Pectoral Advice...

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

Hi All! I’ve been lurking in the forums reading for quite some time now, but I have been fairly silent, working on the old adage that if you don’t know what you’re talking about, shut-up, and go lift more weights.

Having read so much good advice on here, I wonder if anyone would be able to offer me some on a problem I am having with my workouts. Mainly, I have a major problem with pectoral strength (it seems to be a genetic flaw), and it leaves my bench fairly unbalanced.

I realize that I could just keep benching and eventually the problem will rectify itself, but I was wondering if there is anything I could do to help kick them into working harder.

Lately, I have been trying to pre-exhaust my shoulders through overheads and pushpress before I bench, but I’m not sure if I’m helping things, or screwing myself over by lowering the top-end lifts of my bench (my shoulders and triceps are too pooched to push at 80-85% after pre-exhaustion)

Any thoughts, guys?

For the record, I’m 25, 6’, and 220lbs. I focus mostly on legs, which has given me a 405 squat and a 385 DL, but have a shitty little 225lb bench (I know, I know…I’m a wimp)

I do everything raw, though I have been considering buying a belt for my top end squats, and I train with power-lifting in mind, rather than body-building (translation: I have a gut )

Thanks guys, and keep up the great advice!

2

DB work.

Work in paused pressing a nice long pause on the chest before the press this will take away the stretch reflex.

decline work

above all your size. you just need to invest the time and work and keep pressing. At this point no huge factor or special technique magic answer you just need to get stronger.

Phill

3

Thanks for the advice, Phill. I figured the general idea would be to lift more weights. That’s the simplicity I love about weight-lifting. Maybe I just need to spend as much time on my chest in the next six months that I have on my legs for last six…

I’ll give the DB work a try and see if that helps me get everything firing. I will also try to rotate in some decline work, as it doesn’t usually make it into my workout.

Sean

4

[quote]vulcan500rider wrote:
Thanks for the advice, Phill. I figured the general idea would be to lift more weights. That’s the simplicity I love about weight-lifting. Maybe I just need to spend as much time on my chest in the next six months that I have on my legs for last six…

Sean[/quote]

That’s probably true. Anyway, I’m just spitballin’ here, but I don’t think pre-exhaust for your shoulders is going to work very well. Typically if you pre-exhaust something, it’s the muscle you’re trying to get to grow or specialize in. If you decide to do that, exhaust the pecs since they’re weak, not the shoulders/tris. I’m not a big fan of the method, but other people seem to like it and get good results.

CT has said before if you’re lacking in the chest, one of the many things you can do is to switch to decline bench instead of other variations, to limit shoulder activation

5

Are you sure it’s the pec strength that is lacking? Bench press involve the triceps a lot, could it be that the triceps need some extra work?

Where’s your sticking point?

The sticking point usually give some indication on what muscles that are the weakest in the chain.

I’m no expert so some more experienced in PLing might disagree (please correct me if I’m wrong) but in general if the bar get stuck on the chest or just above-pec need work or lat’s not used (could also be too much weight). Just above previous point- shoulders and if stuck at top, lock-out, it’s usually triceps that’s “weak”.

Claes

6

what are your goals???

7

bench used to be my weakest lift and would avoid it like the plague. I found that once I learned to bench properly my strength jumped. when you bench do you flare your elbows out? if so you are overworking the shoulders and not utilizing the best leverages.

Learn to tuck the elbows and bring the bar low on the chest. learn to use your legs, keep a tight arch and find the proper hand placement for your body.

you didn’t mention where your sticking point is but there are many muscle groups involved in a bench- lats, shoulders, upperback, triceps, biceps and pecs. the legs are also involved.

learn proper form and work the accessory muscles.

meat

8

Wow. Thanks for all the responses.

My sticking point tends to be about 3 inches above my chest. It comes off my chest well, but then stops like I hit a wall. If my spotter can bring it up another 3 inches or so, I can lock it out without a problem…

I figured pecs both for that reason, and for the fact that I do reasonably well at overhead lifts (ratio-wise) It also makes sense with my bodytype, as I have good sized shoulders, OK triceps (though they could still use some work, of course) and a fairly non-existent chest, which is a little odd for a 220lber, I think.

I think my technique is OK. I keep my elbows in toward my body and think of it like a circular rotation (I think of a train wheel idea - lever attached to a circle) Slow on the down, hit it hard going up, maintain negative arch and keep my hips on the bench.

As for goals, I think I’m going to try to get more time in the gym, for starters. I typically make it two-three times a week, and if I only get two, they’re both legs. I realize I should be balancing the two out, but after training fairly half-assed (missing multiple weeks at a time, going once a week, all that stupidity) for a couple of years I decided to get more serious, and started with legs. In the last 5-6 months, I’ve gone from a 315 squat just above parallel to an ATG squat at 405.

As for numbers, I’d like to see myself go from 225bp/405sq/385DL to maybe 275bp/455sq/415DL six months down the road. I think all of that should be fairly achievable, and I would hope that once I get up to 275, my strength will have started to round out a little better.

9

I don’t think you need any special training techniques or exercizes. Your barely benching your own body weight you just need some more time under the bar, on a consistant basis!

If leg training motivates you to go to the gym maybe try a full body routine, then you can keep hitting your legs often as well as the rest of your body.

10

Floor presses, especially with dumbbells for reps, have been really good for my chest. I really feel it in the pectoral muscles and they can help with that sticking point 3" off your chest too. Also, pausing on the chest for 2-3 seconds while rep benching will help with that starting strength. Consider a wider grip to help put the focus more on the pecs and less on the tri’s.

11

Thanks for the ideas Thor. I think I may throw in some dumbell work when I do legs tonight, and then do a full bench workout tomorrow. I’m not sure how well my shoulders and triceps will deal with it, but I’ll see how it goes.

If it works out well, I may well take your advice JNeves, and throw a little bit of chest in on every leg day, and then focus on chest the day after each leg day. I’ll also try to keep a general log in here to note what seems to be working (just in case someone else has the same problem)

Thanks to all, and I guess I better go finish my paper so I can get my ass to the gym tonight.

12

1 Board press and Dynamic effort benching, but most important is getting strong all around.

13

Just a quick thanks again for the advice. I haven’t had a full bench day yet, but I did DB bench superset with my good mornings after I finished squats, and I got WAY more pectoral recruitment out of it than with regular bench. My triceps and shoulders seem to believe the workout never happened, but my pecs already hurt. Looks like I have a new exercise to throw in at the end of my leg days…

14

well genetically my pecs grow and increase in strength pretty rapidly. When i was in a little rut of imbalance in my form i just did one arm bench press. I hardly see anyone doing it that much but it works your core and lats for stabilization