Yes, you can bench press on a flat, incline, or decline and do fly variations using dumbbells, cables, or a machine.
But if you want to switch up your chest game, then these three exercises will definitely do the job.
Personally, I never found the bench press to really give me impressive results. When it comes to aesthetics, I actually prefer the incline bench over the flat bench. Of course all the bros at the gym are all about “Yo, How much you bench?”
Bench pressing is perfect for beginners who have to build up a strong foundation. Once they have a good grasp on the fundamentals, that’s when the more isolation movements come in for the intermediate and advanced lifters.
When it comes to chest development, the flat bench press places more emphasis on the lower chest and outer parts of your chest. This leads to a lack of development of you upper and inner chest to give you that full and round developed chest that superheroes have.
I want to share with you a couple of chest movements, 2 to be exact, that address those lacking areas most guys have.
CHEST SQUEEZE PRESS – FLY
This is an exercise that consists of two exercises combined; the squeeze press and the dumbbell fly.
During the Squeeze Press, the dumbbells are pressed together at all times and actively squeezing them together as hard as possible throughout the movement. One of the main functions of the pectoral muscles are to adduct the humerus, meaning to bring medially across the body.
By pressing the dumbbells throughout the movement you are keeping constant tension on the pecs during the full range of motion. Yes, you will notice the ‘pump’ very quickly particularly within the inner pec.
When you finish one rep of the squeeze press and at the top position, you will then perform a dumbbell fly. When you perform the dumbbell fly your pecs lengthen and blood rushes into your pecs because of the lack of flow during the squeeze press. After you do the fly, bring back to the starting position at the top with dumbbells pressed together again for another squeeze press. Now we have a flood of blood in the area which is going to start creating that pump feeling.
GIRONDA NECK PRESS
Also known as the Guillotine Press came from an old school iron master by the name Vince Gironda. The Gironda Neck Press was said to be the only bench press variation 2 Time Mr. Olympia, Larry Scott, did.
There are a few ways of doing this exercise when it comes to feet position. I prefer to keep my feet on the ground rather than up in the air. Unlike the bench press, you don’t want to have a big arch in your back. Keep your back neutral.
Take a wide grip on the bar. The elbows and upper arm can be directly under or little behind the barbe. Lower the bar to where your neck and upper chest meets, close to the collar bone. Press up but stop within 1 inch for locking out before you repeat the next rep.
Try for maximum stretch as you lower the bar and tense the pecs hard at the top, trying for a hard contraction. It is important that you have go shoulder mobility and is definitely not an exercises you want to be going for max reps. Keep the reps within a 6-15 rep range and this exercises will definitely slap some meat onto your upper chest.
SHOULD YOU STILL BENCH PRESS?
The bench press is not the best exercise for chest development. It is a necessary basic compound movement that beginners learn and will achieve great results. But overall, the bench press is more of an exercise that guys use to impress only one another.
Most people don’t really care how much you bench.
