Hey everyone,
I was wondering if the cable bench press was the best type of bench press for massive pecs? Since you can cross your hands when doing a cable bench press (on a flat bench with cables attached to the low pulley), you would bring your humerus further across the midline of your body, if not a little bit almost past it, no? So wouldn’t this mean that the cable bench press is the best exercise for pecs?
if you want massive pecs,
do:
dips and dumbbell presses.
Those are the best.
Now that you know, are you going to do them?
GetBigs.
It seems like your thoughts on lifting are all over the place. I can understand that, and it is important to have knowledge. That said, have you done the homework Chris Colucci gave you last week?
Have you thought about your goals? Your specific goals?
I don’t have any experience with the cable bench press that I can share with you. Why? Because I am a beginner, so I have my head down on a 5x5 program that has taken me from very weak to a 280lb bench, 515 DL and 365 squat in under a year. I am still getting a lot out of basic barbell movements and I am unconcerned with a crossover cable bench press. This week my focus is on improving my squat and improving my diet. You know, the basics.
Now, my goals are surely different than yours, but I am 1) building muscle, 2) getting stronger and 3) building up my body of knowledge about the sport of lifting. Does that sound like something you want to be doing?
So, have you done the homework you were given?
You overthink things.
There is no “best” exercise for a certain muscle group. Many different exercises have different “good” things about them. One might allow you to move the most weight, one might put the most tension on a certain muscle, one might allow the biggest range of motion. Each exercise has it’s own “limits”, there is no one and only best exercise for all situations for a muscle group. There’s a reason there’s hundreds of exercise variations.
The best exercise for pecs for you is an exercise in patience.
Lift hard, eat enough to grow, and do this for many months. It’s not bad to think about things, but it is bad to overthink things.
wide grip neutral grip pull ups are best for outer lower chest
Only if you make a face like you are contipated and yell ‘Light weight motherfucker! All day! All day!’ at the top of your voice during the execution of the exercise.
if you can’t bring yourself to do that, the efficacy of the exercise drops ten fold and you’ll have to settle for lame exercises like the bench press which have the highest potential for strength gains leading to faster overall size gains in the shortest amount of time.
Watcha gonna do?
[quote]staystrong wrote:
You overthink things.
There is no “best” exercise for a certain muscle group. Many different exercises have different “good” things about them. One might allow you to move the most weight, one might put the most tension on a certain muscle, one might allow the biggest range of motion. Each exercise has it’s own “limits”, there is no one and only best exercise for all situations for a muscle group. There’s a reason there’s hundreds of exercise variations.
The best exercise for pecs for you is an exercise in patience.
Lift hard, eat enough to grow, and do this for many months. It’s not bad to think about things, but it is bad to overthink things.[/quote]
Yes, I completely agree with you, that’s right and it’s what I want to do: do what works, do it consistently, do it using my brain
However, the reason why I made this thread about the exercise was meant to make sense: Cables put constant tension on muscles, they allow for a greater ROM (e.g.: in this exercise, you can cross your hands, that’s a slightly greater ROM, right?)… so I was thinking, you can actually bring your humerus farther across the midline of your body and that’s why it should be such a great exercise for MAXIMUM contraction, no? Thanks for your reply!
[quote]staystrong wrote:
You overthink things.
There is no “best” exercise for a certain muscle group. Many different exercises have different “good” things about them. One might allow you to move the most weight, one might put the most tension on a certain muscle, one might allow the biggest range of motion. Each exercise has it’s own “limits”, there is no one and only best exercise for all situations for a muscle group. There’s a reason there’s hundreds of exercise variations.
The best exercise for pecs for you is an exercise in patience.
Lift hard, eat enough to grow, and do this for many months. It’s not bad to think about things, but it is bad to overthink things.[/quote]
I don’t want to sound like a smartass, BUT: you say there isn’t such a thing as “The Best Exercise For This and That Muscle Group”. If that were true, weighted dips would be just as great as bench presses. Are you going to tell me they are? Thanks for your reply!
Also, could anyone tell me if they think this is some BULLSHIT advice
Thanks
Muscle growth basically occurs as an adaptative process by the body when thrown off a natural state of equilibrium. In regards to weight training, it means the muscles must be constantly forced into adaptation through progressively increasing the amount of stress placed upon them for them to grow. So you either increase the weight lifted or increase the amount of stress placed upon them through quality of contraction.
