Form question on chest press

[kittykat]

Hi Cathe,
I've been doing your S and H series the past 2 weeks and am really enjoying them. I split them up and do 1/2 a tape each day with 1/2 hour interval training.
I have 2 questions.1. Am I doing something wrong form wise in the chest press, I try to follow you but I feel it more in my arms and wrists. I use 15 - 20 lb dumbells. Now 1/2 hour after workout my arms are still really weak feeling. Although the next day my chest is usually a bit sore.
2.I never get a burn, except when I do ab work. My muscle just quits and fails to work. No burn as so many people refer to. I feel heat but not like a lactic acid burn like during abwork. Should I feel a burn? thanks, kitty

 

[jgoycoolea]

Trying to answer question 1. Let me step back a bit:

People have written to Cathe that their arms get really tired or sore when doing planks; they can't keep going with the planks because of their arms. Cathe said that because their core is not so strong, they may be compensating with their arms. She said that as the core gets stronger it will pick up more of the work from the arms.

MAYBE: Maybe the same thing is going on with your "arms" and chest work. Have you tried going a little lighter?

OR, MAYBE: You don't specify which part of your arms are sore. But just holding a heavy dumbbell requires your forearms to contract. Maybe with a chest press--and dumbbells over your body--you are squeezing the bar particularly tight so as not to drop it. As your grip strenght increases, arm soreness may go away.

(I just LOVE weight training and all its issues!!!!!!)

Jeanne

 

[jgoycoolea]

Trying to answer question 2:

I don't think a "burn" is a requirement or reliable indicator of a good or effective workout.

Jeanne

 

[Connie1]

On another thread I read that the chest area is one of the muscle groups less likely to experience soreness due to lactic acid buildup, so if that's the case, it sounds like you're normal.
-Connie

 

[jgoycoolea]

I recently posted in "Open Discussion" that I heard somewhere that the chest is MORE likely to get sore due to lactic acid build up. Jeanne

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Kitty! You sound like you are doing everything correctly. 15 to 20 pound dumbbells is a lot of weight for a slow tempo of this nature and because of this your hand may be squeezing extra hard to hold on to the weight in order not to drop that dumbbell during those slow flys. That would also be why your wrists would be sore.

For flat bench presses, be sure that your wrist is not collapsed back but rather upright so that your forearm and hand are parallel to one another.

Good Luck!

 

[kathryn]

Kitty,
Just some thoughts. As I was doing my chest work last night, I thought of you, and some other reasons why your tricps and shoulders may feel the chest press more than your chest:
Triceps: If you have your hands in too close together, this becomes more of a triceps move. Make sure that your forearms are parallel (ie: your hands are not pointing in) at the bottom of the move.
Shoulders: If you dip the elbows lower on the bottom, you will engage more of the front shoulder. Make sure that your elbows don't go below the level of your bench at the bottom of the move. You may want to use a mirror beside you and take a quick peek during your first rep to see if they are going too low.