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decline bench press first?

shade

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today i will do chest so i want to start with decline first its ok? or i must do flat or incline first ?
 
Clint

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what are the other movements for chest your doing?

Decline and Incilne?
 
Big04pimpin

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You can start with whatever you want. It is also good to change it up after a while so your workouts don't get stale.
 
SerbMarko

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decline bench is pointless in my opinion..
 
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Big04pimpin said:
Why you say that serb?

well in all honesty.. i dont think it does much but helps your ego due to the fact that you can stack a hell of a lot of weight on the bar.. and i dont feel it isolates any part of the chest.. its just my opinion.. i try and stick with the basics.. i dont try to make my workouts too complicated.. and if you think about it.. you wont really hear or see of many pros/amateurs use decline bench in their routines.. if they do.. its very rare.

and if im not mistaken.. was the decline bench even around when Arnold trained? if it was.. i dont think ive ever seen him use it.. and we all know.. he had the best pecs money could buy.
 
Big04pimpin

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Ya, I can see your point. I just use it probably once a month. Its another exercise to use to change it up in my mind.
 
shade

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is that real that arnold didnt done a decline??
 

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SerbMarko

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Arnold's routine

EXERCISE 1: Barbell Bench Presses

Arnold would first warm up for this favored exercise with 135 pounds for a quick 30-40 reps to get the blood flowing and the joints loose. Then he would immediately head for a chinning bar, knocking out 15 wide-grip behind-the-neck chins before heading back to the bench, adding a pair of 45s to the bar and pumping out 20 more reps. After a second set of chins, he'd load the bar with 275, perform 15 more reps and then jump back to the chinning bar. And so it went, with weight/rep combinations of 315 for 12, 365 for eight and 405 for six, all superset with chins, all done without rest. Arnold always consciously took very deep breaths while doing this and all of his chest exercises. "In addition to massing up the pectorals, the heavy breathing also encourages rib cage expansion."

EXERCISE 2: Incline Barbell Presses

"This movement is unsurpassed as a builder of the upper pecs." With his pecs now fully warmed up, he would jump right to 225 pounds for an initial 15 reps; again concentrating on deep breathing as well as flexing his pecs throughout the movement. Alternating each set with T-bar rows, he would progress in 20-pound increments as follows: 245 x 12, 265 x 12, 285 x 10 and 305 x 10. By this point, Arnold's pecs and lats would be flushed with blood.

EXERCISE 3: Flat Dumbbell Flyes

"Here is a great exercise to shape up the outer sections of the pectorals and that, when performed correctly, also opens up the rib box and helps to deepen the chest." A master of technique, Arnold perfected this difficult movement as no one else ever had. He often described the motion of the flye as "hugging a tree." Lying back on a flat bench, with arms slightly bent, he would take a huge breath and slowly lower

the dumbbells out and away from his torso, so low that they would practically touch-the floor. Then, with a mighty exhalation, he would raise them back through the same arc, all the time squeezing his pecs. What set Arnold's technique apart from that of nearly everyone else was his form at the top of the movement. As the tension on his pecs would begin to decrease near the movement's end, he would stop his motion, with the dumbbells remaining 10-12" apart. He realized that anything beyond that was wasted movement having no impact on his pecs. Nevertheless, by employing the Weider Peak Contraction Tr aining Principle, he would forcibly contract this pecs at this point before lowering the weights again. He would start with 65-pound dumbbells for, 15 reps, then jump to 75s for 12, followed by three sets of 10 with 85s. Each set of flyes would be superset with barbell rows.
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EXERCISE 4: Parallel Bar Dips

Dips, Arnold felt, carved a clean line at the bottom edge of his pectoralis major like no other exercise. With an 80-pound dumbbell strapped to his waist, he would prop himself up on dipping bars and then slowly lower himself to a point where his hands nearly touched his armpits. Lie then exploded back up, all the time making sure to synchronize his breathing to the pace of the movement--inhale on the way down, exhale on the way up. He'd blast out 15 reps and then perform a set of close-grip chins for each superset. "By the time I get to the fifth set, the pecs and lats are totally engorged with blood and I have such a colossal pump that the muscles feel like they are going to burst through the skin!"

