Doubts in bench press

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geniusvicks

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In my gym there are 2 bench presses: manual (barbell) and machine.
I asked my gym owner/instructor what was the difference between exercising on either machine... He says there is none...
But I believe that there has to be some difference like, shoulder muscle is used in manual mode to stabilize hence better etc..

Also can i do exercises in any order... My instructor says that i should do first flat bench press, then incline, decline, then flys, then press in a machine. finally followed by lying on the bench and lifting a dumbell over your head and bringing it back to chest... for chest workout..
 
there is a difference. With the machine you're not working to stabilize the weight, as you are with the regular bench press. Also, the machine might follow another "line" than you would lift a barbell on a regular bench.
 
The machine allows you to cheat yourself by using more weight and keeping the weight in one line. Someone who has used only the machine and tries barbell will find it very difficult.
 
Also can i do exercises in any order... My instructor says that i should do first flat bench press, then incline, decline, then flys, then press in a machine. finally followed by lying on the bench and lifting a dumbell over your head and bringing it back to chest... for chest workout..[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure why you would want to do all those exercises for just your chest. Seems a bit OTT. Presumably you are after a decent overall workout so I would suggest Bench press and perhaps incorporate incline or flys into the routine sometimes if you really want to.

Also following on from other comments, yes massive difference between free weights and the machines, but adding to the comments, it has an effect on the mind too. There is certainly an added incentive to lift a big heavy bar as opposed to a machine you just get off.
 
Thanks...
I really want great chest and shoulders, so i'm gonna do chest and shoulders alternate every day... Is that okay?
Btw, just 1 month at gym.. so i use only less weight like... For bench press i use 30kg and do 3 sets of 15 repeats, etc and shoulder use very little weight like today max in one exercise i did 30kg (only one set)
 
great pecs are one thing, but horribly unhealthy shoulders are another. Doing a lot of pec and shoulder work can be potentially dangerous if you're not allowing some back work or external rotator work. I just read a study (to go along with countless other studies) that showed recreationally trained individuals were more susceptible to shoulder injury due to improper and unbalanced training.

This is why some may cringe at the thought of you doing all these pec exercises. Balance it out, your pecs do not work all by themselves but with other muscles. Train only one, and the others will suffer along with cartilage and ligaments....but, you'll have fantastic pecs.

also, if you stick with the pec work, try not to stay on the machine press.
 
And, those fantastic pecs will pull your shoulders forward, which is why some meatheads walk around like that. They're not posing to look bigger.

15 reps is a bit too much IMO. try 3 sets of 8 or 5 sets of 5. You'll be able to lift heavier weights this way, especially with a 5x5 setup.
 
Like everyone else said so far but also the order is important as well. Starting chest should either be Flat or incline or decline presses. Then the flies are more chiseling stuff and should be done at the end. When you bench, you are using a lot of upper body muscle, not just your pec. When you do flies, you are more focused on chest and less on shoulder and back. Plus having muscle failure on flies is probably less dangerous than on free weight.

If you are comfortable and have good form, stick with more free weights than machine. Someone who can press heavy with free weight will probably be able to do the same on the machine BUT those using the machine may not be able to press that heavy with free weights.
 
FunctionalTrain said:
This is why some may cringe at the thought of you doing all these pec exercises.
Click to expand...

That was me :D But that might be why I have pretty strong shoulders but weak pecs, so what do I know?

To the OP, have you asked your trainer about why you're doing 6 different chest exercises back-to-back? What sets and reps does he have you on?
 
geniusvicks said:
How do you exercise the external rotators?
Click to expand...

by doing external rotation...
 
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