Being a beginner, it is doubtful that you will be able to quantify the stress placed upon them based on the quality of the contraction, so you will have to go with increasing the load. Main exercise selection should be based on which ones give you the ability to increase the load the fastest.
Secondary exercise selection can be based on those that let you feel the muscles working best to maximise the contraction and increasing mmc. However, this is more for long term benefits as good mmc takes a long time to develope.
So, in regards to your question, some advice may be BULLSHIT for you but not for an intermediate or advanced person.
Alright, thank you for your answer. I’m just open to learning, I don’t want to annoy you guys with these questions, and I do really appreciate your help.
Not annoyed. Rather amused actually.
Just explaining what priorities should be at different stages of training. Aquiring knowledge is good as long as its interpreted IN CONTEXT to current training needs.
Please stay away from the neck press. I don’t want to comment on your thread in CTs forum, so I’ll do it here… since you’ve started at least 4 or 5 threads related to bench pressing.
The issue isn’t really about “dropping the bar on your neck”, the issue is that doing it as per Gironda’s recommendations can easily lead to various shoulder issues. There are ways to do it in a safer manner that put less risk on your shoulder, but it requires a much better understanding of your body. Gironda neck presses + gironda dips are a very quick way to end up with an inflamed upper biceps tendon (it’s in the shoulder).
But even so, you can’t adequately load it up with enough weight to build the kind of chest that you can with “normal” bench presses.
Are they effective exercises? Yes. But they’re specialized tools to be used later.
To build massive pecs, as I said before, first start with getting pretty decent at benching. Then, over the next several months/years, adjust your form in a way that you get a good chest contraction out of it… and like I also said… this is where a lot of people use various inclines/declines and dumbbell presses.
Then, once you’ve got decent chest size, you can fill out the details with stuff like cable bench presses and neck presses.
Squat, Bench, Row, Overhead Press, Deadlift, Pullups. Get good at those first.
[quote]GetBigs wrote:
So wouldn’t this mean that the cable bench press is the best exercise for pecs?[/quote]
Clearly this is actually the best of the best of the best chest exercises. Amirite?
For some people, yes they are. For some people, dumbbell incline presses are the best exercise for their pecs. For some people, decline barbell presses are the best for their pecs. People find out what their best exercise is by trial and error, which is done throughout years of lifting.
The idea of using 1 and 1/4 reps is nothing new at all. The idea of adding a “double whammy” at the top and bottom of a bench press is redundant, because it makes no sense to try emphasizing tris and pecs within the same set of the same exercise. That is literally the opposite of “emphasizing.”
Bottom line, I think you’d be very well-served to stop watching Vince DelMonte videos.
[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
[quote]GetBigs wrote:
So wouldn’t this mean that the cable bench press is the best exercise for pecs?[/quote]
Clearly this is actually the best of the best of the best chest exercises. Amirite?
For some people, yes they are. For some people, dumbbell incline presses are the best exercise for their pecs. For some people, decline barbell presses are the best for their pecs. People find out what their best exercise is by trial and error, which is done throughout years of lifting.
The idea of using 1 and 1/4 reps is nothing new at all. The idea of adding a “double whammy” at the top and bottom of a bench press is redundant, because it makes no sense to try emphasizing tris and pecs within the same set of the same exercise. That is literally the opposite of “emphasizing.”
Bottom line, I think you’d be very well-served to stop watching Vince DelMonte videos.[/quote]
Yes, exactly, I agree with you 100%, I had a feeling I should stop watching his videos, also, LOL at Ben Pakulski and his lemon water
BTW could anyone answer this: Would a low incline hit the entire chest? Many people say this is better than using a 45 degree incline bench…
[quote]GetBigs wrote:
I don’t want to sound like a smartass, BUT: you say there isn’t such a thing as “The Best Exercise For This and That Muscle Group”. If that were true, weighted dips would be just as great as bench presses. Are you going to tell me they are? Thanks for your reply!
[/quote]
What would make the bench press so much better than weighted dips for every situation? On that note, why would you think weighted dips are somehow inferior to bench press? I don’t do dips because they hurt my shoulder, but for a while I did them and they lit up my chest, more so than a barbell bench used too. Some would argue that dips require more stabilizing muscles to come into play and therefore would make you overall stronger. Some people swear by weighted dips, some by bench press, some by incline bench, some by dumbbells only, some do whole workouts dedicated to flies. As Chris mentioned, people find the best exercise FOR THEM. Even then, they will sometimes still switch it up occasionally.
