next week). On the second day, I'll pyramid up 10-8-6-4-2. If I have time, I will do pause-reps on flat at the end of chest workouts. I will also sometimes do high-rep reverse-grip and guillotine on flat bench, but never more than a set or two.

I train for PL more than BB, but try and overlap as much as I can. I agree that the incline/decline approach is superior for bbing.

 

[nuttynutskin]

Never ever ever. Sometimes I sit on the flat bench just to tease it.

Heh, I sit on it to rest and do chest stretches sometimes if no one else is using it.

Shoulders do not function within that range of motion. I cannot create a large enough subacromial space for my shoulder to reduce the risk of impingement. Also cannot overhead press without the sensation of my left shoulder slowly coming out of socket.

Yeah I remember you saying in another thread your shoulder was fucked up... That sucks you can't overhead press either. I've had an impingement too I'm pretty sure, but it got better. Now fortunately I have to do something pretty stupid for my shoulders to bother me. The worst injury I ever had was when I first started lifting and was indeed stupid. I was in a sporting goods store with my parents and had the bright idea of trying to do one rep with the whole stack on the chest press machine they had. I did, but my left shoulder went POP. I couldn't even lift my arm up past parallel for for a good week lol. I was pretty stupid when I first got into lifting, but I guess a lot of people are.

 

[MysteriousOne]

I incorporate flat bench press into my workout every time I train chest (2x a week). Sometimes I will start on it, sometimes I will start on incline. Sometimes I will start on dumbbells, sometimes I will start on the barbell. It's good to mix things up. I wouldn't waste your time on decline though.

 

[ritch]

I leave the flat to the kids who like to do their BS 1 rep max's... Nothing but inclines for me. Some say the angle has no different effect and that is a complete load of shit.

 

[NeighborMike]

I leave the flat to the kids who like to do their BS 1 rep max's... Nothing but inclines for me. Some say the angle has no different effect and that is a complete load of shit.

who ever said that is full retard

 

[ritch]

who ever said that is full retard

That info is being regurgitated now big time on boards. It's like people gotta try and say something that totally flies in the face of logic to get their names out. Such forums can be a mega asset to get info just as they can create confusion worse than the transgenders appearing out of nowhere on a daily basis these days it seems...

 

[RedLeader]

If you arch your back on incline to the degree that some of the Bros at my gym do, the incline and the flat pretty much are the same thing. So two wrong make a right here...kinda...sorta?

 

[GrymReefer]

If you arch your back on incline to the degree that some of the Bros at my gym do, the incline and the flat pretty much are the same thing. So two wrong make a right here...kinda...sorta?

The retraction of the scapula is to maximize what is referred to as the "stretch-shortening cycle" of the pectoralis major. Engaging the scapula retractors during the eccentric movement increases the amount of stretch and tension put into the pectoralis major. I wouldn't say that excessive retraction* during incline would be comparable to a flat barbell press. Especially since elbow placement tends to be a little different during incline for majority of us (hence why so many also complain of shoulder problems when they do incline bench press from an increase in shoulder abduction leading to unwanted rotational force during the press)

 

[CFC]

The retraction of the scapula is to maximize what is referred to as the "stretch-shortening cycle" of the pectoralis major. Engaging the scapula retractors during the eccentric movement increases the amount of stretch and tension put into the pectoralis major. I wouldn't say that excessive protraction during incline would be comparable to a flat barbell press. Especially since elbow placement tends to be a little different during incline for majority of us (hence why so many also complain of shoulder problems when they do incline bench press from an increase in shoulder abduction leading to unwanted rotational force during the press)

Your understanding of sports physiology/biomechanics is impressive Grym.

 

[ritch]

I just lower the weight, push it back up, worked out rather well.

 

[GrymReefer]

Your understanding of sports physiology/biomechanics is impressive Grym.

Ha thanks. I just became obsessive a while back when I couldn't understand why certain exercises didn't work for me. Especially with barbell pressing movements involving the chest.

 

[CFC]

Ha thanks. I just became obsessive a while back when I couldn't understand why certain exercises didn't work for me. Especially with barbell pressing movements involving the chest.

I still have my suspicions that you're hypermobile... it makes training quite an artform figuring out how to activate the muscles properly when you're too flexible. It's only my legs and arms that never needed much thought, which is probably why they grow so easily compared to everything else.

 

[GrymReefer]

I still have my suspicions that you're hypermobile... it makes training quite an artform figuring out how to activate the muscles properly when you're too flexible. It's only my legs and arms that never needed much thought, which is probably why they grow so easily compared to everything else.

Possibly considering my chest has legitimately made terrible gains over the last 5 years. My legs and back on the other hand have always had substantial response from any stimulus. I'm also the kind of person that has bigger calves than arms.

I've always thought about making a little post about the biomechanics behind some of the most popular lifts and how to successfully perform these actions. But....I feel like it would contradict with too many who already thought they were doing it properly.