# bench press and delts



## rangers97 (Jun 16, 2005)

ok, we know the bench press hits your front delts as well as chest and tris.  We also know that commonly, a lot of people will use the military press or db shoulder press to work their shoulders.

My question is this.  Does the bench press work the front delts as well as a military press would, just from a different angle?  Can you get away with doing an overhead pressing movement every 10 days if you are doing a benching movement every 5 or 6 and still get good shoulder development?


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## Mudge (Jun 16, 2005)

Some PLs do little or no overhead work due to benching, especially if they ever have incline work in the routine.


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## kraziplaya (Jun 16, 2005)

i think if u want big shoulders u better have a shoulder day...or a push day...chest and shoulders togetehr...but i would say most people(not all) cannot get away with having their shoulders worked in their chest workout


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## BiggerNstronger (Jun 16, 2005)

kraziplaya said:
			
		

> i think if u want big shoulders u better have a shoulder day...or a push day...chest and shoulders togetehr...but i would say most people(not all) cannot get away with having their shoulders worked in their chest workout




I think all he was asking was if the benchpress movements can REPLACE military press, not ALL other shoulder movements.      I would say...maybe.  Depends on you and your genetics.   I do little or NO military press and Im more than pleases with my shoulders, but I have ALWAYS had big shoulders and had no problem getting them bigger.


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## kraziplaya (Jun 16, 2005)

BiggerNstronger said:
			
		

> I think all he was asking was if the benchpress movements can REPLACE military press, not ALL other shoulder movements.      I would say...maybe.  Depends on you and your genetics.   I do little or NO military press and Im more than pleases with my shoulders, but I have ALWAYS had big shoulders and had no problem getting them bigger.



i hate u natural genetic shoulder freaks...i have the worst shoulders ever...i been blasting them hard the last 6 months with military presses(standing/heavy) and lots of laterals...now they are finally coming in...no way in the world i could get away with bench presses as my pressing movement for shoulders


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## rangers97 (Jun 16, 2005)

well i wasn't saying to replace the shoulder presses with the bench press, just wondering if benching can help pass the time between shoulder pressing workouts for the front delts.  I do a lot of lateral raises and reverse pec dec throughout the week, but like I said I want to structure a routine that will hit the military press once every 10 days.  So iwanted to know if bench pressing between those 10 days will help to sustain any gains i already made between pressing days....does that make sense?


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## drew.haynes (Jun 16, 2005)

rangers97 said:
			
		

> well i wasn't saying to replace the shoulder presses with the bench press, just wondering if benching can help pass the time between shoulder pressing workouts for the front delts.  I do a lot of lateral raises and reverse pec dec throughout the week, but like I said I want to structure a routine that will hit the military press once every 10 days.  So iwanted to know if bench pressing between those 10 days will help to sustain any gains i already made between pressing days....does that make sense?



It should, as some people don't work on their anterior delts directly at all and still end up fine.


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## Tough Old Man (Jun 16, 2005)

kraziplaya said:
			
		

> i hate u natural genetic shoulder freaks...i have the worst shoulders ever...i been blasting them hard the last 6 months with military presses(standing/heavy) and lots of laterals...now they are finally coming in...no way in the world i could get away with bench presses as my pressing movement for shoulders


I'm going to agree with you completely. for years i lifted as much weight as anyone for chest including incline presses. Never had any type of traps and front delts weren't shit either.  In the last 6 months i have done ton's of shoulder presses and now my traps and delts are growing faster then any other muscle on my body. Well except for my thighs which are finally growing. Had to go to 2 days a week for them although


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## Flex (Jun 16, 2005)

rangers97 said:
			
		

> My question is this.  Does the bench press work the front delts as well as a military press would, just from a different angle?  Can you get away with doing an overhead pressing movement every 10 days if you are doing a benching movement every 5 or 6 and still get good shoulder development?




You can develop good front delts from benching if you're benching incorrectly...which most people do.

Most people don't have a good chest because they don't even know how to contract their pecs. When you look at someone benching, most of the time they just push with all their might, working the shoulders just as much, if not more than their chest. That's why you see so many guys sort of drooped over in a "permanent most muscular pose", with their traps and front delts always rolled forward, exactly due to that reason. This also leads to rotator cuff injuries, as your delts bear the entire burden.

So, when benching, learn how to squeeze your pecs in order to raise/lower the weight. Not only will it improve your chest, but you'll stay injury free.


