No. But it does allow you to recruit more muscle fibers overall than flat bench. You can bench a lot more on decline than you can flat. That's why I like it lol

You should try a Sling Shot :D

Takes a lot of front delt out of the movement, which is what usually fails before your chest/tris when you bench. I also love close grip on the decline.

I ****ing love that thing and bought it after you recommended it to me. It's helping my keep my elbows tucks and stay with a low bar path on bench. It alleviates the trap pain I get when I flat bench without it on. Can't for the life of my figure out why this trap pain comes and goes but it seriously ****s with my bench strength.

I don't think I bench enough for that to be useful lol

I was a sprinter in high school/college and I've never had any desire at all to do any sort of distance work. That being said, I was in Chicago with my significant other back in October so she could run the marathon. Afterwards, I went out for drinks (and then more drinks) with all these folks from Portland. Maybe it was the shared sense of accomplishment and camaraderie they had, though more likely it was the 9th beer of the night that did it, but I began to think, "**** it. Maybe I should try this."

Fast-forward, I'm getting ready to run my first half and starting to look at fulls.

I feel better than I have in 5 years, I've got more energy when I go play pick-up on the weekends and God help me, I actually have started looking forward to my runs.

Sidebar: I used to get ligament pain as my training increased. I switched to Newton shoes about 3 months ago and I love these things. Definitely help me maintain good form.

Okay, so I learned two different kinds of dead lifts. One is the "traditional" dead lift, and the other was more of a straight leg dead lift. Gotta say that, once I start adding more weight, I can see how I'm going to like those.

OH! And pre-workout weight was 200.0 lbs. Post-workout weight was 199.4 lbs. Post-workout doesn't count though. Tomorrow is the day. TOMORROW!

Good luck, man! Part of me wants to do something that like one day, but I just hate running so ****ing much. That's why I play soccer. I'm having too much fun to notice I'm running lol

That is so great. Good luck. Let us know your time.

Deadlifts are fun!

Thanks, I appreciate it. And don't get me wrong, soccer is definitely still my first love and preferred method of fitness.

He made sure to tell me about stability. Also breathing in, flexing my abs to lift. Then breathing once I'm up and flexing to go back down. Of course, you already know all of this. Hips up, bar close to shins.... It's all so new! He doesn't want me doing any more again until next week. He wants to make sure my form is good as we increase the weight.

Solid plan. I'm teaching my wife how to do front squats and deadlifts properly. It's been 6 weeks and she's just now getting to where she has the form perfect. So, it takes a while. Some of it is due to practice, but some of it is due to needing the build up the supporting musculature in order to perform the lift properly. Correcting the imbalances takes time.

He said I caught on to proper form really quickly. I was doing a few reps. I think that the different squats he's had me do have really helped my stability. He knows I'm eager, which is why he wants me to wait. Especially since I've already asked him how I can tell when I'm at a weight that's right for me. We went over different ways of breaking form. If there's one thing he's pounded into my head, regardless of which lift or exercise I'm doing, it's proper form.