Thoughts on decline press...

[themamasan]

For the last 2 months I have incorporated the Hammer-strength decline press into my chest workouts. I thought it would be a good thing to do, and may help me on my bench press. I have increased my strength on it quite a bit, but I haven't added any size to my chest, and it hasn't helped my out on my bench presses (DB or BB).

So I was wondering what the real advantages of this exercise would be? Should I see better results in my bench presses if I increase in the Decline press?

 

[P-funk]

have you been bench pressing along with doing the machine work?

 

[GFR]

I hate it, it puts more stress on my shoulders than anyother pressing movement.

 

[Seanp156]

I hate it, it puts more stress on my shoulders than anyother pressing movement.

Same here, I hate decline BB pressing... a while ago (February maybe), I felt a pretty sharp pain in my left delt on the 2nd or 3rd set of decline pressing... The pain went away after a week or two, but I don't think I'll be decline pressing again.

 

[themamasan]

have you been bench pressing along with doing the machine work?

I was for the first 6 weeks. I would do barbell bench press first, then DB incline press, then I would do the Decline press after a couple of tricep exercises. I then stopped doing barbell bench press a couple of weeks ago because my right shoulder was starting to hurt. But now, I am thinking it could be from the decline press.

 

[LexusGS]

Same here, I hate decline BB pressing... a while ago (February maybe), I felt a pretty sharp pain in my left delt on the 2nd or 3rd set of decline pressing... The pain went away after a week or two, but I don't think I'll be decline pressing again.

I gotta agree with both you and Rizzles.
I only tried decline bb press twice in my whole life, my shoulders were killing me so I stopped doing this movement insantly.

 

[CowPimp]

I think most people decline press incorrectly. You should pull your shoulder blades back and tuck your elbows on this lift too. I see people bring the bar down to their freaking necks or high on their chest and using all that weight to cause a hyperextension of your shoulders on the transverse plane.

 

[IRON MAN]

A standard decline presses of 20-30 degrees is too steep and that will create shoulder pain for some. A 10-15 decline press will generally do just the opposite creating less pressure on the pec tendon and rotators.

IMO the 15 degree decline and 15 degree incline press are the best barbell chest developers. I like declines because more weight equals more size. But don't do any exercise thats causing you pain!!!

 

[IRON MAN]

I think most people decline press incorrectly. You should pull your shoulder blades back and tuck your elbows on this lift too. I see people bring the bar down to their freaking necks or high on their chest and using all that weight to cause a hyperextension of your shoulders on the transverse plane.

True!

 

[GFR]

A standard decline presses of 20-30 degrees is too steep and that will create shoulder pain for some. A 10-15 decline press will generally do just the opposite creating less pressure on the pec tendon and rotators.

IMO the 15 degree decline and 15 degree incline press are the best barbell chest developers. I like declines because more weight equals more size. But don't do any exercise thats causing you pain!!!

Well a shorter ROM is the reason for more weight so it will not equate to more size.

 

[Seanp156]

I think most people decline press incorrectly. You should pull your shoulder blades back and tuck your elbows on this lift too. I see people bring the bar down to their freaking necks or high on their chest and using all that weight to cause a hyperextension of your shoulders on the transverse plane.

Haha, no I didn't do it like that... I do it like I flat bench... PL style, bringing it down to mid chest/upper abs with elbows in.

I gotta agree with both you and Rizzles.
I only tried decline bb press twice in my whole life, my shoulders were killing me so I stopped doing this movement insantly.

Yeah, I used to do decline DB presses a lot when I first started, but it's too hard to get on the decline with DB's in my hands now, and I don't feel like asking for someone to hand them off each set. Using DB's gave me no problems on decline, but switching to a BB wasn't comfortable.

 

[CowPimp]

Haha, no I didn't do it like that... I do it like I flat bench... PL style, bringing it down to mid chest/upper abs with elbows in.

If you're hitting mid chest with a decline press then you aren't doing it right. I hit my upper abs with a regular bench press. I hit a tiny bit lower than that with declines. Maybe you're gripping too wide? That puts a lot of undue stress on your shoulders.

Yeah, I used to do decline DB presses a lot when I first started, but it's too hard to get on the decline with DB's in my hands now, and I don't feel like asking for someone to hand them off each set. Using DB's gave me no problems on decline, but switching to a BB wasn't comfortable.

Yeah, that is a pain in the ass.

 

[Stewart14]

maybe it's the bench I am using, I have a home bench that goes to the decline position, but I have absolutely 0 shoulder pain pressing weights that are much more than the weights that would have given me shoulder pain from the flat bench.

The 3 bench pressing movements I have found to limit shoulder discomfort with heavy weight are:
Decline bench presses
Incline benches
close grip benches