To answer your question, 
Therefore, you should definitely have other shoulder movements in their to build your delts. Yes, benching will improve your shoulders, but only to a certain extent. Most importantly, you need to remember to work the other 2 heads of your delts, b/c they are probably underdeveloped from excessive benching


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## rangers97 (Jun 16, 2005)

Flex said:
			
		

> To answer your question,
> Therefore, you should definitely have other shoulder movements in their to build your delts. Yes, benching will improve your shoulders, but only to a certain extent. Most importantly, you need to remember to work the other 2 heads of your delts, b/c they are probably underdeveloped from excessive benching


My current routine has the major delt focus on side laterals to try to get them up to speed, and then rear laterals/reverse pec dec and military press will be the secondary focus for now. I am definitely consciously trying to improve my rear delt/pulling strength, as I currently can bench 275 for reps, yet only can db row the 100s and bb row about 185-190 with good form. 

Remember, I am not substituting benching for shoulder pressing work...I just developed a routine where I do military presses only once every 10 days about. Side and rear work will be accounted for, so I was hoping that benching and incline benching will take care of my front delts in the meantime


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## Flex (Jun 16, 2005)

Just make sure when doing side laterals that your squeezing those delts up by pulling from your elbows, instead of the typical "swing the weight up to teh side". Your hands should be tilted forward the entire time, as if you're pouring out a pitcher of water. And take your traps outta the picture by squeezing the weight out and up, as opposed to just up. You trying to improve your delts, not traps.

As for rear delts, learn how to squeeze them correctly, peak 'em, and slowly fight the negative. They'll grow in no time...


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## Tough Old Man (Jun 16, 2005)

Flex said:
			
		

> Just make sure when doing side laterals that your squeezing those delts up by pulling from your elbows, instead of the typical "swing the weight up to teh side". Your hands should be tilted forward the entire time, as if you're pouring out a pitcher of water. And take your traps outta the picture by squeezing the weight out and up, as opposed to just up. You trying to improve your delts, not traps.
> 
> As for rear delts, learn how to squeeze them correctly, peak 'em, and slowly fight the negative. They'll grow in no time...


Sure is nice to see you back posting. where have you been?


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## Squaggleboggin (Jun 16, 2005)

About squeezing the pecs... I find it's much easier to use DBs because they just sort of naturally squeeze more than with a BB. That's just one of the reasons I exclusively use DBs for benching.


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## TheCurse (Jun 16, 2005)

i never do overhead presses.  i figured my front delts are big enough, and i want them all to be proportional.


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## XcelKrush (Jun 16, 2005)

Squaggleboggin said:
			
		

> About squeezing the pecs... I find it's much easier to use DBs because they just sort of naturally squeeze more than with a BB. That's just one of the reasons I exclusively use DBs for benching.


Same here, you can move the dumbells inward as you press the weight up.  This seems to hit my chest much better than a bar.


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## rangers97 (Jun 17, 2005)

i like the dbs better as well, however, for me anyway, I've reached the point where I just don;t want to deal with them anymore...when you need to use the 115-120 lb dbs to get a good chest workout, the hasstle of picking them off the rack, and doing the roll into position is just too much spent energy for me.  But with the lighter weights, I agree that dbs are better


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## TriZZle305 (Jun 17, 2005)

BiggerNstronger said:
			
		

> I think all he was asking was if the benchpress movements can REPLACE military press, not ALL other shoulder movements.      I would say...maybe.  Depends on you and your genetics.   I do little or NO military press and Im more than pleases with my shoulders, but I have ALWAYS had big shoulders and had no problem getting them bigger.


me too


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## god hand (Jun 17, 2005)

Flex said:
			
		

> You can develop good front delts from benching if you're benching incorrectly...which most people do.
> 
> Most people don't have a good chest because they don't even know how to contract their pecs. When you look at someone benching, most of the time they just push with all their might, working the shoulders just as much, if not more than their chest. That's why you see so many guys sort of drooped over in a "permanent most muscular pose", with their traps and front delts always rolled forward, exactly due to that reason. This also leads to rotator cuff injuries, as your delts bear the entire burden.
> 
> So, when benching, learn how to squeeze your pecs in order to raise/lower the weight. Not only will it improve your chest, but you'll stay injury free.



Thanks! So, where should the bar be lowered? Some say nipple, others say collarbone? What do u think?


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## Flex (Jun 17, 2005)

Tough Old Man said:
			
		

> Sure is nice to see you back posting. where have you been?




well thanks, bro  

I've been kinda busy...school year just ended, and summer job just started.

I'll be around if anyone needs to get whacked, don't you worry


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