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Thread: Would Substituting Inclined Bench for Flat Bench Mean I was Giving a Lot up?

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by MBasic View Post
    I had the same sort of thing happen.

    I tore my pec doing flat bench. It never healed correctly.
    I would try to LP again, and get to right just before a 270x5. . . . and tenderness and bruising would oocur at the old tear site.

    I have done mostly Inclines (BB) and CGBP ever since. . . . some weighted dips.
    None of these bothers my pec. I think I got up to 260x5 on the incline.

    I don't think it matters in the grand scheme of things.(that you or I never Bench again)

    Incline MIGHT carry over to OHP more IMO.
    How much were ou benching when you tore the pec? Did you have it treated by a Dr.?

  2. #12
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    I had a class 2 tear on my pec about 2 years ago. Not from weightlifting, but from a sport. This was before I knew anything about starr method, but I did do light weight in the first few weeks and then did raise the weight slowly. Eventually the pain went awya. However the pain in my armpit area comes and goes for weeks at a time during bench. But I have always worked through it and it dissipates. I'm not sure if this will work forever this way though. So I'm watching your thread.

    Where is your pain?

  3. #13
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    If you don't care about your flat bench, then you are giving up nothing by not flat benching. If you care a lot about your flat bench and intend to drive it as high as you can and compete or something. . .well you're giving up a hell of a lot. You know what muscles are involved and strengthened by the flat bench and the incline bench and how the two differ. You can get strong on the incline bench and be emphasizing anterior deltoid and upper pec strength/size. However, you won't receive the whole pec emphasis that the flat bench does.

    If you have no desire to train your pecs specifically and no desire to see huge flat bench numbers, then go ahead and do inclines. But it probably isn't great to avoid flat bench for fear of a past injury that isn't causing any current issues.

  4. #14
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    Just for comparison sake I hit a 305 single on flat bench the other day and week before could only hit about 250 for single on incline; might could have hit a couple more pounds on incline. I train incline and flat both fairly often; along with the press.

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by OZ-USF-UFGator View Post
    This is the point I'm not sure I completely agree with. If Person a can bench 300 flat and person B can bench 265 inclined, I'm not so sure person A is stronger and I'm not so sure that person A could inclined bench 265 automatically. Inclined bench is a harder movement.
    And, if person A can low bar squat 500, person B can high bar squat 450, and person C can front squat 400, maybe they are all about the same overall strength. The point, however, is which exercise would be most effective at actually getting you to this strength level? If we follow the SS approach to exercise selection, it is:

    1. Uses the most muscle mass
    2. Over the longest effective range of motion
    3. With as much weight as possible

    So if you want a 400/450/500 squat like above, the most optimal way to get there would be to low bar squat.

    If you want a 265/300 incline/bench, which lift do you think will get you there more optimally?

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by quikky View Post
    And, if person A can low bar squat 500, person B can high bar squat 450, and person C can front squat 400, maybe they are all about the same overall strength. The point, however, is which exercise would be most effective at actually getting you to this strength level? If we follow the SS approach to exercise selection, it is:

    1. Uses the most muscle mass
    2. Over the longest effective range of motion
    3. With as much weight as possible

    So if you want a 400/450/500 squat like above, the most optimal way to get there would be to low bar squat.

    If you want a 265/300 incline/bench, which lift do you think will get you there more optimally?
    This is the case if your only concern is 'getting strong' in a general, catch-all sense. Your comparison on varying squats does not show anything more than person A can low bar squat more than Person B can high bar squat. . who can in turn high bar squat more than Person C can front squat. As soon as exercise specificity comes into play, you can't compare strength levels. Also, the incline bench shares more with the overhead press than the flat bench.

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dalton Clark View Post
    This is the case if your only concern is 'getting strong' in a general, catch-all sense.
    The OP's question was:

    Quote Originally Posted by OZ-USF-UFGator View Post
    So, for a general strength trainer in his 40's does making the switch from flat to inclined bench as the primary bench press mean I would be giving a lot up in terms of general strength?
    So, yeah, we are talking about "general strength".

    Quote Originally Posted by Dalton Clark View Post
    Your comparison on varying squats does not show anything more than person A can low bar squat more than Person B can high bar squat. . who can in turn high bar squat more than Person C can front squat. As soon as exercise specificity comes into play, you can't compare strength levels. Also, the incline bench shares more with the overhead press than the flat bench.
    The point is that not all exercises are created equal in terms of strength training. You can get strong doing only incline presses, but you will get stronger doing flat bench for reasons outlined in my post. In the context of what the OP is asking, flat bench will make him stronger over time than incline bench.

    In terms of specificity and "specific strength", I would argue that the primer driver should still be the exercise that is most effective at getting someone stronger, with supplemental work heavily focusing on the specific. For someone who wants to have a strong incline, for example, I would argue training the flat bench heavy and supplementing with incline will produce a stronger incline than just doing the incline. Just like, if you wanted a strong front squat, training the low bar as the primary and the front as the supplemental lift would work better at getting you a strong front squat than just doing front squats.

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by OZ-USF-UFGator View Post
    How much were ou benching when you tore the pec? Did you have it treated by a Dr.?
    Awesome Story . . .
    (the accident was awesome.
    nearly died. spotter saved me.
    blacked out later in the parking lot, because "shock".
    pissed my pants while a was out, etc, etc, etc)


    I had just started up again with lifting, after a 15+/- year layoff.

    So about a month or two in, I got to 250 and it popped.

    The emergency room did nothing for me.

    It took about 4 days to get into a sports doctor, then another couple of days to get an MRI.

    ...then another couple of day for the Doctor to interpret the MRI....and get back to me.

    I did not know about the Star rehab.

    After about week after that, I just instinctively (didn't read anything, or know anything) started doing 4-5 set of 10-15 reps with the pec flye machine . . .

    . . . with a pretty long ROM and almost zero weight. I slowly worked up, with that, and benching machines (afraid of barbell bench at that point).

    After a while of that, I tried to bench once, but scared . . . and stiff/sore.

    So I inclined and did other pec stuff FOR YEARS, no bench.

    Finally I came across starting strength. Started off real slow and light.

    I got to like 265x5, and 270 for 5 singles . . .and a hematoma (?) appeared out of nowhere! I started pushing around in there and found tender spots.

    I've never flat benched again.

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