I've gotten better results with heavy flat/incline/decline flys, cables, ped deck and occasionally weighted pushups, none of which hurt the shoulders the way BB benches do. The reps should be moderate 6-12, so that there's more control and feel. I never got much of that from doing benches or dips though, and both were tough on the shoulders. If I knew then what I know now I'd have avoided many years of either one.
Of course, there are natural benchers with huge chests who never get hurt, but I'd guess that they'd respond to any chest exercise plus it's hard to tell which of the exercises they've used were more effective. I think it was the recent Flex where Bob Chic was talking about that; he never does benches and sticks to flys and cable crossovers.
Bodybuilding's filled with inconsistencies-bicep curls are not compounds, yet are the best size builders, but on chest or lats the rules change, which makes no sense. One of the best non-compound lat exercises is pullovers-there is only one pivot point and one primary muscle involved, it is not a compound. Machine pullovers even better and are farther removed from compounds. It's just a matter of using moderate reps and building up to heavy ass weights. Guys I've seen using serious weight on non-compounds were huge.
On triceps, there is *no* compound that hits the tris as effectively for size as extensions, a non compound exercise and Sergio's fave.
Another fallasy is that cables are for refining. Coleman's favorite size builder for bis is cable curls.