What if someone has shoulder issues and it hurts to bench? Is the bench still the most effective muscle builder for chest? What if they’re arm dominant? What if they had a wrist, elbow, or shoulder injury and it’s impossible to use a barbell now?
There is no “Best Exercise For ______ Muscle group”, despite what some author might mention in the latest article. There are generally accepted “good” exercises (like the squat, bench, deadlift, etc.) that for MOST people do a FAIRLY good job at getting people stronger and consequently bigger, but you’ll also find that a lot of people who train for physique purposes sub out the standard barbell versions of these lifts for various other types.
[quote]GetBigs wrote:
BTW could anyone answer this: Would a low incline hit the entire chest? Many people say this is better than using a 45 degree incline bench…[/quote]
It can, if you find the right bar path, elbow positioning and ROM to make it effective.
One way to get an idea of a good angle to start with is to lean slightly towards a wall, and put one hand on the wall and press against it in the same direction and angle as you would be on a bench. Put your other hand on the chest, and feel where things contract. When you find an angle where things feel like they hit your upper and lower chest well, try it out on a real bench.
[quote]bobMartial wrote:
wide grip neutral grip pull ups are best for outer lower chest
[/quote]
Not sure if serious…
Anyway, I just have a couple things to add here.
It’s funny that you mention the weighted dips vs. bench press thing, as if the dips are clearly inferior to benching. I know several very, very strong men who have said that if they didn’t compete specifically in powerlifting, they would forsake bench pressing completely in favor of dips. So yes, dips can be incredibly effective for building muscle.
You do not need to incorporate cable bench pressing in your program right now. You will make the most progress if you devote most, if not all, of your time to mastering the basic barbell and bodyweight movements: squats, deadlifts, bench pressing, overhead pressing, rows, cleans, dips, and pull ups. You could throw barbell extensions and curls in there too, but they’re on a slightly lower tier.
[quote]staystrong wrote:
[quote]GetBigs wrote:
I don’t want to sound like a smartass, BUT: you say there isn’t such a thing as “The Best Exercise For This and That Muscle Group”. If that were true, weighted dips would be just as great as bench presses. Are you going to tell me they are? Thanks for your reply!
[/quote]
What would make the bench press so much better than weighted dips for every situation? On that note, why would you think weighted dips are somehow inferior to bench press? I don’t do dips because they hurt my shoulder, but for a while I did them and they lit up my chest, more so than a barbell bench used too. Some would argue that dips require more stabilizing muscles to come into play and therefore would make you overall stronger. Some people swear by weighted dips, some by bench press, some by incline bench, some by dumbbells only, some do whole workouts dedicated to flies. As Chris mentioned, people find the best exercise FOR THEM. Even then, they will sometimes still switch it up occasionally.
What if someone has shoulder issues and it hurts to bench? Is the bench still the most effective muscle builder for chest? What if they’re arm dominant? What if they had a wrist, elbow, or shoulder injury and it’s impossible to use a barbell now?
There is no “Best Exercise For ______ Muscle group”, despite what some author might mention in the latest article. There are generally accepted “good” exercises (like the squat, bench, deadlift, etc.) that for MOST people do a FAIRLY good job at getting people stronger and consequently bigger, but you’ll also find that a lot of people who train for physique purposes sub out the standard barbell versions of these lifts for various other types.[/quote]
Yep, I get it, thanks for your valuable comment!
I have one question: Could anyone tell me what people mean by the cue “row the bar to your chest when bench pressing” or something along those lines…
Because if I take that word by word, I should literally pull the weight down, so that would be the eccentric portion of the rep? Thanks!
[quote]GetBigs wrote:
I have one question: Could anyone tell me what people mean by the cue “row the bar to your chest when bench pressing” or something along those lines…
Because if I take that word by word, I should literally pull the weight down, so that would be the eccentric portion of the rep? Thanks![/quote]
I use this cue and focus on two things.
Using the same motion of the arms that I use for a bent over barbell row.
Engage my back muscles and keep them tight.
THIS is exactly the type of stuff you should be directing your mental energy to at your stage, IMO.
Well done.