[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.