The MOST Overrated Chest Exercises

[@kariusbaktus165]

It's always nice for the ego when someone makes a video about something I'm already doing. All chest presses I do are different inclines, never bother with flat press.

[@NyashaM]

I recently started doing this. My chest now looks like plates of armour

[@jeltoninc.8542]

I do a lot of decline push-ups in chest day. Gonna add in some incline bench!

[@bcaapower]

Hey Jonni, maybe a suggestion for a small video series - could you do a series targeting guys 6'3 + (192 cm), simply tall guys? The scope would revolve around exercise types and modifications for us as we are taller and struggling to properly engage some muscle groups. Most machines are not usable, we don't fit in, range and angles do not work on us.

[@ophirmayer1]

I second that!

[@heroguy16]

Yes please!

[@rw8990]

I’m 63 been lifting since I was 20 -21 years old,when I got in my 40s every 3-4 years I would sprain my left rotator cuff and have to lay off doing just about everything in the gym for almost a year then start back lifting.A couple of older guys over the years who I respected,have told me I really needed to lay off the flat bench and do inclines,got a MRI about 8 months ago and I have a slightly torn supraspinatus in my left shoulder,I’ve been doing inclines for about 4 months my shoulder doesn’t bother me, so as long as it doesn’t bother me I’m not gonna bother it(surgery) I do the bar then 155 then 185 for 4 sets of 10 every now and then I’ll put 205 on for 6-8 reps and I’m good,can’t lift as much weight on inclines but I’m ok for a 63 year old,Thanks so much for all you do Jonni I’ve learned a lot from following you ,you CAN TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS💪🏾

[@Disco_Beaver]

All this makes perfect sense. I love doing weighted dips and incline bench with either Barbell or dumbells. Flat chest was always low reps for strength and never really seen as a chest builder.

[@Lightman741]

Benching flat with a football bar has helped me, barbells kill shoulders

[@nyfinest_bkny]

Could count on one hand how many times I felt fully activated after flat BB press. I couldn’t agree more, brother. Thank you for your insight and I hope you and the family are doing well bro! 🤙🏼

[@terryjoy9524]

Jonni, man I've learned from you in six months than I have in decades because you explain not only why but how to do the exercises properly. Thank you

[@F0XRunner]

Jonni is in my top three favorite bodybuilding youtubers. Love it.

[@jessicalloyd2330]

I just recently dropped decline pressing from my meso’s. After a few months I FINALLY grooved in on the barbell press but, never felt the MMC on the decline. I really really wanted to love the decline press, my chest routine was incline and decline barbell presses. Now it’s incline and flat. For what it’s worth, I feel a lot more stable with a reasonably high back arch so it’s possible declining the bench was just a redundancy. Love to see you filled with carbs again, I was nervous for ya on that cut before the show!

[@ghostmutt4265]

Love these tips. I always always always choose incline over flat and decline. And whoever prioritises decline is clueless

[@JonniShreve]

Incline is where its at!

[@samrushowic332]

I gave Jonni’s workout a try for my chest day and holy shit… it was great! Highly recommend it!

[@JonniShreve]

This is awesome to hear!!

[@nighthawk585]

I don't disagree with dips, I used to do them a lot when I was younger but as I have gotten older they have gotten more uncomfortable and taken away from my focus. I switched to a good decline chest press machine that has been more comfortable and lets me focus again on my chest instead of pain. This is just me doing me.

[@supt4305]

Dips used to hurt but when i started using my back on then the pain and the amount of plates i could do went up. I literelly when i go down i just focus on my back and going down i just use all my might to push back up

[@_baller]

I like incline bench, fly machine (which always has someone on it 🙄), and upright chest press, I really don't like the flat bench press, it's just awkward to me

[@B1GK1NG]

Same here, I hate the flat bench press. I like the incline, dips and the upright.

[@shaneplasse7979]

I can never use the gd fly machine!!

[@coreymichael1880]

And 9/10 of times the person on the fly machine will be sat on their phone.

[@_baller]

@@coreymichael1880 yep definitely one of the prime phone user location

[@stuartjames-ng1yy]

If I had to choose just one chest exercise to do for the rest of my life it’s definitely cable fly. The constant tension on the muscle, the full range of motion, being able to hit all three heads of the pec on one machine, for me it’s #1

[@danielmillward9947]

Ring pushups are the better equivalent

[@stuartjames-ng1yy]

@@danielmillward9947 im not a lover of ring push-ups, my elbows don’t like it. That’s the beauty of weight training, not one exercise fits all, but there is always a variation of some exercise that works best for each individual. For me flys are my #1 , when I’m training chest I like to fully focus on pec activation, I want to fully isolate them and not have think to much about deactivating my triceps or shoulders which is where flys are also great. I always train chest and back, bis and tris, shoulders and legs and I want each muscle group fresh so I can go ham on them twice a week. If I was to add ring push-ups too my chest day, my triceps wouldn’t be 100% for the next day, Do you use ring push-ups often or is it something you add in every now and then?

