Bench vs Incline

Brak86 · 01-18-2004, 10:57 AM

I work my chest 2x a week (actually i work every muscle 2x a week). However, when i say chest, i mean lower chest: barbell bench press, decline bench, dumbbell bench. I want to work my upper chest as well: Incline barbell bench, dumbbell incline bench etc. My question is.....if i do lower chest monday and thursdays....will it be safe to do upper chest on saturdays...or is that working the same muscle group more than 2x a week? i mean upper and lower chest are different muscle groups...but i dont kno whether thats ok.

Arthur2004 · 01-18-2004, 11:59 AM

u would be working out the same mucle group more then twice.....

just do uper and lower on the same days....u cant isolate ur upper from lower so that the other one aint used at all

Brak86 · 01-18-2004, 12:26 PM

damn....ok ill have to adjust then.....i dont want to do barbell bench on monday and incline barbell on thurs cause i dont want to do bench only once a week(its my favorite exercise). i guess ill do barbel bench monday and thurs but with incline dumbbell and one more incline exercise on thurs in addition to barbell bench. THat ok?

Brak86 · 01-18-2004, 12:30 PM

would it be better if i did barbell incline bench on thurs and only did barbell bench on mnondays. so each of the barbells once i week>? ahh ireally like barbell bench tho

Tha Don · 01-18-2004, 12:49 PM

do em both

swap round the order every now and again

flat works the bottom/middle... inclines work the upper... for optimum growth you should be pressing on both levels

peace

Randy · 01-18-2004, 12:51 PM

Consider chest as one muscle group. Yes, there are different portions of the chest as you describe (upper/lower) and (outer/inner pecs). The rule of thumb is to give each muscle group a minimum of 24 hours rest between workouts. I would do all your chest exercises in one day. If you want to repeat those twice a week, that is fine....just make sure you are allowing at least a day rest. If your going to do them twice in a week skip at least 2 days and repeat on the 3rd day.

Brak86 · 01-18-2004, 02:33 PM

Randy.....i do give my myscles a day of rest...sometimes two. If i did upper chest on sat i wouldve given my chest a day of rest: monday, thursday, saturday.....but as many people say on here...that is too much..i also hear that u shouldnt realyl do the two barbell (regular and incline) bench presses on the same day.

Brak86 · 01-18-2004, 03:09 PM

im sorry to post again...i dont want to seem annoying;however, this is important to me. These are the options ive narrowed it down to i can do for chest:

1) Monday----Lower chest
Thursday---- Barbell bench(Lower)
Incline barbell bench
DB incline bench and other
upper chest workouts

2) Monday----Lower chest
Thurs---Lower chest
Sat---upper chest

3)Monday--- Lower chest
Thursday--- upper chest

4)Monday----Lower chest
Thursday-----Upper chest
Saturday------Lower chest

Now i dont like #3 as much because i want to increase my bench and i just dont see myself doing that by doing lower chest 1x a week...but in addition i do want to do upper chest....so confusing! If im assured that i wont overtrain by doing #2 i would definately love that...what u all think? #4 also looks tempting...however can i get a lot stronger on bench by giving my lower chest TOO much rest? 4 days of rest?!? I never kill myself, im never sore....but i do quite a bit of weight on chest

Randy · 01-18-2004, 03:49 PM

You can do both regular and incline the same day, but like you say it is not recommended. The reason mainly is that they are both considered a main chest exercise. When I say that I mean that if you were to lift serious and heavy flat bench, then you would have exhausted a large majority of your strength to do incline benching. This is mainly why they are done at different times. My bench routine now consists of ...

1. flat bench (approx 5 sets) 10rep warmup then 5 reps each
2. decline flys (4 sets)
3. pec dec (4 sets)

Then after 6 weeks I will change my routine....

** This is when you change from flat bench to decline or incline,
as well as your other chest exercises...

As I tell everyone, different things work for different people and you just have to find your niche. What works for me, may not work for you or visa versa.. Anyway, hope this gives you some more ideas to work with.

Also here is a great link on benching...

