Chest workouts

[cloak33]

Anyone else besides me never really feel like their chest muscles aren't fully being worked out when your doing bench? I can feel the burn in my triceps and that's what causes me to have to stop. My chest never feels like it's the muscle doing the lifting. I do feel it a couple days afterwards though.

Mt triceps are developed so I don't think it's them, but who knows. For all that actually feel their chests working in the gym...what's your technique?

Thanks

 

[derfmonster]

do you just do barbell or do you use Db's as well.

 

[PoweredUp]

Anyone else besides me never really feel like their chest muscles aren't fully being worked out when your doing bench? I can feel the burn in my triceps and that's what causes me to have to stop. My chest never feels like it's the muscle doing the lifting. I do feel it a couple days afterwards though.

Mt triceps are developed so I don't think it's them, but who knows. For all that actually feel their chests working in the gym...what's your technique?

Thanks

The bench really hammers on the front delts, so it isn't going to blast the chest muscle nearly as much as dumbbell presses (which allow you to get a much greater ROM). Dips are a great chest exercise as well, but you should do all 3.

 

[cloak33]

I'm using dumbbells because I have to workout at times when I'm pretty much the only one there. I do incline bench, flyes, shoulder press, lateral raises, bar dips and triceps pulldown.

I can always feel it a couple days later, but I feel I could be lifting more weight if all my chest was fully being used. It could just be me and the way my body works, not sure. But I've always had trouble putting mass on the upper part of my chest.

 

[SouthernLord]

Try Wiiiiiide grip bench to your throat (ala AAP). Keep your elbows flared the whole time. These pump the shit out of my chest. This is a "finesse" exercise. Don't go heavy or you will blow your rotators and stay in the 8-12 rep range. I usually do them after some sort of DB press.

 

[PoweredUp]

I'm using dumbbells because I have to workout at times when I'm pretty much the only one there. I do incline bench, flyes, shoulder press, lateral raises, bar dips and triceps pulldown.

I can always feel it a couple days later, but I feel I could be lifting more weight if all my chest was fully being used. It could just be me and the way my body works, not sure. But I've always had trouble putting mass on the upper part of my chest.

You can ditch the inclines and the flyes. You're getting nothing out of those other than wasted energy.

 

[AEKDB]

You can ditch the inclines and the flyes. You're getting nothing out of those other than wasted energy.

Inclines yes but I think flies do have a place in a workout.

 

[zennode]

Try doing these:

Flys on Rings

These always hit my chest hard.

 

[linebackerbare]

triceps are assistors and stabilizers when doing a bench. if you ever have elbow flexion and extension you are doing a tricep excersise.
to just target the chest you need to concentrate on scapular ab and ad duction, that is what makes the pecs work. so flys are it not bending the elbows.
think of what joint is moving thats usually the best way to isolate a muscle

 

[ceo]

Try Wiiiiiide grip bench to your throat (ala AAP). Keep your elbows flared the whole time. These pump the shit out of my chest. This is a "finesse" exercise. Don't go heavy or you will blow your rotators and stay in the 8-12 rep range. I usually do them after some sort of DB press.

you mean ala Vince Gironda. He predates AAP by probably 40 years. They're called neck presses. If you search "vince gironda neck press" you'll get a bunch of hits on google.

As for feeling that an exercise is working...not sure what the OP means. He says he "feels the burn" in his triceps, so I guess he means that pump/burn/soreness.

If you are going by how your muscles "feel" during or after a workout to measure progress, that is a very poor method. How do you measure that?

The only way to really measure progress in weight lifting is by weight lifted. When you do the exercise again, can you do 5 or 10 more lbs.? Can you do more reps with the same weight? This is why it is important to keep a logbook!