i need some help on exercises to hit my chest. I dont feel like i’m overly week in the pressing area but my shoulders and triceps take most of the work.
my incline and flat bench sets are only about 20lbs different.
same grip which i try to keep just a little outside shoulder width.
i try to go wider but hurts my shoulders… narrower really doesnt really effect the weight i can use but i can tell my tri’s are doing most of the work… again.
peck decks hit/hurt shoulders when enough weight is used.
dumbell fly’s gain hit shoulders and hurt.
i cant be the only one like this.
i remember in high school several slobs could out bench me but my chest’s apperance and rest of my physique killed theirs. my flat bench has always been behind for whatever reason.
flat bench last set might be around 245x4-5
incline bench last set around 230x4-5
seperate weeks ofcourse.
i’m about 215 lbs 6’2"
DL 405x3 for last set
front Squat 225x5 for last set(below parallel)
power clean 205x5 for last set
My shoulders hurt with a wide grip, they always have from the very first day I began training.
Solutions I have found by trial and error to help hit my chest have been;
DB bench press (inc/flat) - this allows me to rotate my wrists to around 45 degress between pronated and neutral - which eliminates shoudler discomfort for me.
Low incline BB bench - allows me to use a slightly wider grip than I can use on flat. I’m not entirely sure why this works for me, but maybe it’s worth you giving it a try.
Also… I only work in the bottom 2/3rd (roughly) of the ROM. Focuses on the chest and helps to take the delts/tris out of the movement.
I’m with Dave on the wide grip thing… if anything it takes more of my chest out of the movement, not into it.
I am also pretty shoulder and tricep dominant with many of my presses. I think you’re exercise selection is fine, but maybe you need to tweak your form just a bit.
You’re much taller than me, but something that really changed how my chest feels is really keeping my shoulder blades pinned back the whole movement. If my shoulders move too far in front of my chest while pressing, they take over. I keep my sternum up the whole time, even on the eccentric. This works well for flyes for me also.
[quote]Dave_ wrote:
My shoulders hurt with a wide grip, they always have from the very first day I began training.
Solutions I have found by trial and error to help hit my chest have been;
DB bench press (inc/flat) - this allows me to rotate my wrists to around 45 degress between pronated and neutral - which eliminates shoudler discomfort for me.
Low incline BB bench - allows me to use a slightly wider grip than I can use on flat. I’m not entirely sure why this works for me, but maybe it’s worth you giving it a try.
Also… I only work in the bottom 2/3rd (roughly) of the ROM. Focuses on the chest and helps to take the delts/tris out of the movement.[/quote]
I’ll second what Dave says above.
Also, make sure that when you perform any chest exercise (honestly pretty my any pressing exercise really) that you retract your shoulder blades (pinch them together behind your back) and keep them retracted throughout the entire exercise. If you let them roll forward off the bench, not only will your shoulders and triceps tend to take over, but it puts a lot more stress on the shoulder girdle musculature and increases the risk of injury.
Also, keep your arms at somewhere around a 45 degree angle from your torso (play around with it a little to find the right angle for you), not a 90 degree angle.
Together these two tips (applied to any of the above exercises) should make getting a full ROM easier (or at least comfortably get the bottom ROM) and help you focus on your chest to a greater degree.
You may have went to long going heavy on the bench. At leat heavy for you. (I don’t know) If you went over 6 months under at about a 5 rep max weight, you may have just tendonitis in the shoulders. LIGHTEN the weight ALOT go super high reps get blood flowing in the shoulders.
Maybe your shoulders are just week, or horrible ROM. Work on them.
YOu may just being a pussy. Is it a damaging pain or something you may just have to push through
Your back may be weak, work it.
I don’t think we know you enough to diagnose your shoulders but if you have problems with all benches and fly’s it’s something you want to look into correcting.
try floor presses with a fairly wide grip off pins. i just hate regular benching, its a pure tricep and shoulder exercise for me, but floor pressing takes the shuolders out for me
incline press with heavy weight doesnt bother my shoulder joints but i still feel like my shoulders and tri’s take oven though i’m trying to crack acorns between my shoulder blades, arching my back, and pushing my feet through the ground…
on flat bench where do you try to let the bar touch? i may be trying to let the bar touch to high up on my chest on flat bench and putting a lot of stress on my shoulders…
my range of motion is great in my shoulders. i can take a 3’ (cut down) broom handle hold it in front and lift it over my head and hit my ass with it with out letting go.
i always do several sets of light shoulder work before any chest exercises. (side & front raises, rotator cuff movement and range of motion/stretching movements)
i’m going to try some heavy decline stuff next time around and some more cable fly’s which seem to be the only thing that hit mostly my chest.
I like to use weighted dips. I seem to get a better feel with dips and do not get the shoulder pain that I get with benching. I have however, just started doing high incline bench for the upper chest area, works great. Again, weighted dips work my chest great. I use a power rack and adjust one side higher than the other. This gives me more ability to lean forward and get more focus on my chest and off my triceps. Now I reverse that if I am hitting triceps. Good luck.
[quote]ty_ty13 wrote:
i’m gonna ask again to make sure it didnt get lost in my last post.
where is the correct place for the bar to touch your chest on flat bench.[/quote]
Everyone will be different due to their chosen grip width, elbow path and upper arm length. I keep my elbows tucked to prevent shoulder pain so the bar hits my chest an inch or so below my pec line.
[quote]ty_ty13 wrote:
i’m gonna ask again to make sure it didnt get lost in my last post.
where is the correct place for the bar to touch your chest on flat bench.[/quote]
Everyone will be different due to their chosen grip width, elbow path and upper arm length. I keep my elbows tucked to prevent shoulder pain so the bar hits my chest an inch or so below my pec line.[/quote]
True.
Mine hits right around nipple height on the chest.
