Poor upper body strength

[s8nlilhlpr]

Thanks guys i'll give it some thought. Specifically the leg press is 45 degrees, going down alittle past 90 degree leg angle (when the upper part of my quads are touching my stomach).
fortunatesun mentioned that chest is only part of the equation which is obviously true but i curl 55lbs dumbells and do lat pulldowns at 180lbs it just seems my chest area is exceptionally weaker than any other part of my body...maybe its my core body strength cause my abs arn't great either....

I hate to point out, but you almost listed why your chest is weak. I haven't seen you post a single compound exercise, other than the bench. Curls with leg/back movement don't do much to develop speed/power, neither do lat pulls. Can you do squats? if so ditch the leg press. If you want try doing overhead squats for some balance/full body power. Bench press uses a lot of pec/tricep/lat strength and to me, it sounds like you were focusing on using your biceps.

Add military press or push-press to your workout, even though it uses mostly shoulders, the power/strength you develop with it will help you push more on the bench.

 

[super_rice]

I hate to point out, but you almost listed why your chest is weak. I haven't seen you post a single compound exercise, other than the bench. Curls with leg/back movement don't do much to develop speed/power, neither do lat pulls. Can you do squats? if so ditch the leg press. If you want try doing overhead squats for some balance/full body power. Bench press uses a lot of pec/tricep/lat strength and to me, it sounds like you were focusing on using your biceps.

Add military press or push-press to your workout, even though it uses mostly shoulders, the power/strength you develop with it will help you push more on the bench.

yeah that's right on.

how about you set some real goals and try to achieve those, and stop being a pussy. the following are good goals:

full squat 265
deadlift 315
bent over row 135
proficient at chinups, pushups etc.

and your bench will be what you want it to be. you should have this in less than 2 months training properly.

 

[super_rice]

edit: i'm not trying to shut you down. those are not high numbers, they are not your limit and they are in no way unattainable, even though you are "benching" "80 pounds" right now. my 16 y/o brother pretty much learned to squat and then backsquatted ~320 while going up 20lbs in under 6 months. 3x a week, backsquat 2x, bench 2x, DL 1x /week. that's all he did. oh, and try to do chin ups but that's a diff story

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Lower body training will have nothing to do with upper body strength increases. I think I heard that trying to be put across, and that's just not true.

 

[super_rice]

Sorry, I was trying to emphasize overall body strength. My apologies, you are right.

 

[Eaglesguy]

Lower body training will have nothing to do with upper body strength increases. I think I heard that trying to be put across, and that's just not true.

There have been quite a few studies that have shown that lower body training does effect overall strength and muscle development, ATF squats in particular.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

There have been quite a few studies that have shown that lower body training does effect overall strength and muscle development, ATF squats in particular.

I bet there have.

Post up.

Squatting will not build your upper body. It will not help your upper body to grow if the upper body is already getting a direct stimulus. The only arguement I can see would be something for arms if you're doing high-bar oly squats and using the arms to statically brace the weight (even though it should be on your traps more than anything) which would result in a nominal increase in CSA of the tissue due to the isometric contraction - and this will only apply to beginners.

Of course, you're welcome to believe what you want. That won't make it true.

 

[victorreed]

Thanks for the help, i'll try and be less of a pussy in the future. Instead of the Pushdown machine to do tricepts i'm now doing Parallel Bar Dips with body weight, same with my back, I'm doing Lat Pullups with body weight instead of machine because i reckon body weight exercises are heaps better in this case. I've never done a squat but i'm aware they are an excellent exercise. I know my legs are fine to do them but i'm not sure my upper body will support 300lbs across my shoulders so i'll wait until my strength improves a bit before attempting them.
Good to see ppl with experience willing to help out. Cheers.

 

[tay1506]

If u can't support 300 on ur shoulders then lower it and do more reps!! Trust me you can support 300 lbs unlease there is something wrong with you. Almost anyone that is a little bit fit can support that much weight, but it would help to develope ur abs and lower back. Squat is the hardest thing to do i hated it, but now i kinda like doing them. As for upper emphasize on triceps and lats if dont correctly you don't use your pecs very much while benching. If done incorrectly however it's a different story. I can bench almost 30 more lbs. over my neck than over my pecs do to the fact that i spent 1 year working on pecs and did no lat or delt work(before i knew what i was doing) which was not a smart move. Also i mest my left shoulder up very bad with bad form think i tour my rotary cuff while maxing, but i refuse to go to doctors so not to sure.

 

[victorreed]

Sounds bad. Yeah i try to work every muscle group so i don't have imbalance. I'll give the 300lbs a shot then.
Oh and i guess after all this i should give an idea of how i'm built. I'm 180cm, 78kg with 4.5% bodyfat.