[@Raey_Thoven]

Nice content... there's alot of validity with this information. However, I actually feel as though the barbell flat bench press is underrated- Because most people feel as though it's a powerlifting movement with limited ROM and high Risk of injury, but personally, I feel that most of my chest development did come by doing bench presses in the 6-10 rep range. I feel like once you focus on the eccentric phase of it, its a fantastic exercise for size. Where I see most ppl go wrong is by benching heavy.... all the time... and snapping their shit up. But, to each his own, and I've only been working out for a year and a half so maybe anything would have grew my chest. I also include incline presses and cable work already.. even the incline machines and pretty solid

[@mattys3248]

“The entire body” eyyyyyy! Love it, thanks bro keep ‘em coming! 😊 I’m mostly everybody, lacking ALL chest haha

[@1922johnboy]

Yoodooyoobooboo ❤ this is my new favorite word, think I’ll get this on a T-shirt/hat or something, love it Jonni and superb advice too😮😊

[@Legacyofmine]

These are the moves i do! No BS vid, love it bro, keep speaking the truth we need more people like you!

[@joelvirolainen590]

AWWW!! I love the bench press... Time to start dipping again and get that range of motion!

[@DANA-lx8cv]

I can only speak from my own experience, but I've done heavy BB bench press ( 1 to 3 or 1 to 5 rep range mostly) for years and my chest is my best muscle group by far. I occasionally do dumbbell incline to get in some volume or some floor flys, but I'm a flat bench guy by nature. Maybe not optimum, sure, but I don't train for bodybuilding purposes or functionality or for a sport, I just like putting up big bench numbers (to me that's the sport) and also looking reasonably big. Unless you are a pro athlete and focused on the, you have to do what you enjoy, or working out will become something you just do, rather than something you look forward to. Always good to hear different opinions, certainly, and people have to try things and see what works for them.

[@repentandfollowjesuschrist6170]

I just do dips and incline dumbbell press.... sometimes pec deck 💪 works for me and I enjoy it, don't like to flat bench a barbell, don't want to ask anyone for a spot and not safe to bench alone, I mean who wants to get trapped under a barbell and waving for help with their leg.

[@RicardoRodriguez-sy3qg]

Incline barbell bench, flat db press and fly movements. Chef’s kiss!

[@lwreaper187]

I do flat bench to build strength and incline for growth

[@Shredkowski]

Was sceptical about dips until I started doing them earlier this year and it's now one of my favorite chest workouts.

[@GymRauhl]

dips are good for ur lower chestr

[@LikthaDoNN]

Same, you can really feel it.

[@bjnaves1192]

Smith Machines been getting a lot of love lately by a lot of people. Great content as usual🔥

[@rogerio7382]

I feel I m growing in experience at gym, thanks you, mr Shreve, hail from brazil

[@vendetta4033]

I use incline dumbells, instead of smyth machine, but other 2, I agree 100%

[@1Matt3]

Thanks for the info and advice, Johnny!! I actually tried decline bench with dumbbells last week and it felt pretty good. Not giving push back, just sayin. I'll probably incorporate cables into my workout more, as you suggested too. Also, I never understood all the hate on smith machines. It's like hating on people who wear helmets that ride bikes, safety just isn't cool, man lol

[@RedfishCarolina]

Lol, just did Smith inclines today on a whim because I hadn't done incline in a while and rarely have a spotter. Loved it. Then I come home and randomly this video pops up.

[@ChappersLaNoCry]

I noticed I wasn't gaining upper chest and switched to incline. Good to see I wasn't mistaken.

[@bahandplays8373]

No shit !!

