hey guys i go on this site regularly but rarely ever contribute because of my lack of experience. i have only been lifting for a short time now but i have trouble keeping my gains due to sporatic diet habbits and lifting. im 18 and weigh about 140 at 5’8. id estimate about 15-17% body fat. i hear alot about training the muscle to hypertrophy in which you go to failure and should be really sore after wards.
i have been studying the form of the excersices on bodybuilding.com but i have trouble training my chest and my back (meaning i do not feel the muscles working much and they never fully fatigue). my bench is pathetically weak and my arms give out wayyyy before i can even feel it in my chest, it is the same if i do dumbell bench.
although i feel the dumb bell bench in my chest alot more but my arms give out alot faster so im never able to totally fatigue my chest and i feel like this nerve or vein thing accross my upper chest into my right shoulder that really starts to pinch, is that normal? i feel it adds to the reason why my arms give out so fast. can it be my grip?
also when i do the parralel bar dips i feel the same nerve pinching in my right shoulder, its really annoying as it doesnt let me blast my triceps fully so i rely on the tricep extension excersices. as for my diet while bulking i am planning to follow the anabolic diet as i really would like to keep the fat gain to a minimum as i am already skinny and cant even see my abs.
also i would like to add that when doing dips is it normal for my right shoulder to hurt? i feel it puts stress on it and my body sort of leans more to the right shoulder. the back also concerns me as i do not feel any of the excersices in my back much except the lower back extensions but thats lower, what is the best way to work on upper back and lats? i do the rows but again i feel my arms give out before my back is fatigued. should i try training with straps? or build up my grip first? i do not want to develop posture problems from an under developed back as christian thibadou puts in his article.
You need to learn just to bust your ass and eat. Eat/Eat/Eat/Eat/Train/Eat/Eat/Sleep/Repeat
As for the shoulder pain. You probably already have terrible posture, the pain appears to be in only your right shoulder, i would venture a guess that you are right handed, right? Use the search function and start reading about shoulder problems and how to fix them.
If your arms give out before your chest, then get stronger arms. Really prioritize your back work, rows, pull/chin ups; it may make a really big difference for your shoulder.
The biggest thing for you will be to learn to bust your ass in the gym, you will make newbie gains right away with the worst of programs. Just learn to eat good clean foods with adequate calories to grow and train like a mad man.
With chest benching ~ try pulling your elbows away from your body to focus more on the chest, or bring it in to load it onto the tricep for power/strength. Depends on what your trying to ~
Grab the bar and pull yourself off the bench by 2-5 inches and tuck your shoulder blades together and lie back down with the shoulder blades tucked together.
Then expand your chest and ribcage, keep it expanded, tuck your chin.
Begin lifting ~
if you want to feel it more in your chest.
Also recommend decline or flat dumbell flyes for 2-3 sets to warmup, or pecdec ~ blood flushing.
If you are holding your elbows as close to your body as possible then the load is shifted over and the emphasis on power/strength is the focus as you will be recruiting more bodyparts and asking less of your chest to a certain degree.
Also if you want to maintain tension on your chest, do not lockout your elbows. Stop just short and make sure to slow down the eccentric portion +1 second or 2.
Try machine dips and note if there is still pain ~
Your shoulder pain is probably your rotator cuff.
When you bench, do not make your UPPER ARMS PERPENDICULAR TO YOUR BODY. You can easily get injured. Instead, bring them in, but not all the way, just about halfway. On the lift, you are probably using your arms to lift the weight, instead use your chest. It takes practice, but you will get used to it.
Keep training hard.
Since you have untrained muscles, don’t worry about going heavy yet. For at least a week or two, go higher reps and go slower until you get the feel for how the exercises work. A good method is trying to flex your muscle at the end of the movement. Also, use dumbbells on any exercises that you can. Your goal, to learn muscle control and proper form. It’s not a bad idea to get a good trainer to walk you through a week or two.
Form comes first, otherwise you’re opening yourself up to injury and a whole lot of wasted effort.
Someone mentioned that you might have weak arms since they’re giving out. I think what’s more likely is that you’re using your arms only and not your chest.