bench press...

[Tyson23]

I just had a quick question.... i see alot of you guys choosing smythe machine for incline and flat bench, i was wondering what kinda of disadvantage there is from using a normal barbell when it comes to the type of results you get. I can never do barbell bench just seems to hit my front delt way to hard and hurts my shoudlers a bit, but smythe works fine for me but i wondering if you can really build a good chest with it ... just seems so much easier then free weights.

[bigp3]

I do inclines with a barbell but have totally ditched the flats. I would say the advantage with the smith is the injury factor not to mention if you dont have a workout partner it is impossible to do this program with free weights on a lot of shit. I am a knucklehead with the free weights though and I will chose them over the machines anyday,,, I know DC is probably cringing hearing me say that but I am stubborn when it comes to that.

[The Munster]

In general, you won't find many here that do flat barbell bench at all. It just runs to many risks for pec tears and rotatar cuff damage. You said you feel it in your front delts. So imagine all that weight shooting down into your rotators.

Anyway, the smith allows you to make huge gains in the weights you use, among other benefits which I'm sure others will chime in with.

Can you build a big chest using mostly the smith? Bro, just about everyone here is doing it.

[Tyson23]

thanks for the quick respones guys... yea i remember everyonse saying they use smythe or a majority so i know you guys are big animals so i never questions the size of anyones cheset but i just wanna make sure when i do use smythe im not cheaitng myself... ill be sure to use it for incline then and maybe dumbells for flat press. Quick question how high or low of a incline are you putting the bench at? And im sure these can be RP as well right?

[bigp3]

Yes the inclines are rest paused and I put mine on a fairly low incline probably like 25 deg. or so. If I get it to high my delts just take over.

[The Munster]

Personally, I like a slight incline versus a steeper one. Say, 25-30 degrees. As soon as it's at 45 degrees or more, it feels to much like a weird gangly military press that isn't really targeting anything. But that's me.

Also, remember to keep your reps fairly high when doing any kind of flat bench work. Be it with DB's, Smith, Hammer Strength, keep your total rp reps in the mid 20's.

[The Munster]

Damnit BP3, you keep beating me to it!

[Tyson23]

Thanks guys good info... Hey Mun.. your sayign whenever i do any flat bench work only keep my RP sets high? or even when i do incline as well? And 20 is pretty high so what number should i be shooting to fail at for the first set? And last question when would i know to move up in weight when i get to about how high... 25reps or so?

[The Munster]

Thanks guys good info... Hey Mun.. your sayign whenever i do any flat bench work only keep my RP sets high? or even when i do incline as well? And 20 is pretty high so what number should i be shooting to fail at for the first set? And last question when would i know to move up in weight when i get to about how high... 25reps or so?

The flat work. Keep the flat presses reps in the 20's. I'd shoot for say...
15/5-7/2-4. And then, yeah, once you are blowing past 25 at a given weight, time to move up.

[Tyson23]

man never done high reps like that for a body part.... this should be interesting. I know my chest is the most stubborn part i literally dont have a dam chest it pisses me off... descent shoudlers and arms but then my chest is Flat lol Maybe high reps are the key

[jimpaul]

man never done high reps like that for a body part.... this should be interesting. I know my chest is the most stubborn part i literally dont have a dam chest it pisses me off... descent shoudlers and arms but then my chest is Flat lol Maybe high reps are the key

I would think if Dante read this he MAY say something to the effect of, "keep your shoulder blades pinched back while working your chest".

But if doing this is new to you then I would suggest starting off a little lighter. Sometimes people forget when they make small changes.

I wouldn't take the risk of doing the flat benches, if it can be avoided.

Good luck and let us know if it works for ya
jim

[Tyson23]

ok thanks for the responses guys... so what should my rep range be for incline work... since Munster gave me the rep scheme for flat work... or is the same Im pretty scared to do that high of reps for chest its gonna be crazy lol i need to find a light enough weight i can do that with

[bigp3]

problem I have with high reps on chest is my tris burn out and get so fucking pumped