[@ChappersLaNoCry]

@@bahandplays8373 aight buddy

[@motion2597]

I do dumbbell incline

[@UR_AL_SHOOK_UP]

Flat is better for me when it comes to chest …it all depends on ur body brotha ..incline is still one of the top ..I normally will do incline for like 6 months and then go back to flat

[@markambrose66]

I think db press at 15% with not much of an arch is the best bang for buck chest exercise🔥

[@dylangriffin4230]

I was obese. Always avoided flat bench , my upper chest is built now. However, my lower chest is lacking due to loose skin. Trying to fix that now. Just a heads up for anybody that had some moobs. Might wanna keep flat and/or decline around still

[@VALIANTWEENUS]

That’s the worst advise ever. Decline will cause injury. Flat dumbbell press and incline (barbell or dumbbell) chest flys or chest dips is all you need.

[@dylangriffin4230]

@@VALIANTWEENUS Anything can cause injury if you do it wrong. Maybe I should specify how I do decline, just a plate under the foot of the bench. Not those insane declines that you probably are used to seeing. Plus, I focus on the movement, etc. not the weight (We're both watching Jonni, I train very similar to him) . I'm very attentive on how I do my movements and adjust accordingly. Also, if you think putting a plate under the foot isn't enough to bias the lower chest. Jonni does the opposite with a slight incline on the bench to bias his upper chest rather than doing a typical flat bench. Its not the "worst advice ever"

[@boom76]

@@dylangriffin4230 in the video you have the decline explained, if you still didt get it, after you damage your shouders you will understand why decline is better to avoid ( i sayd better not dont you dare do it) if you cannot undestand from jonny's videos no 1 will be abble to

[@dylangriffin4230]

@@boom76 OK dummy

[@Daemon1995_]

nigga just do incline

[@personalowlbear5897]

All the underrated exercises have been my chest day. Glad to know i've been watching your videos long enough to learn a thing or two haha

[@JonniShreve]

lol love to hear that

[@TheHerbsMCJay74]

I do incline only one notch up.. hits both upper and lower chest for me.. flyes and weighted dips.. never flat 👍

[@tylee5291]

Thank you!!! I was doing decline barbell and never really felt I was getting anything from it. I actually stopped dot flat bench after watching one of your chest videos a few months ago. I really wasn't feeling much from that either. Looking forward to the rest of your 'I er rated" videos!! Thank you again.

[@Zeskents]

the machine chest press works great for me and incline bench as well. great video

[@Swolesome.Raymond]

Yo I’m so glad you mentioned incline smith machine press!

[@ttfilmproductions174]

Cable flyes You can adjust everything so perfect and my core is working hard keping me stable, great for learning to engage your core and the chest pump is insane, I never feelt comfort with the pec dec always feelt weird, so like Johnny said If you love pec decs keep it up, if not give the cables a try🤙

[@tomlarr21]

The dumbbell fly information is interesting, cause I swear a recent Dr.Mike video he talks about dumbbell flies is actually really good for muscle growth

[@WtfYouMeanDude]

Yup i went hard n mostly focused on incline (only dumbbells) and cable flys (high/low) and now my upper chest/ entire chest made crazy gains, almost doubled in last 14months. I do need to do dips or some lower maybe more flat bench for while cuz my uppers op now. But yea absolutely focus on incline over all else and cable flys are just perfect for connecting n really squeezing

[@sw4841]

Number one should’ve been hammer strength, incline, bench, independent arm movement better isolation, better adjustability than the Smith machine

[@richfrost1441]

Love your content! Started lifting a few months back after a long time off and your videos have been a great source of information and inspiration. Entertaining too ! Keep up the great work !

[@SionKaiser]

Thank You Johny for your tips. I unsubscribe the other trailers ;) i don’t need them anymore.

[@yonv1983]

Bro I needed this confirmation. Thank you for all your inputs. The last year or so I have followed you has definitely helped with my growth.

[@elfeedanyla83]

Totally agree. I've stopped doing bench press and started doing incline dumbell press n smith incline. My chest improved a lot.

[@JonniShreve]

Thats great!

[@milaytube]

Lazy! lazy, lazy Laaaaazy!!!

[@iamchippie1]

Upper drops on cable, (lower cable position), than lower from upper position drop sets in hypertrophy, into mid, and repeat upper drops to make it swell, then into push day with triceps on cables. 7's and overheads followed with hypertrophy dips into failure overload sets for strength.

[@kevingeorge2458]

I'm loving this over ratings series. Johnni great work. ✌

[@leonardwilliams2796]

standing cable fly in any position hit hard asf on my chest love that shit HIGHLY UNDERRATED AND HIGHLY DONE WRONG

[@_baller]

You dip I dip we dip, needed that edit lol

[@xFaZeDii]

I love this series! , I’m looking forward to seeing the lower body top 3s

[@MrRezz20002000]

Excellent Realistic and Efficient. Thanks.

