I'm not feeling it......

[azcatz]

Hi Cathe--

I just got the Gym Styles and did Chest and Triceps for the first time yesterday. It was tough, but I didn't/don't feel the chest work in my chest--just in the arms and shoulders.

This really is a pretty consistent problem--I rarely "feel it" in the chest although I'm lifting as heavy as I can. What am I doing wrong, do you think?

Thanks Cathe, for the great workouts and for any advice you can give me.

Julie

 

[jansattic1]

Not Cathe, but you should feel pain when you do all those pushups!! Are you extending your arms all the way to the top and squeezing your chest when doing pushups? Also, check your hand placement. I constantly watch Cathe and the crew when doing the pushups, chest workouts and for pilates/core work.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

 

[azcatz]

OK, there's another issue I cannot do straight leg push ups period and I KNOW I must not be doing the modifications correctly because the bent leg push ups are fairly easy. So, bent leg are easy (even when I extend my body so my weight is more over my arms), but I CAN'T go down even most of the way on straight leg.......

Thanks for the suggestions!

Julie

 

[amyg]

Julie-

If you have a full size step, try doing your pushups with straight legs with your hands on the step. Set up the step with 3-5 risers to start out, then work your way down to no risers and then on the floor.

You can also do the pushups Cathe put in LIC, with the slow straight leg counts down, then knees up, etc.

And, plank work should help too. The longer you hold a plank, the longer you can keep your body in a straight line for pushups! HTH.

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Julie! This is actually more common than you may think. When you work your chest muscles you are also using your triceps and shoulders to assist, therefore, you are rightfully feeling it in your arms as well.

An option to feel your chest exercises more effectively, is to place your hands a bit (not too far though) wider apart on bench presses and or push ups. This is because a narrow(er) grip will put a little more emphasis on the tricep muscles. Also, because this workout starts with a long series of push ups right into bench press, it may just be too much on your arms. Try opening the workout with a set of moderate weight flys (to isolate the chest muscles better) then after the series of push ups, insert another set of flys (heavy weight this time) before moving into the bench presses. Then follow the routine as usual.

Good Luck!

 

[azcatz]

Thanks everyone (and especially Cathe)--

I'm glad to hear I'm not a COMPLETE freak of nature

And, I'm sure you're all correct that if I did more plank work (YUCK, YUCK, YUCK) and got my core stronger that my push ups might improve......

Thanks very much everyone.

Julie

 

[fitnessangel]

Julie,
Pushups also have a lot to do with leverage. Core strength is important, like the other posters mentioned. Have you tried negative pushups? They really helped me when I was building up my chest strength. Take care

 

[Biggies7]

Julie,

Thanks for asking this question because I was discussing this problem with my DH last night. You not only helped yourself but others as well!