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Incline bench or not

iamwilso

iamwilso

New member
So I've decided to get a power rack package from cyber fit but am not sure if I will need incline bench or not. Package comes with rack 140 kg weights and flat bench with the option to upgrade to incline bench. I'm new to this and will be doing the PTC beginner programme which doesn't require the incline. Any advise appreciated. Thanks

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Personally i would invest now on a bench which can be used either flat, incline or full upright for shoulders, think of it as an investment, you may not be using it now but sure as my arse points backwards at some point you will want to change the incline.
 
Check the pad width is my advice when going for a bench, try and get a back pad 30cm wide. Also try to make sure it's rated to above 250kg.... depending on how big you are. 250kg will serve you for a while unless you're 100kg+ and fairly strong.

I couldnt find this combination with an incline bench so I own a 30cm wide flat bench rated to 500kg and an incline bench rated to 250kg with a back pad I made myself out of plywood that I cut to 32cm width. The original 25cm back pad felt like I was benching on a pole (but I have a pretty big back).

I think incline bench as an exercise is really good though.... if you can do it without shoulder irritation. I think you could probably sub out flat benching for incline benching on the PTC program after say 6 months get great results, you probably want to start flat benching though.
 
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In my experience incline benches don't feel as good for flat benching as a flat bench does. Even hammer strength commercial ones. The flat bench always feels better, the seat sometimes wobbles around a bit, you might find it hard to fit on the bench with the gap etc.

But as others have said the convenience and utility of a FID bench is pretty hard to go past. I own a FID bench, but if I had a tonne of cash and lots of room I would probably have a flat bench as well.
 
Chances are you will regret not getting the incline bench, and end up buying one anyway.
 
Get the incline bench mate, incline benches are a great exercise, smashes my chest with less weight than flat benches.:)
 
Personally, if I had to have one bench, I would get a really good solid comp width flat bench.

It's likely to be wider and more solid and take up less room when packed away (usually you can just stand it up making it easy to make room to use a rack for other exercises). That said, the Force USA semi-commercial incline/flat is the closest I've seen to the dimensions of a competition bench. Most are much narrower and taller.

For most people, if you are benching and pressing overhead, incline benching is a bit redundant as it is basically somewhere in between. If you think you need to "hit the chest" more, I find a similar result can be obtained by benching with a back and/or using a closer grip and feet up on the bench or in the air.


An incline/decline bench is great to have, if you have the money and space for an additional bench.
 
I'm going against the trend here.

Money was limited when I got my setup and I got a flat bench, I don't miss incline at all between overhead work and benching all the same muscles get worked.

Been in a two PL gyms with only flat benches and all the guys still had massive chests.
 
Brick said:
I'm going against the trend here.

Money was limited when I got my setup and I got a flat bench, I don't miss incline at all between overhead work and benching all the same muscles get worked.

Been in a two PL gyms with only flat benches and all the guys still had massive chests.
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Great minds. I sold my incline as I didn't have the room and barely used it.
 
If you have the Missus working out using the equipment too then I'd say get it - I've been told to focus more on the incline than a flat bench...
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Thinking I'll go with the incline bench for now. Both have a 270mm pad width so Ill see how it goes... may look for a wider flat bench if needed. I do have really wide back and shoulders from comp wood chopping but we'll see how it feels.

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njam007 said:
I had the same dilemma about flat or flat/incline. I had a Force USA Commercial Flat Bench Force USA Commercial Flat Bench | Strength Equipment. It has 30cm width and very solid base. But wanted something which will let me do incline/overhead press in future. Recently purchased Force USA Semi Commercial Flat/Incline Bench Force USA Semi Commercial Flat/Incline Bench | Gym and Fitness. It has 33cm width and heavy as hell. Very pleased with this bench.
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I also have the Force USA Semi Commercial Flat/Incline Bench. It is excellent. Everything is solid! Even the wheels have ABEC bearings in them. They spin better than my skateboard bearings ATM

Very please myself
 
I recently bought the Muscle Motion commercial flat bench with wheels and I love it. Cost me just under $300.

I couldn't find a FID bench in my price range that I liked and I don't use a bench for anything but flat bench at the moment, when the time comes I will fork out for a quality FID bench, and then I will have 2 awesome benches.

As mentioned by someone, I don't like flat benching on a FID either, most seem to be too high, too narrow, and many wobble.
 
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