EXERCISE 5: Stiff-Arm Pullovers

With the, chest-back supersets out of the way, Arnold would complete the lifting portion of his workout with pullovers to stretch his pecs, lats and rib cage simultaneously. This exercise was always a staple of Arnold's training and the one he considers most responsible for the overwhelming size of his rib box. Lying across a flat bench, he would grab a dumbbell of what he considered medium weight with both hands and extend it to arms' length, keeping a slight bend in his elbows. From here, he would lower the weight in an arc down past his head while inhaling very deeply through his mouth, all the while making sure to keep his hips down, thus ensuring the greatest possible stretch. Despite a nearly incapacitating level of fatigue by this point, he would still manage to force out five, sets of 15 to 20 reps with a 90-pound dumbbell. Between sets, he would pause for about 30 seconds, during which time he would walk around the gym taking deep breaths while forcing his chest to its maximum point of expansion. "Yo u will not believe the ache in the sternum that this movement will produce! It literally pulls your chest apart and forces it into new growth."
 
SerbMarko

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ARNOLD'S ALL-OUT CHEST-BACK WORKOUT


Bench presses * 1 30-45

Bench presses 5 20-6 +
Wide-grip behind-the-neck chins 5 15-8 +

Incline barbell presses 5 10-15
T-bar rows 5 10-15

Flat-bench dumbbell flyes 5 10-15
Wide-grip barbell rows 5 10-15
(performed standing on a block
for better range of motion)

Dips 5 15
Close-grip chins 5 12

Stiff-arm pullovers 5 15-20
Iso-tension contractions
(finishing exercise)

* Performed as a warm-up.

+ Pyramid sets.

NOTE: Arnold took absolutely no rest between sets and exercises of the
four supersets.

RELATED ARTICLE: EARLY CHEST

This is the chest routine Arnold Schwarzenegger used three times a week at the start of his bodybuilding career. Although science has provided little evidence that one can actually alter the size of a thorax after puberty, Arnold believes otherwise. "I am convinced," he says, "that I could effectively expand the rib cage by performing dumbbell pullovers." Hard to argue with the evidence!

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Bench presses 5 6-10
Incline bench presses 5 6-10
Flat-bench flyes 5 6-10
Dips 5 6-10
Dumbbell pullovers 5 6-10
 
shade

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heyyy from this moment i will delete this decline from my training !!
 
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I think decline has it's place as much as any other press.
 
Line

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SerbMarko said:
and if im not mistaken.. was the decline bench even around when Arnold trained? if it was.. i dont think ive ever seen him use it.. and we all know.. he had the best pecs money could buy.
I'm not standing up for decline but the logic of, "Arnold didn't do them so they aren't worth your time" is pretty weak.
 
SerbMarko

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Line said:
I'm not standing up for decline but the logic of, "Arnold didn't do them so they aren't worth your time" is pretty weak.

thats why i said its only my opinion.. and i think its a great point.. Arnold by far has one of the best chest's of all time.. how can you argue with that?

:e5dunno:
 
TJ

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Decline and Flat Press are practically the same. If you do decline right it only ends up being about a 15-20 degree decline which isn't much at all. Going any higher with the degree would probably result in working the triceps and shoulders more.
 
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Wolf said:
Decline and Flat Press are practically the same. If you do decline right it only ends up being about a 15-20 degree decline which isn't much at all. Going any higher with the degree would probably result in working the triceps and shoulders more.

thank you :xyxthumbs:
 
Line

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SerbMarko said:
thats why i said its only my opinion.. and i think its a great point.. Arnold by far has one of the best chest's of all time.. how can you argue with that?

:e5dunno:
Pros aren't really the best examples of how to train properly. Once again, I'm not arguing in favor of Declines because I don't do them either, it's just your logic is faulty. Arnold would do five exercises for five sets each, usually pyramiding to his working weight and then would focus more on rep-range and pump than intensity. This isn't exactly optimal training, best chest or not.
 

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