# Incline only no Flat Bench? Effective?



## SAMIAM (Sep 28, 2006)

Hello again, I'm still obsessively "tweaking" what's basically a 3X/wk fullbody H.I.T. routine and would like to get get some opinions on leaving out flat bench  in favor of  just incline. Anyone done this for an extended period of time? If so did it result in a more balanced chest? I'm mostly looking to condense my routine to as few compound exersizes as possible so that I can maximize recovery in between W.O.'s. Thanks in advance!


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## GFR (Sep 28, 2006)

I only do incline work, about 2x a week 3 sets each time. I love it and have had no problems at all.


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## P-funk (Sep 28, 2006)

I don't flat bench press.  it is very rare if I do.

I mostly do incline presses and overhead presses.


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## CowPimp (Sep 29, 2006)

With some of my clients who need to do more pulling than pushing I will sometimes just toss in a 45 degree inclnie press as their only pressing movement.  Seems to do the trick.


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## PWGriffin (Sep 29, 2006)

I think the only reason a person would have to or "need" to flat press is if they wanted to be able to bench more.  I flat bench press, but I have a very specific goal in mind as well.


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## MCx2 (Sep 29, 2006)

I do flat bench because I enjoy doing it, but I feel my chest benefits more from incline.


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## assassin (Sep 29, 2006)

Could doing just inclined build the same amount of mass/strength to the chest as the flat does??


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## JimSnow (Sep 29, 2006)

Hmmm. I wonder if the incline is preferred because it better seperates the chest muscles from the diaphram - which is something I need. What are the dynamics?


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## 33ecooks (Sep 29, 2006)

P-funk said:


> I don't flat bench press.  it is very rare if I do.
> 
> I mostly do incline presses and overhead presses.




P-Funk do you still get the same chest fullness without flat benching? Also do you do any dumbell press/flies and do you think HammerSmith bench/incline/widegrip is a decent substitute? I've been flat benching for years but have had a nagging shoulder injury (AC joint gone) so looking to just give up the flat. I'm past the point of giving a damn about my flat max anway.


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## imcleish (Sep 29, 2006)

I've been doing only inclines for about a year now.  I've gotten pretty strong at Incline (255 for 4 or 5 reps).  Incline always felt more natural to me and I wanted to get out of that mode that alot of people fall into when they start lifting, and that's only worrying about the flat bench and spending WAY too much time on it.  I like the shape my chest has taken since taking out flat and using Incline and Weighted dips instead.  I'd say it's more flat and less bulky.  I did try flat bench a couple of weeks ago and found that I was about the same strength on that as I was on Incline which was weird.  I believe that you can build nice chest, aesthetically speaking; by leaving out flats and using incline, weighted dips, maybe decline and even flyes from my own experience.


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## The Boss (Oct 1, 2006)

I thought about laying off FB for sometime. I've been doing it out of habit. I'm gonna go IB, DB, Flyes and weighted dips for a few weeks and see what happens. Oh BTW I'll go DB instead of BBkind of throw the ole body a curve.


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