Incline, decline, and flat all in one day?

[FleshLight]

Am I supposed to do all 3 in the same day or alternate between 2 of them?

I usually do
4x6 Flat
3x6 Inc
3x6 Dec
3x10 Flyes

 

[notfred]

Is this a thread about running?

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: notfred
Is this a thread about running?

It's about bench presses, pip-squeak.

Yeah, do them all in one day.

 

[Alienwho]

I do all 3 in one day. I start with incline, go bench, then decline.

 

[Fern]

I just do flat, incline benches didn't do much for me so I dropped it after a while.

If your new to WL, might be a good idea to just start with with the typical flat benching initally.

Diff peeps have better luck with diff excercises. May have to experiment a little to see what works best for you personally. There are "many ways to skin the cat" so to speak with weight lifting & excercising.

 

[Amused]

Yep, all three in one day, once a week.

And why 4 flat sets? Unless one is a warmup, 4 sets is too much.

You can also drop the flies. Isolation exercises are pointless.

If you want a big chest, focus on compund exercises and proper form. Arms far enough apart that the forearms are vertical when the bar is halfway down, elbows OUT, full range of motion and no bouncing off the chest. This focuses the bulk of the work on your pecs.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: Fern
I just do flat, incline benches didn't do much for me so I dropped it after a while.

If your new to WL, might be a good idea to just start with with the typical flat benching initally.

Diff peeps have better luck with diff excercises. May have to experiment a little to see what works best for you personally. There are "many ways to skin the cat" so to speak with weight lifting & excercising.

Yah, I agree.

If you're a WL nub stick with flat and maybe inclines until you get a good feel for the workouts...trust me...nubs who just look @ a bench set get stronger...

That being said...yes...do all your chest exercises the same day...you'll still be working your chest when doing other compound exercises on different days...you don't want to over-work your muscles.

 

[thebigdude]

I've never been a big fan of declines. I always preferred inclines and flat bench.

 

[bigfil]

i do a similar workout on chest day

4x5 flat
4x5 incline
4x5 decline
4x5 fly machine
4x5 cross over cables

 

[AbAbber2k]

I prefer flat + military + weighted dips for chest. Dips fvcking rock. One of my top 5 favorite lifts for sure.

 

[allies]

Originally posted by: Amused
Yep, all three in one day, once a week.

And why 4 flat sets? Unless one is a warmup, 4 sets is too much.

You can also drop the flies. Isolation exercises are pointless.

If you want a big chest, focus on compund exercises and proper form. Arms far enough apart that the forearms are vertical when the bar is halfway down, elbows OUT, full range of motion and no bouncing off the chest. This focuses the bulk of the work on your pecs.

Why do you say 4 sets is too much? Just wondering. My friend and I have been working out, and we do:
12*X
10*X+10
fatigue*X+20
fatigue*X

I dunno if you can follow that, but that's what we do for flat, incline, and decline once a week. We also do some cables for chest, plus tris on our chest day. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: allies

Originally posted by: Amused
Yep, all three in one day, once a week.

And why 4 flat sets? Unless one is a warmup, 4 sets is too much.

You can also drop the flies. Isolation exercises are pointless.

If you want a big chest, focus on compund exercises and proper form. Arms far enough apart that the forearms are vertical when the bar is halfway down, elbows OUT, full range of motion and no bouncing off the chest. This focuses the bulk of the work on your pecs.

Why do you say 4 sets is too much? Just wondering. My friend and I have been working out, and we do:
12*X
10*X+10
fatigue*X+20
fatigue*X

I dunno if you can follow that, but that's what we do for flat, incline, and decline once a week. We also do some cables for chest, plus tris on our chest day. Any advice would be appreciated.

Four sets aren't exactly too much...it really depends on what you're doing and how you respond to it.

I used to do many reps, many sets...and honestly, it took too long and I never really felt like I got a GOOD workout. Sure, I would get fatigued, but that all out "oh ****** I think I'm gonna throw up" never happened.

I then went to HIT (or HIIT) training...and that kicked my ass. One set, as heavy as you can go for 8-12 reps...once you hit 12 reps you would add more weight the next time you did that lift and essentially start over...I still like it...it's fast...and I've had good success with it, however, I plateaued rather quickly.

For a more convention weight-lifting approach I follow this:

3 sets, progessively heavier weight, 4-8 reps per set, obviously, as the weight goes up the less reps I'm able to squeak out.