[@chaosreggie6984]

I just love how all the influencers that shit on the flat bench literally built their entire chest on bench press

[@eversonfrazier9497]

Thanks for putting me on. I’m doing this next

[@sfdsfda]

Inclined dumbbell 🎉

[@creyes4182]

I recently started going heavy on incline and yes I noticed a huge difference. And most people can’t do it turns heads. Most smith machines help. Back in the day I thought wow I can do 315 on smith I’m so strong, and got smacked by reality when I got in the real bench.

[@WarrenLee]

Happy to watch this. These top 3 have been my go to chest day for the last two years. I have way more gains to show for my time than almost everyone I see that only hits the flat bench press.

[@ThereIsOnlyOneRandom]

after bench press I noticed huge boost in strength, and I started with dumbbells chest exercises

[@jayc2367]

I've been doing incline on the bench or a machine but about 2-3 weeks ago I decided to try the Smith machine incline. I had heard is was better for keeping tension on the muscle as the bar is fixed and you can't sway it off track. I've found this to be absolutely true and love doing my incline on the Smith machine now, I can definitely tell this is going to be better for building that upper chest than anything I was doing before. Love it!!

[@MikeMerritt8702]

I am glad I watched this, chest day is tomorrow. I usually do dips on tricep day.

[@mavrk.d]

I actually agree with everything you said and made changes a years ago when I did my research.

[@JK-sw2bc]

You put your fingers up to say 4 hard sets - but I only see 3 and a half lol

[@bigalthecrusher]

Thanks Jonni !!

[@sixxfinga1864]

Bro got me crackin up on the treadmill talmbout risque 4 injuray 😂

[@omcoffroad1355]

Jonni funny story bro aside from flat bench of which I think for beginners is critical to learn how to bench and get form. I do all your underrated but the dips. However, I am starting a new 6-week cycle and instead of Peck deck, I'm changing to dips. Now I do find a way better connection with an incline bench then flat. Peck deck I do but it gets better with cable flies hands down. Now I know not everyone is the same but DON'T knock it till you try it. As always Jonni love this video good info thank you for you sharing your knowledge

[@frackratsfenorki3689]

Love it Jonni!

[@brunolovric4852]

I just just love you work man.❤

[@bartwilloughby2909]

Thank You Jonni . 👍🏿

[@marks6325]

You do you boo boo 😂 Love this channel.

[@vukashinobradovikj4147]

Thanks for the content, nice interpretation 👌

[@duanemari11]

I will try. Thanks!

[@GearByJ]

I HIGHLY AGREE. When i started using the Smith machine, I saw more develop3in my chest. Sucks there is no more than 2 or 3 in most gyms.

[@xjrrider6710]

Totally agree!!! I thought only I believed this. 👍🏼

[@JonDeth]

*That feller in the thumbnail looks like he just took some bath salts!*

[@baseballstream174]

Ngl I was one of those guys who only did flat bench and scoffed at incline. Then Sam Sulek came around and convinced me to do incline. Now my flat bench is way stronger as a result and I can actually feel my chest on incline

[@carlosovalle6165]

I had a chest in the 6th grade from doing bench press. Was made fun of for having one since 6th graders at that time didn't know much about chest muscles. It worked great for my noobie gains. I probably weighted 60lbs then. I didn't weigh 100lbs till the 10th grade for reference.

[@SurfNturfz]

Are you 5 feet tall?????

[@Ballsy_]

i used to be that dbag that called the smith machine something for 😻😻😻😻😻s. after messing up my shoulder and finally swallowing that dumb pride, man the smith machine is the GREATEST fitness machine ever engineered. especially for safer standing presses

[@SpaceCrumbs]

Life is all about learning!

[@D_PhysiquePhormer]

JS, great video as always bruh! I absolutely love your content and I’ve learned so much from you, you’re very much appreciated , my bro. I’ve got a question. What brand are those glasses bro😅? They’re FLY AF!

[@blazinchalice]

I go to Dip City at the end of each chest day. I love doing dips! It's an exercise that I feel everyone should be able to do. You have to be able to move your body weight!

[@whodoyouratemore]

Agree with the flat bench.. nearly obsolete in my workouts helped by the fact the set up in my gym doesn't work for me

[@_baller]

I like smith press so I don't need a spotter and can push more weight

[@sleepytimeshecomes]

man am I glad I found you!

[@MurderMonsta]

I'm going to give standing flys a chance again. I've been using seated, but I'll switch it up.

