Flat and Incline DB Presses

I asked this on another forum but only got 1 response which didn't really help. I want some more input on this. Here it is verbatim (fancy word for a boerseun... my mom would be proud)


On chest day I do flat and incline dumbbell presses with flyes and cable crossovers. Chest day thus looks like this:

Week1. Flat dumbbell (40kgs), flat flyes, incline dumbbell (32kgs), cable cross.
Week2. Incline dumbbell (40kgs), incline flyes, flat dumbbell (32kgs), cable cross.
Repeat week1
Repeat week2 etc.

I alternate because I believe (possibly incorrectly) that it will "balance out" if that makes sense.

Questions.

Should the weight for flats on week1 and the inclines on week2 be the same? They are currently both at 40kgs (around 90 pounds for the Americans). Is this the correct thing to do or should the flats always be heavier? Logic tells me I'll one day reach a point where my flat presses will be a whole lot heavier than my inclines. This makes me question my current set up...

Currently the weight difference between chest press 1 and 2 is 8kgs. Is this acceptable at this level? What I mean is should this gap be bigger the heavier the weight gets? Or should I try and keep them both at the same level as long as I can?

Should I even bother to change my presses around like this or should I always start with heavy flat presses and lighter inclines?

Cheers.

just a question,why no barbell work like bench press?u can go alot heavier with a bar than dumbells, also rather do fly's after your your press motions, so do this,start with flat bench,then do incline dumbell press,then do flys and drop the cable cross overs for dips with a weight.

then alternate the next week by doing incline bench press,then flat dumbell press and then flys on an incline,then dips.

i think that doing flys inbetween pressing motions is burning you out a little bit so thats why the weight difference is 8kgs.

i mean for eg you can dumbell press 40kgs per hand,giving u a rough weight of 80kgs pressed(yes there are stabilisers and other muscles that go into play etc) but with using a bar i bet your bench will increase by 10-20kgs which puts more tension on the chest making it grow bigger... then go do your dumbell work,i bet you will be able to do your dumbells at 40kgs instead of 32's,then do your flys,then do dips... those are the big chest builders in my book,all your weights should be so heavy that u are failing between 5-8 reps roughly,some guys do 4-6 ,some do 6-8 so around those rep ranges is gonna give u the best chest development.

Thanks for the reply dj. The main reason I don't do bb bench is because I train alone and thus have no spotter and the fact that my bench has always been ridiculously poor. My squat, deadlift and bb military press is great but bench? Forget it.

I think your right regarding the flys though. Today I did incline then flys then flat and my flat was absolutely terrible as I had nothing left. I always assumed it was because my first press (whether it be flat or incline) was so awesome that the tits had nothing left... About 5 or so months ago i changed down to 6-8 reps with more weight and the change in growth was very noticeable so I'll stick to that for now.

I'll try try doing the first exercise with a bb, then do the other with dbs and then flys and dips. I'll let you know how I get on!

Thanks!

dude just the fact that your bench press is weak should be reason enough for you to be doing it. And i believe your logic is flawed, you can break yourself a hell of a lot worse doing heavy dumbell presses unassisted, than bench press...

I actually like your routine, and Jay Cutler would agree.
I try to do the same. The Fly's stretch out the chest nicely between sets.
Also - Jay's words (:laugh:) he doesnt do bench presses because they are dangerous at the point where you take the bar off the rack. The angle is awkward. He uses the smith machine reversed so that his hands follow a natural movement forward to take the safety catch off.
Sure heavy Bench presses will make you grow and especially when you are young your tendons and joints will take a battering, but i have found that i have grown more from the Fly/press combo than with anything else. When you do fly's correctly they are super taxing on your chest.

when doing any chest exercise, is it fine if you tilt your neck/head up. i always feel i have more control of the heavier weights if i can see in the mirror especially during d/bell press or flyes

I find cable cross-overs the best exercise to build inner chest, especially when the movement is concentrated at the point of crossing over. I suppose it is a very similar movement to flys but with cables you get to really isolate inner pectorals.

Just a bit of an update of sorts...

Regarding db vs bb presses. I changed to flat bb bench on chest day on my last week of cycle while my strength was still substantially up.

I was surprised to find that I could press a decent amount of weight considering I hadn't benched in about 7 months. did 4 sets @ 120kgs (6-8 rep range)

What I found was I didn't have the doms the day after flat bench that I usually get after chest day with db presses. Chest didn't feel THAT pumped and worked right after either.

I think it has to do with the fact that with db presses I get a lot more of a stretch in the pecs because I lower the weight farther than you can with a bb.

so until it get really boring it will continue to be db presses I reckon.

I have switched cable x overs for chest dips though and bloody hell do those work well.

From what I know one should not do to much flys or crossovers. They are simple exercises and not optimal for growth.

On the topic, how does ons shape your chest muscles?
I have good growth, but soon I will need a bra or hit someone looking at my cleavage! I would like to get my pecs to have that two-shields look if you know what I mean. I have started doing less exercises for chest as I they are one of my strong points, but now I am wondering if the less intensive exercise is not maybe optimal for more growth, which I dont really want.

I do not do much decline and have just started doing a little dips. Mostly I just focus on flat and incline. db and bb

I disagree, I think flys and cross-overs together with pressing exercises like benchpress and dumbbell press are essential to develop every area of the chest. The presses at either decline or incline will target upper and lower chest whereas the lateral movement exercises like cables and flys will target the inner muscles of the chest (running either side of the sternum - cleavage area).

Stuart is right, however I prefer to use flys over cable cross overs however I do have days when I use the cables.

in response to ice's original question, no it is not a good idea to bend your neck forward during these exercises in order to watch the mirror. This is the easiest way to injure the neck, back and shoulders. Your head should be down on the bench, and your focus should be on the bar in front of you. It is never a good idea to move your head and neck during strenuous exercise, unless you really like your chiro that much and you wanna help me buy a house