Educated crowd...please help!
- Thread starter jillybean
- Start date
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Apr-23-02 AT 07:28PM (Est)[/font][p]It is normal to feel the shoulder muscles working harder during a bench press or a fly. When doing presses, the front of the shoulder and the triceps assist. With flys, the front of the shoulder assists. The chest muscle is a large and powerful muscle so you may not feel the effort there as much. The shoulders and triceps are smaller and can be considered the weak link. When doing presses and flys, think about squeezing your chest muscles together as you lift the weight. You may also want to try and pre-fatigue the front shoulder muscles and the triceps with other exercises for those and then do your chest work. You may have to drop the weight that you use for the chest though but the shoulders and triceps will be tired out and will not be able to contribute as much effort to the press/flys. When doing push ups, you say you feel it in your back. Is it in the lower back that you feel it? If so, make sure you keep your abs sucked in and tight throughout the push up and do not let the hips sag. The abs and lower back get a good workout during a push up because they are working as stablilizers. Again, the lower back may be your "weak link". If you feel soreness in the area along the sides of your ribcage that is also normal. The Push up really works a muscle called the serratus anterior (it runs from underneath your shoulder blade to the sides of your ribcage). Some people mistake soreness in this muscle as having sore lats. Hope this helps.
It's very difficult to work the chest muscles with free weights because the small muscles need to stablize the weight. If you did your work out on a Smith machine (which allows the bar to only move vertically) you could certainly go heavier and feel the fatigue in the chest muscles.
A few ideas:
• Work with someone who can spot you to prevent the back and forth movements.
• Use a barbell instead of hand weights -- it's easier to stablize one object than two.
• Really watch where you are placing the weight on the chest during bench and flies. If your lift upward (above the shoulders) or downward (low on your ribs) you won't get as much pec work.
• Elevate one end of your bench to create an incline bench. That forces the work into the upper pec.
A few ideas:
• Work with someone who can spot you to prevent the back and forth movements.
• Use a barbell instead of hand weights -- it's easier to stablize one object than two.
• Really watch where you are placing the weight on the chest during bench and flies. If your lift upward (above the shoulders) or downward (low on your ribs) you won't get as much pec work.
• Elevate one end of your bench to create an incline bench. That forces the work into the upper pec.
Aquajock
Cathlete
If I may chime in too:
1. Widen your grip on the barbell when doing bench presses; the closer in your grip, the less the pecs have to work (the work will be picked up by the triceps more);
2. Same principle for push-ups: widen the placement of your hands on the floor, and vary your body position by doing sets with your toes on the floor, and your toes on varied-elevation platforms;
3. Do pec flyes in two separate ways: with the palms facing each other (recruits the biceps more, and you can use a heavier weightload), and with your palms facing out (takes away most of the biceps contribution, go with a lighter weight).
Hope this helps -
Annette
Krispy Kreme forever
1. Widen your grip on the barbell when doing bench presses; the closer in your grip, the less the pecs have to work (the work will be picked up by the triceps more);
2. Same principle for push-ups: widen the placement of your hands on the floor, and vary your body position by doing sets with your toes on the floor, and your toes on varied-elevation platforms;
3. Do pec flyes in two separate ways: with the palms facing each other (recruits the biceps more, and you can use a heavier weightload), and with your palms facing out (takes away most of the biceps contribution, go with a lighter weight).
Hope this helps -
Annette
Krispy Kreme forever
I had trouble feeling my chest muscles working during bench presses and flys until I really started to concentrate on retracting the shoulders as Cathe describes in Slow and Heavy. I'm not sure I can describe it very well, but basically , you bring your shoulders back so that they are line with your back (rather than hunched). If you keep doing this through the entire range of motion (whether you are doing bench presses or flys), it really makes a difference. It takes some concentration at first - you can even practice the movement without any weight at first. Hope this helps!
Sharon.
Sharon.
susan-lynn
Cathlete
I had the same problem as you jillybean - I started using a wider grip on the barbell for the benchpress - it's made a big difference, I can feel my chest workouts the next day now.
DebbieH
Cathlete
Oh No!
Don't start talking about the Krispy Kremes again!! Tee-Hee!
Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH http://www.plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!
Don't start talking about the Krispy Kremes again!! Tee-Hee!
Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH http://www.plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!
H
Hazel
Guest
"Goalpost arms"
Cathe uses this analogy in her CTX chest tape, and we use it in Body Pump too. During a chest press, your hands should be placed far enough apart that at the bottom of the press (where your elbows are level with the top of your bench) your elbow should be directly under your wrist, i.e., forming the shape of a goalpost. Start by gripping the barbell all the way at the ends so that your pinkies touch the plates and do a test run bringing the bar down to the bottom position, then adjust from there.
My other suggestions are to make sure that the bar stays over the middle of the chest (right across your nipple line) and don't let the elbows drop lower than bench height (so the bar should never be touching your chest at the bottom of the move).
Cathe uses this analogy in her CTX chest tape, and we use it in Body Pump too. During a chest press, your hands should be placed far enough apart that at the bottom of the press (where your elbows are level with the top of your bench) your elbow should be directly under your wrist, i.e., forming the shape of a goalpost. Start by gripping the barbell all the way at the ends so that your pinkies touch the plates and do a test run bringing the bar down to the bottom position, then adjust from there.
My other suggestions are to make sure that the bar stays over the middle of the chest (right across your nipple line) and don't let the elbows drop lower than bench height (so the bar should never be touching your chest at the bottom of the move).