Bench Form (How to Bench Big)

Quote:

Originally posted by Brak86
Randy.....i do give my myscles a day of rest...sometimes two. If i did upper chest on sat i wouldve given my chest a day of rest: monday, thursday, saturday.....but as many people say on here...that is too much..i also hear that u shouldnt realyl do the two barbell (regular and incline) bench presses on the same day.

Brak86 · 01-18-2004, 05:13 PM

thanks a lot randy...but was i right in saying that i probably cant get stronger if i do lower chest on mon and friday...isnt that too much of a rest period?

Randy · 01-18-2004, 09:32 PM

If your doing chest twice a week, personally I don't think that is to long of a rest period (From Monday to Friday). This is only a 3 day rest in between workouts.

Quote:

Originally posted by Brak86
thanks a lot randy...but was i right in saying that i probably cant get stronger if i do lower chest on mon and friday...isnt that too much of a rest period?

**Mudge** · 01-18-2004, 11:35 PM

I always do incline in my chest routine, twice a week is entirely too much for me however. If you are doing less sets though, go for it. My bench has actually gone down recently on a 5 day rotation, overtraining.

Randy · 01-19-2004, 12:22 AM

That's ok Mudge, your still a Gorilla

Quote:

Originally posted by Mudge
My bench has actually gone down recently on a 5 day rotation, overtraining.

Darkkmind · 01-19-2004, 04:08 PM

I do regular, incline, and decline on the same day. Plus flys

Randy · 01-19-2004, 04:24 PM

Dark...

As I mentioned above, most do not conduct more than one major benching exercise consecutively on the same day. Doing this wears you out where you can not achieve maximum effort. IMO it is better to rotate the major ones into your schedule every 6 weeks.

01-18-2004, 10:57 AM	#1
Brak86 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 230	Bench vs Incline I work my chest 2x a week (actually i work every muscle 2x a week). However, when i say chest, i mean lower chest: barbell bench press, decline bench, dumbbell bench. I want to work my upper chest as well: Incline barbell bench, dumbbell incline bench etc. My question is.....if i do lower chest monday and thursdays....will it be safe to do upper chest on saturdays...or is that working the same muscle group more than 2x a week? i mean upper and lower chest are different muscle groups...but i dont kno whether thats ok.
Brak86 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 230	Good, bad, im the guy with the gun-Army of Darkness Weight:147 pounds DB Incline Press: Repping 70 lbs in each hand. Standing curls: Repping 60 lbs (thats all i remember for now!)

01-18-2004, 12:51 PM	#6
Randy Woof! Woof! Woof! Elite Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: California Posts: 7,859 Photos: 4	Consider chest as one muscle group. Yes, there are different portions of the chest as you describe (upper/lower) and (outer/inner pecs). The rule of thumb is to give each muscle group a minimum of 24 hours rest between workouts. I would do all your chest exercises in one day. If you want to repeat those twice a week, that is fine....just make sure you are allowing at least a day rest. If your going to do them twice in a week skip at least 2 days and repeat on the 3rd day.
	- O F F I C I A L . L I N K . M A S T E R - Maintains a Reference to all Gopros P/RR/S Links Gopros latest routines: CLICK HERE Lift like a Chicken Look Like a Chicken

01-18-2004, 02:33 PM	#7
Brak86 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 230	Randy.....i do give my myscles a day of rest...sometimes two. If i did upper chest on sat i wouldve given my chest a day of rest: monday, thursday, saturday.....but as many people say on here...that is too much..i also hear that u shouldnt realyl do the two barbell (regular and incline) bench presses on the same day.
Brak86 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 230	Good, bad, im the guy with the gun-Army of Darkness Weight:147 pounds DB Incline Press: Repping 70 lbs in each hand. Standing curls: Repping 60 lbs (thats all i remember for now!)