[@A_Schimizzi]

I agree, if you connect with an exercise do it. I can't really connect well on smith machine incline but i like the basic chest machine press at the end as a burnout. As for standing chest flies, what are your thoughts on standing flies versus seated? I tend to see more people get the shoulder involved in standing cable chest flies versus seated.

[@JonniShreve]

the difference between seated vs standing is with seated youre taking out some of the stabilizing muscles you would use to keep your balance with standing flies. advantages of both. For seated, you take some of the work away from the rest of your body and mainly focus on the fly, but for standing you use more of your body overall to perform the movement.

[@RPDthe3rd]

Incline dumbbell, peck deck, cable flys, chest press machine. In that order is what I do. Sometimes incline barbell!!!

[@JoeBlow-mw5oo]

Do flies light, arms straight out, 1/2 reps. Murderous on pecs. I love them. I rotate between that and machine fly

[@stewsview5164]

LOL! I do decline dumbbell chest press (drop it as low as possible for max stretch) as well as dips for the lower pectoral development. Great video. Wish my gyms did not have the lines of people using the cable machines. Otherwise I would do more cable exercises. Can't wait for the other videos on other body parts. You videos help me tweak my routines. Looking to change up some things going forward. Real quick Question, can preacher curls help my bicep exercise and minimize elbow pain? Thanks Jonni.

[@ianchambers37]

I got dips(usually more tricep focused), cable flys and incline dumbbell press on my second upper workout days. I would use smith machine but my gym pnly has one and 9/10 times its taken by someone to do hip thrusts, squats or something else. I never cared much for dumbbell flys, decline bench so glad to see im not alone. I still do flat dumbbell presses and pec deck on my other upper day since it feels good and for a change of pace too. Both days, feeling solid and hopeful in time things will grow even more haha 😂 cheers from a fellow Canadian 🇨🇦

[@shweird]

I really like single arm cable flies. The other hand that's not pulling can feel the pec muscle to see if it is contracting effectively. I also do Pec Deck as well. I do dips on arm day but I noticed my chest was mega sore one time the day after doing dips and that's when I realized it is a great chest workout as well. I also use the dip machine like you Johnny because I like the fact that I can more easily track the progressive overload on the dip machine. Someone showed me how to reach a little further back on the handles and it made the exercise much harder so I've been progressing using that grip for a few weeks now.

[@bradritonya8554]

At 51 I do not do the "BIG" 3! I have no reason to and there so many other safer exercises out there that will build just as much muscle!

[@nunninkav]

Same here. 51, I do flat dumbell presses but never barbell. I only do front squats, less weight and more results. I dead lift off of blocks with a hex bar.

[@donoella235]

Not a bad video. But I do think that decline dumbbell press has it's place at the top. The stretch is amazing.

[@philhooper4196]

incline dumbbell press and smith machine incline bench press I feel are best for chest development. And deep incline stretching dumbbell butterflies

[@jamesco1395]

Johnni always tell straight up facts❤

[@eflick]

I 100% agree with your dumbbell flyes assessment. It seems a lot of YT fitness (bodybuilding) professionals are leaning towards focusing tension in "elongated" positions, but constant tension is an equally as important concept for well-rounded development across all positions in a movement. Great caveat @ 3:33. :)

[@bobjohnson1633]

You can squeeze a muscle without having any weight at the top of the lift. Always get that extra squeeze at the top where there is no weight. Just fucking squeeze.

[@Exoghomous]

Uncle Jonny doing uncle duties to the world. Thanks for this

[@jeremywarner1752]

Reverse grip barbell or dumbbell bench press for upper chest for the win

[@donovanbezuidenhout6632]

My list of overated: Any fly movement Decline press Pull overs My chest movements 🔥💣: Flat press Incline press Dips

[@Zynn3d]

Your daughter watches "Pinkalicious and Peterific"! I recognized "You get what you get and you don't get upset" because my daughter watches it too. 😆

[@Crixus_96]

I quit doing flat bench a while ago once I stoped caring about how much i can flat press. I strcitly do inclin BP. Unfortunately my gym doesnt have a smith machine so i do regular incline. This exercise just feels better for me

[@matthewtobar3049]

In a video Deion Sanders said the same thing about bench pressing at the NFL Combine

[@ants8632]

I'll keep binge watching until the forearm video!

[@JonniShreve]

Keep binge watching anyway but heres a forearm video i did. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2nNomR4o6lnpck&ab_channel=JONNISHREVE

[@warriorspiritmovers2589]

Those underrated movements are the exercises that work best for me too.