So, for say flat bench (I use dumbbells) I would do:

1x10 40lbs per arm (warmup, and my only warmup of the day as this is the first exercise)
1x8 80lbs
1x6 90lbs
1x4 100lbs

And of course...I'm always trying to eek up to a higher weight when I can...if I manage to get 5-6 reps on the 100lb dumbbells then the next time I workout I'll try 105 or even 110.

Hope this helps! (Disclaimer- I haven't been a serious "bodybuilder" for a couple years...but this gives you an idea of what some options are).

 

[Fingolfin269]

Weighted dips (leaning forward of course) instead of declines imho. Keep doing flat and incline though. Once per week.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: thebigdude
I've never been a big fan of declines. I always preferred inclines and flat bench.

:thumbsup: I usually do flat and inclines... i've done declines like twice in my whole life only.

 

[FleshLight]

I've been lifting for almost a year now and have never given a thought to decline until I noticed that the bottom of my chest seemed lacking.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: allies

Originally posted by: Amused
Yep, all three in one day, once a week.

And why 4 flat sets? Unless one is a warmup, 4 sets is too much.

You can also drop the flies. Isolation exercises are pointless.

If you want a big chest, focus on compund exercises and proper form. Arms far enough apart that the forearms are vertical when the bar is halfway down, elbows OUT, full range of motion and no bouncing off the chest. This focuses the bulk of the work on your pecs.

Why do you say 4 sets is too much? Just wondering. My friend and I have been working out, and we do:
12*X
10*X+10
fatigue*X+20
fatigue*X

I dunno if you can follow that, but that's what we do for flat, incline, and decline once a week. We also do some cables for chest, plus tris on our chest day. Any advice would be appreciated.

It's all about intensity, not about volume. Everything should be minimized except intensity.

A good read.

http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/LowVolumeTraining.html

I have gotten huge following this advice. 6' 210 lbs, about 12-15% bodyfat (this is where I feel healthiest) 18.5" arms, 47" chest. My bench is 285 for 6-8 reps (I don't do max, but would guess it to be around 350-360)

100% natural. My only suppliments are creatine, protein (I rarely use this anymore) and a multivitamin.

Just as the article says, much of the body building advice out there is old, outdated, and written by guys who juice(d) like madmen. If you're not sitting on a needle weekly, Arnold's book and most of the other advice out there is not only worthless, it's counterproductive.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: allies

Originally posted by: Amused
Yep, all three in one day, once a week.

And why 4 flat sets? Unless one is a warmup, 4 sets is too much.

You can also drop the flies. Isolation exercises are pointless.

If you want a big chest, focus on compund exercises and proper form. Arms far enough apart that the forearms are vertical when the bar is halfway down, elbows OUT, full range of motion and no bouncing off the chest. This focuses the bulk of the work on your pecs.

Why do you say 4 sets is too much? Just wondering. My friend and I have been working out, and we do:
12*X
10*X+10
fatigue*X+20
fatigue*X

I dunno if you can follow that, but that's what we do for flat, incline, and decline once a week. We also do some cables for chest, plus tris on our chest day. Any advice would be appreciated.

It's all about intensity, not about volume. Everything should be minimized except intensity.

A good read.

http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/LowVolumeTraining.html

I have gotten huge following this advice. 6' 210 lbs, about 12-15% bodyfat (this is where I feel healthiest) 18.5" arms, 47" chest. My bench is 285 for 6-8 reps (I don't do max, but would guess it to be around 350-360)

100% natural. My only suppliments are creatine, protein (I rarely use this anymore) and a multivitamin.

Just as the article says, much of the body building advice out there is old, outdated, and written by guys who juice(d) like madmen. If you're not sitting on a needle weekly, Arnold's book and most of the other advice out there is not only worthless, it's counterproductive.

I've trained the same way for a long time. The hardest part about it is the other guys at the gym looking at you funny when you just do one set.

Good advice though.

 

[Conky]

All in one day and heavy as you can go... two or three times a week. This will make you a beast.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Nebor

I've trained the same way for a long time. The hardest part about it is the other guys at the gym looking at you funny when you just do one set.

Good advice though.

Well, I don't usually do just one set because it takes total concentration and a level of intensity I cannot always reach. I do 2-3 sets, with the first set a bit lighter to focus on form and get a feel for the next heavier set. I'll do 3 sets when I feel the first two did not reach the level of intensity I wanted.

