View Full Version : Advice to increase incline strength
wendys_redneck
03-07-10, 12:33 am
I have hit a rut on my incline bench. I cant seem to get past 225-230. My flat bench is 425. Any body got any ideas?
WarlordMalice
03-07-10, 11:03 am
Try doing dumbell incline for a while or at least every other workout if you don't want to stop BB incline. Change it up a bit plus you'll get a little more range of motion and hit the muscle differently. I also started doing incline flyes to pre-exhaust the chest. I mainly did it for hypertrophy but it helped with my strength too. Also make sure you hit upper chest first in your workout to give it priority while you're fresh.
try flat guillotine presses(bringing the bar down to your neck rather than chest) first thing in your workout, and if you do a heavy/light split during your week use the guillotine press as your first exercise on your light day as you'll not be able to handle the same amount of weight as a normal flat bench. This will hit your upper chest well, along with working with your flexability. A few weeks of these you should notice an increase in your incline presses. It certainly made mine jump.
theharjmann
03-07-10, 1:57 pm
I have hit a rut on my incline bench. I cant seem to get past 225-230. My flat bench is 425. Any body got any ideas?
fix your form.
if you can flat bench 425 then you should be incline pressing more technically.
I'd say maybe throw a dropset in there on incline, helped me get over ruts
Try some floor presses for a few weeks. Helps on incline and flat power
NaturalTrainee
03-28-10, 8:09 am
fix your form.
if you can flat bench 425 then you should be incline pressing more technically.
^^ That. Your bench form must suck, too.
Captain
03-30-10, 11:06 am
first off, wow i can incline 225 for a 1rm and i can flat bench like 240ish, i would do some more shoulder work, like heavy military's and incline db with your hands turned inward like oppose to what you do with a barbell, thats given me good strength on incline, make sure you keep your elbows in tight with your body and don't flair them out, keep strict form.
Captain
03-30-10, 11:07 am
sorry if it sounds like im making fun of you, im not its just shocking that you bench that much more than you incline
Old No.7
03-30-10, 11:12 am
Reverse bench also helps hit the upper chest a lot and might add some strenght if you add it in your workouts maybe once every two weeks or so. When I plateau on something, I tend to phase it out of my workout for a couple weeks and add one or two new of different lifts to hit the area. In a perfect world those new lifts should help bring up some of the weaker parts.
G Diesel
03-30-10, 11:32 am
I would prioritize incline press and incline DB work (presses and flyes) by doing them hard and heavy first in your chest workouts for the next few months to make the strength gap between your flat and incline less dramatic. During this time the size of the upper portion of your chest will certainly improve as well, so that is always a plus.
Beyond that, all chest pressing is assisted by strong delts and tris, so make sure you are blasting them as well.
It is obvious that you are a strong presser, it is just a matter of you becoming comfortable on the incline and like anything, that will come with practice and consistency.
Peace, G
I would prioritize incline press and incline DB work (presses and flyes) by doing them hard and heavy first in your chest workouts for the next few months to make the strength gap between your flat and incline less dramatic. During this time the size of the upper portion of your chest will certainly improve as well, so that is always a plus.
Beyond that, all chest pressing is assisted by strong delts and tris, so make sure you are blasting them as well.
It is obvious that you are a strong presser, it is just a matter of you becoming comfortable on the incline and like anything, that will come with practice and consistency.
Peace, G
I would say take it from G Diesel lol, straight from his article "Believe me, I know. I'm as guilty as anybody. My name is G Diesel, and I'm a flat bench addict."
http://animalpak.com/html/article_details.cfm?section=training&ID=230
peteraugusts
04-01-10, 6:28 am
Perform the exercise with a spotter until you are comfortable with both the weight and the movements.
Try a variation of the dumbbell push crunch. Do the exercise holding a barbell or weight plate on your chest instead of using dumbbells. All weight training exercises come with risk of injury. Perform the dumbbell push crunch at your own risk.
micheljhonson87
08-04-10, 10:49 am
Increasing core strength is also very important to the balance and stability of your body. Strengthening the lower back area is especially important to increasing core strength. The body's core is basically the center of it. This area includes the lower back, and the obliques. These muscles help support your body when you doing pretty much any weight training exercise.
prowrestler
08-04-10, 2:38 pm
chances are your pecs are under developed.
people with good pec development will not have a huge gap between incline and flat bench numbers. id say work on bringing the pecs up. this will be your main extra work goal
then the obvious, the actual work on the incline bench
- gain weight
- prioritize the incline bench
- if it stalled, conjugate it to a different incline or maybe to boards, dumbbells, grip adjustment...alot you can modify to make new gains
- use a smart programming method like 5/3/1 or prilepins chart to gauge training volume and intensity
OP, that's still an impressive incline. Is your incline bench a fixed position? Do you have the option of moving an adjustable bench into a power cage and pressing at a lower incline? I prefer a shallower incline; which most incline benches aren't If you do do incline dumbell work, is that bench a different angle than the regular incline bench?
Don't know if bench adjustments are any answers, just thought I'd throw it out.
Machine
08-04-10, 10:34 pm
Cannot respond intelligently without your athletic goals stated clearly.
I just wrote an essay on the machinations of barbell pressing for bodybuilders, I will ask the U to post it now.
You need to come clean on what your desires are...do you want to have a well developed inclined bench press? Or do you want to have a well developed chest?
Size begets strength and strength begets size...but only under the correct conditions and when the athlete in question hase clearly defined athletic goals.
the things you must concern yuorself with are:
1. Grip placement
2. Bar placement
3. pressing posture and exercise alignment
I will ge tthat essay out soon; it will provide the clarification you require.
Good luck.
MACHINE
Push Harder...
IN IRON
BB-
U Mad Brah?
08-06-10, 1:56 pm
what do u do for incline now brah? cant assess without current plan my good brahonie
have you ever thought of applying your techniques from flat bench up to incline? A 425 bench is good, your incline should be a lot higher with that max.
nice flat bench numbers bro.
hit up some dumbbell incline with good form. it will do you wonders.
personally incline is the main portion of my chest training. hitting up incline dumbbell, barbell and smith machine press. My flat bench numbers are not nearly as high as yours but i feel and reap the gains. then again, whatever works for you. good luck brochacho