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Chest workouts

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cloak33

New member
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
 
cloak33 said:
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
Click to expand...
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
cloak33 said:
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.
Click to expand...
You can ditch the inclines and the flyes. You're getting nothing out of those other than wasted energy.
 
PoweredUp said:
You can ditch the inclines and the flyes. You're getting nothing out of those other than wasted energy.
Click to expand...

Inclines yes but I think flies do have a place in a workout.
 
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
 
jocephus said:
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.
Click to expand...

you mean ala Vince Gironda. :rolleyes: 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!
 
i find a get a better contraction and muscle stimulation in my chest with dumbells or iso hammer equipment compared with barbell bench.
 
jocephus said:
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.
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me? Flare the elbows? Are you trying to hurt the guy?

Never Flare the elbows, that is the biggest load of Bodybuilder crap ever heard and a great way to get hurt.

A little note on proper bench form.

Elbow position on both the descent and ascent will determine many things, including risk of injury to the shoulders, activation of the lats and triceps, as well as bar position. This is one of the most ignored factors when benching. It will be discussed in more detail during both the raising and lowering phases, but one thing will be mentioned first: do not flare the elbows out to the side “to place more emphasis on the chest,” as bodybuilding lore often states. This will result in a severe amount of strain at the shoulder joints, as it opens the acromial process to an extreme degree.
Click to expand...

The entire write up is here, take the time to read it as there is a lot more involved in a proper bench press then you may think. If done properly you will be safe and will be able to move more weight.

This is the link.

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/5124184-post826.html

There are a few factors in bench but without knowing/ seeing the lift, if your tries are getting tired before your chest then it could a few things.

1. improper form

2. Your tries aren't strong enough.

If that is the case you can drop the weight and build back up and your tries will catch up. Or do some accessory work to build strength in your tries.

3. Your tries are fatigued from too much accessory/ isolation work.

Which I would guess to be the case as so many people do way too many waste of time isolation exercises for their bies and tries. They are not a major muscle group they are there to assist your big lifts, they don't need so much training.
 
djeclipse said:
Are you kidding me? Flare the elbows? Are you trying to hurt the guy?

Never Flare the elbows, that is the biggest load of Bodybuilder crap ever heard and a great way to get hurt.

A little note on proper bench form.



The entire write up is here, take the time to read it as there is a lot more involved in a proper bench press then you may think. If done properly you will be safe and will be able to move more weight.

This is the link.

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/5124184-post826.html

There are a few factors in bench but without knowing/ seeing the lift, if your tries are getting tired before your chest then it could a few things.

1. improper form

2. Your tries aren't strong enough.

If that is the case you can drop the weight and build back up and your tries will catch up. Or do some accessory work to build strength in your tries.

3. Your tries are fatigued from too much accessory/ isolation work.

Which I would guess to be the case as so many people do way too many waste of time isolation exercises for their bies and tries. They are not a major muscle group they are there to assist your big lifts, they don't need so much training.
Click to expand...


Come on bro. I said do not go heavy on these, because it will blow out your rotators. You can't tuck your elbows and bench to you THROAT. It is not possible. These aren't something to go super heavy on, but if your chest is lagging it will bring it up. I do believe he asked about chest stimulation not pressing more weight. If he wanted to press more I would tell him to learn how to set up from some PLers.
 
jocephus said:
Come on bro. I said do not go heavy on these, because it will blow out your rotators. You can't tuck your elbows and bench to you THROAT. It is not possible. These aren't something to go super heavy on, but if your chest is lagging it will bring it up. I do believe he asked about chest stimulation not pressing more weight. If he wanted to press more I would tell him to learn how to set up from some PLers.
Click to expand...

Bench to your throat? It just sounds like an injury waiting to happen.

Anyway, more weight = more chest stimulation/ muscle recrutment (sp?) .

You do realise that you can't change the shape of your muscles, there is no such thing as upper, lower chest etc. You can make it bigger, if you want it to be more defined you loose body fat.

EDIT: As I said earlier, my guess would be that his tries are fatigued/ over worked and that is limiting his bench.
 
djeclipse said:
Bench to your throat? It just sounds like an injury waiting to happen.

Anyway, more weight = more chest stimulation/ muscle recrutment (sp?) .

You do realise that you can't change the shape of your muscles, there is no such thing as upper, lower chest etc. You can make it bigger, if you want it to be more defined you loose body fat.
Click to expand...

Did I mention any of these points?

I agree with more weight = more muscle, but some people are just not built to bench heavy. I can arch my back, tuck, my elbows, and use a lower bar path and blow up 315 for sets of 5. All that does is stimulate my shoulders and triceps. I can also press 135 for 12 with flared elbows and bring the bar just above my throat and my chest screams and I usually get some serious DOMS. PEace
 
On the eralier post keep the flys, incline is not crutial.

I dont know why djeclipse always come in threads straigh up bashing right away.

Just offer your oppinion then theres no need to get upset bro. I'm not supprised you know what your talkin about but so do a lot of people here, I think you should know that how long you've been around (you have have peaced out for a bit but commin back hard like that is just gonna piss people off).

