Flat vs. Incline Bench Press: Which Is Better? Bodybuilding Icon Jay Cutler Settles a Longstanding Debate

Fitness enthusiasts do multiple chest exercises on their chest day, but the bench press is one such exercise that arguably everyone does. Some people do it with dumbbells, while others use a barbell or different machines. The exercise is performed on a bench, and it can either be inclined at a certain angle or flat. With different ways of doing the same exercise, the question, ‘Which is the best way to do the bench press?’ is natural to come up in fitness enthusiasts’ minds. And 3-time Arnold Classic winner Jay Cutler, in a recent Instagram post, answered this question, ending the longstanding debate. 

With 4 Olympia titles and Arnold’s Lifetime Achievement Award in his bag, Jay Cutler might be the best person to answer anything related to bodybuilding. In his recent Instagram video, he talks about whether he prefers a flat or incline bench press for the best results.

Cutler dives deep into different types of bench pressing, like dumbbells, barbells, machines, or fly, and, per him, they all work well on overall chest muscles. However, The Comeback King states that most people want to have ripped upper pecs, which is the hardest area to develop.

So, the question now narrows to whether the incline bench press works the best for upper pecs. According to Cutler, the answer is ‘Yes.‘ He further explains that the incline bench is better because it engages more of the front delts and pecs and has a safer movement.

 

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“I prefer using the incline bench over a flat bench just because the comfortability of that movement. It definitely puts less strain on the shoulder joint in that position.”

Cutler prefers using an incline bench press because it puts less strain on the shoulder joint and is more comfortable than a flat bench.

While Jay Cutler has given his opinion on how he prefers to do the bench press, which is just part of a chest day, he once shared the complete chest-day workout routine that helped him win multiple Sandow trophies.

Jay Cutler reveals his Sandow-winning chest-day workout

Jay Cutler became extremely popular when he beat Ronnie ‘The King’ Coleman in 2006. Cutler was known for his exceptional physique, especially his chest and quads. These two body parts were the USP of the bodybuilder.

He recently revealed his chest day workout routine, which consisted of five exercises. The following are the exercises which he did 3-5 sets each, with a usual 8–12 rep range:

• Incline hammer presses
• Flat dumbbell press
• Flat dumbbell flys 
• Cable crossovers
• Dumbbell pullovers