01-18-2004, 03:09 PM	#8
Brak86 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 230	im sorry to post again...i dont want to seem annoying;however, this is important to me. These are the options ive narrowed it down to i can do for chest: 1) Monday----Lower chest Thursday---- Barbell bench(Lower) Incline barbell bench DB incline bench and other upper chest workouts 2) Monday----Lower chest Thurs---Lower chest Sat---upper chest 3)Monday--- Lower chest Thursday--- upper chest 4)Monday----Lower chest Thursday-----Upper chest Saturday------Lower chest Now i dont like #3 as much because i want to increase my bench and i just dont see myself doing that by doing lower chest 1x a week...but in addition i do want to do upper chest....so confusing! If im assured that i wont overtrain by doing #2 i would definately love that...what u all think? #4 also looks tempting...however can i get a lot stronger on bench by giving my lower chest TOO much rest? 4 days of rest?!? I never kill myself, im never sore....but i do quite a bit of weight on chest
Brak86 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 230	Good, bad, im the guy with the gun-Army of Darkness Weight:147 pounds DB Incline Press: Repping 70 lbs in each hand. Standing curls: Repping 60 lbs (thats all i remember for now!)

01-18-2004, 05:13 PM	#10
Brak86 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 230	thanks a lot randy...but was i right in saying that i probably cant get stronger if i do lower chest on mon and friday...isnt that too much of a rest period?
Brak86 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 230	Good, bad, im the guy with the gun-Army of Darkness Weight:147 pounds DB Incline Press: Repping 70 lbs in each hand. Standing curls: Repping 60 lbs (thats all i remember for now!)

01-18-2004, 11:59 AM	#2
Arthur2004 Phat Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 265 Photos: 8	u would be working out the same mucle group more then twice..... just do uper and lower on the same days....u cant isolate ur upper from lower so that the other one aint used at all
	Kool Pic i took with my Camera of me flexing

01-18-2004, 12:26 PM	#3
Brak86 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 230	damn....ok ill have to adjust then.....i dont want to do barbell bench on monday and incline barbell on thurs cause i dont want to do bench only once a week(its my favorite exercise). i guess ill do barbel bench monday and thurs but with incline dumbbell and one more incline exercise on thurs in addition to barbell bench. THat ok?
Brak86 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 230	Good, bad, im the guy with the gun-Army of Darkness Weight:147 pounds DB Incline Press: Repping 70 lbs in each hand. Standing curls: Repping 60 lbs (thats all i remember for now!)

01-18-2004, 12:30 PM	#4
Brak86 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 230	would it be better if i did barbell incline bench on thurs and only did barbell bench on mnondays. so each of the barbells once i week>? ahh ireally like barbell bench tho
Brak86 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 230	Good, bad, im the guy with the gun-Army of Darkness Weight:147 pounds DB Incline Press: Repping 70 lbs in each hand. Standing curls: Repping 60 lbs (thats all i remember for now!)

01-18-2004, 12:49 PM	#5
Tha Don Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Nottingham, England Posts: 3,826 Photos: 33	do em both swap round the order every now and again flat works the bottom/middle... inclines work the upper... for optimum growth you should be pressing on both levels peace

01-18-2004, 11:35 PM	#12
Mudge Pizza the Hut Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 22,997 Photos: 1	I always do incline in my chest routine, twice a week is entirely too much for me however. If you are doing less sets though, go for it. My bench has actually gone down recently on a 5 day rotation, overtraining.
	Kinesiology Vote @ Top 25 Deads Comp Bench Motivation Bench form MaxCalc Charles Poliquin When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. Lao-Tzu I don't know any sources so don't ask - thanks

01-19-2004, 04:08 PM	#14
Darkkmind Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Houston Posts: 161	I do regular, incline, and decline on the same day. Plus flys
	*28 Days - 6 Hours - 42 Minutes - 12 Seconds*

01-19-2004, 04:24 PM	#15
Randy Woof! Woof! Woof! Elite Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: California Posts: 7,859 Photos: 4	Dark... As I mentioned above, most do not conduct more than one major benching exercise consecutively on the same day. Doing this wears you out where you can not achieve maximum effort. IMO it is better to rotate the major ones into your schedule every 6 weeks.
	- O F F I C I A L . L I N K . M A S T E R - Maintains a Reference to all Gopros P/RR/S Links Gopros latest routines: CLICK HERE Lift like a Chicken Look Like a Chicken

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