There is always something to be learned.

Oh my oppinoin on the chest thing, lower your weight and move to super sets for a bit.

off your bench (lower weight) eliminate a rest time and jump to bbell bench flys and even maybe kick out some puch ups after if you have the energy (if not do some inclined)


Later bros, I'm out for the day!
 
If you're not sporting at least 3 lbs per inch of height (at a reasonably low bf%)...you don't need to worry about your "weak points" because you don't have any. You just need more mass.

I should include an example because last time someone didn't know wtf I was saying here. Meaning: if you are 6 feet tall = 72 inches, times 3 lbs. = 216 lbs.

So, if you're 6 feet tall and weigh 185 lbs., you don't have any "weak points" but you do need more mass before you need to worrry about that.
 
Your hands might be too close together. The closer your hands are together, the more your triceps are getting hit. Make sure you have a good distance between them or else your weight is going to be limited due to fatigue in your triceps.
 
Thx for all the replies.

I'm still trying to figure something out about pyramiding though. My max dumbbell press is 70lbs. However, I can do 4 heavy sets of 8 reps. Why do some says it better to do 8 reps at 55lbs, 6 reps at 60lbs, 4 reps at 65lbs, and finally 2 reps at 70lbs?

You lift more total weight the first way.

I'm confused...
 
cloak33 said:
Thx for all the replies.

I'm still trying to figure something out about pyramiding though. My max dumbbell press is 70lbs. However, I can do 4 heavy sets of 8 reps. Why do some says it better to do 8 reps at 55lbs, 6 reps at 60lbs, 4 reps at 65lbs, and finally 2 reps at 70lbs?

You lift more total weight the first way.

I'm confused...
Click to expand...

If you can do 4 sets of 8 reps of 70 lbs., then 70 is not your max.

I personally warm up with 2 to 4 sets then do one heavy rest-paused working set, but I probably wouldn't advocate that for you.

Bottom line is progression. How are you measuring your progression?
 
ceo said:
If you can do 4 sets of 8 reps of 70 lbs., then 70 is not your max.
Click to expand...

I meant that 70 is the max weight I can do multiple sets of. Because of the time I workout out I'm usually alone in the gym, so I can't get anyone to help me get the weight into position once I'm tired. I could do more weight starting off, but I would have to them work my way down.

I have a logbook I track everything in. I'm usually able to up the weight I lift every 2 weeks. sometimes 1 week depending on the body part.

Basically I need to figure out a decent bench workout I can do that I don't need to rely on any assistance.
 
chaos13 said:
i have never seen anything like that before. interesting
Click to expand...

yup. pretty friggin cool. beats trying to bounce heavy DB's up off your knees, and you don't have to worry about the energy expended doing that move taking away from your work set(s).
 
silverskyline said:
I dont know why djeclipse always come in threads straigh up bashing right away.

Just offer your oppinion then theres no need to get upset bro. I'm not supprised you know what your talkin about but so do a lot of people here, I think you should know that how long you've been around (you have have peaced out for a bit but commin back hard like that is just gonna piss people off).
Click to expand...

I hear ya. I don't mean to come down hard on anyone, I am blunt and over the internet can be taken the wrong way.

For one I would hate to see anyone get hurt as some of us know getting any kind of injury really sucks ass and can effect your training and every day life. Some times for the rest of your life. I am going through this now.

I know jocephus has good intentions, but the way he is telling people to bench here is going to get someone injured. Light weight or not, doing any lift in a way that puts you at a position to increase chance of injury is simply wrong.

Maybe he wants to lift this way and all the power to him, but there are a lot of people reading these boards, some very new to lifting. Someone will read what he wrote, go out there and learn to bench that way because "they want to hit their chest", "feel the burn" or what ever.

Suggesting anyone lift in a way that increases chance of injury, especially on a board like this is not the way to go, and I will call you on it, noting personal. You'd be surprised, even with light weight, improper from can get you hurt.
 
8and20 said:
where did they find those DB's?
Click to expand...

These guys use them for warm up.

jlvn631l.jpg
 
silver_shadow said:
how come no one's mentioned weighted dips here?
Click to expand...

i dont recommend them bc they are hell on my shoulders no matter my hand placement or body lean.

i will do hammer dips but i concentrate on triceps for those. i can get flat bench to stimulate lower chest adequately to avoid having to do declines or dips for chest.
 
8and20 said:
i dont recommend them bc they are hell on my shoulders no matter my hand placement or body lean.

i will do hammer dips but i concentrate on triceps for those. i can get flat bench to stimulate lower chest adequately to avoid having to do declines or dips for chest.
Click to expand...
agreed, but it does work for some without hammering the shoulders. worth a try. besides you are probably moving a decent amount of weight i'm guessing.
 
SouthernLord said:
Try Wiiiiiide grip bench to your throat (alpha lipoic acid 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.
Click to expand...

wide grip barbell bench is AWESOME. bring the bar all the way down on your chest, but DON'T bounce it, because if you bounce, it is too heavy for you. you should concentrate on your form, because you could rip a pec muscle if you dont. dont worry about looking weak if you move down in weight, just start out low and work it up
 
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