Another question

[wutherhi]

I've been lifting weights for about a year, and I find that when I do the lifts that focus on the chest, I feel I'm using way too much shoulder in the movement. Any style pointers that will help me focus more on my chests muscles?

 

[Aquajock]

Couple three things:

With a barbell bench press, widen your grip on the barbell, and make sure you do not lower the barbell so that the elbows go any deeper than bench / body level;

Same principle with push-ups - widen the placement of your hands on the floor;

With both bench presses and push-ups, take care to align your hands and barbell so that they are directly aligned with the mid-point of the breast;

Also remember that you will never be able to completely remove the contribution of the anterior deltoid to any pec exercise.

Hope this helps!

Annette

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

A shoulder retraction can be helpful here. While I can see from your post that you are already aware that your shoulder will always be called upon to some degree, a shoulder retraction will help to keep the range of motion less dynamic, therefore discouraging any additional shoulder engagement.