But yeah, I get strange looks too from guys when I do 2 sets with a long break in between.

For newbies though, I always suggest a bit higher reps (8-12) and 3 sets. They should do this until they gain good habits and perfect form. Good form is what it's all about. Without it you'll go no where, or worse, end up hurt.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Nebor

I've trained the same way for a long time. The hardest part about it is the other guys at the gym looking at you funny when you just do one set.

Good advice though.

Well, I don't usually do just one set because it takes total concentration and a level of intensity I cannot always reach. I do 2-3 sets, with the first set a bit lighter to focus on form and get a feel for the next heavier set. I'll do 3 sets when I feel the first two did not reach the level of intensity I wanted.

But yeah, I get strange looks too from guys when I do 2 sets with a long break in between.

For newbies though, I always suggest a bit higher reps and 3 sets. They should do this until they gain good habits and perfect form. Good form is what it's all about. Without it you'll go no where, or worse, end up hurt.

I typically do 1 or 2 practice reps with a lower weight to get in form. That also draws strange looks from the others.

Definitely agree that if you're new and don't have a good grip on form, more reps with lighter weights will give you a chance to develop your form rather than trying to pound something out real fast with high weight.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: Amused
.

You can also drop the flies. Isolation exercises are pointless.

.

Tget wirk great for me, Instead of doing them with my wrist inwards though I do them with my wrist facing out (towards my feet) I onlu use 60lbs dumbells and I can really feel them work my chest, more so than my shoulders.

 

[Conky]

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Nebor

I've trained the same way for a long time. The hardest part about it is the other guys at the gym looking at you funny when you just do one set.

Good advice though.

Well, I don't usually do just one set because it takes total concentration and a level of intensity I cannot always reach. I do 2-3 sets, with the first set a bit lighter to focus on form and get a feel for the next heavier set. I'll do 3 sets when I feel the first two did not reach the level of intensity I wanted.

But yeah, I get strange looks too from guys when I do 2 sets with a long break in between.

For newbies though, I always suggest a bit higher reps and 3 sets. They should do this until they gain good habits and perfect form. Good form is what it's all about. Without it you'll go no where, or worse, end up hurt.

I typically do 1 or 2 practice reps with a lower weight to get in form. That also draws strange looks from the others.

Definitely agree that if you're new and don't have a good grip on form, more reps with lighter weights will give you a chance to develop your form rather than trying to pound something out real fast with high weight.

I would say to forget about what others think of your routine. Who cares what they think? That isn't gonna make you any stronger.

I will say it again... work out as heavy as you can stand for as long as you can. Then quit for the day. Do this a couple times a week and you will be as strong as you can get.

There's an old expression in the gym... you can work out hard or you can work out long but you can't do both. Work out hard... that is what shows results over time.

 

[j00fek]

Originally posted by: FleshLight
Am I supposed to do all 3 in the same day or alternate between 2 of them?

I usually do
4x6 Flat
3x6 Inc
3x6 Dec
3x10 Flyes

:thumbsup: same here nothing wrong with this, chest is smokin the next day i love it

 

[cKGunslinger]

I've been having a lot of good results with 5x5's for all my lifts.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: Amused
.

You can also drop the flies. Isolation exercises are pointless.

.

Tget wirk great for me, Instead of doing them with my wrist inwards though I do them with my wrist facing out (towards my feet) I onlu use 60lbs dumbells and I can really feel them work my chest, more so than my shoulders.

If your shoulders are getting a lot of work when you bench, you may want to reexamine your form.

I know the power lifters lift one way, and everyone in an attempt to lift as much at they can mimics them, but it doesn't build the chest as well.

First and foremost, elbows OUT. Your arms should be at a nearly 90 degree angle with your body. Power lifters bench with elbows somewhat in. This is not what you want to do if you want a big chest. Secondly, your hands should be far enough apart that your forearms are vertical when you're at the halfway mark On most bars this means putting your ring or pointing finger on the hash mark. Finally, full range of motion: The bulk of the strain to the pecs is at the bottom of the lift, and the top. Pause at the bottom with the bar touching your chest and don't bounce the bar off your chest.

I was resistant to these changes until I tried them after a long illness break. WOW!!! What a difference! My pecs got HUGE!