Looking at a number of pro BBer routines and videos, it seems as though only a handful work their upper chest first: Cutler, Strydom, Yates, and Cormier. Cormier apparently hit 5 plates on the incline.
My questions are 1.) is there as much of advantage to it, in terms of chest, as these guys boast?
2.) If you were to switch back, would your increased incline pressing power transfer over?
3.) How many of you prefer incline to flat?
1. A slight incline places more stress on the pec minor and the pec-delt tie in, but it still activates the pec major very strongly. this helps give the pecs that armour plated look that alot of pro's have today and in the past. flat bench and/or a slight incline will work the pecs effectively but the higher the incline angle the more stress on the delts.
2. your overall strength would easily transfer over to flat bench after a few weeks of getting back into flat work. i know guys who didn't flat bench for a year and then came back much stronger on flat. if the strength of the triceps, delts and pecs increase, a persons overall pressing power "should" increase for every pressing movement. flat bench does required a good amount of form to get good at it but your overall pressing strength should carry over. when my overhead pressing power goes up, my flat bench always seems to do the same. same thing with rack lockouts or board presses, when my lockout strength goes up, my regular benching strength follows.
3. i prefer flat first because i value strength in that particular movement, but i always do some type of low incline press after heavy benching. i prefer incline DB because i can rotate the DB's and get a very deep stretch at the bottom, followed by a slow controlled pressing contraction. every few months i'll start with incline BB and follow that with flat DB for 6-8 weeks, reversing the order and the type of weights used. once i go back to my original flat BB bench routine i'm "usually" stronger in that lift.
overall i think most bodybuilders would want to do incline movements first but one should always alternate the order of exercises at times to keep gains fresh. also remember you don't need much incline angle to hit the pecs effectively, 25-35 degrees is plenty.
Genetics are usually the limiting factor in upper chest development, some have it from day one, some don't. i've seen guys focus on incline movements for years and not make any gains on their upper chest mass, but their overall pec mass did improve. there also needs to be a high quality of contraction for the pec minor to activate to it's greatest potential, but most bodybuilders should already have a sound knowledge of contracting muscles for maximum stimulation.
