When you do a lift, for example incline bench press, and you don’t feel your triceps (for example), does that mean your triceps ARE NOT WORKING?
So if during a lift a muscle doesn’t get pumped or you don’t feel the muscle AT ALL, does that mean that one particular muscle isn’t working, even though its biomechanical function is ‘fulfilled’ (by this I mean, for instance, triceps extend the arm. So you extend the arm and the triceps are supposed to work because they extend the arm)
So by analogy, it doesn’t matter how you perform a bench press, if you extend the arm then the triceps DO WORK NO MATTER WHAT?
If you do not feel your tricep at all you should stop what you are doing and make sure your arm is still there. If you still have an arm you are ready to begin pump time.
Dude I was asking because whenever I do bench presses I feel my biceps instead of triceps… srsly I do feel my chest but not my triceps but my biceps… I’m just confused, my chest gets a phenomenal pump though
Until then, isn’t it because my biceps are very weak? I try to think of it like this: I can’t curl 100 pounds with strict form, however, I bench my bodyweight (140 pounds) multiple times (not trying to show off LOL I couldn’t anyway) so what I’m saying is, this is a whole lot more than I can lift with my biceps only, right? So may that’s why I feel my biceps, not my triceps, no?
I know right, that’s why I ask… so basically I should feel my triceps not my biceps, and that’s exactly what I asked, it shouldn’t matter how I do bench presses or incline presses as long as I extend the arm, no?
A lack of pump does not mean the muscle is not working. It’s impossible for you to extend your arm without your triceps working. A lot of people will get significantly bigger and stronger without ever getting a pump.
You will never, ever be able to curl as much as you can bench. So by your logic, every single person should feel their biceps significantly when they bench because they’re benching more then they can lift with only their biceps. Also by that logic, every muscle in your whole upper body should be extremely pumped during a bench press, because you’re lifting more then any one individual muscle can lift.
If you really want to feel your triceps when you bench (which honestly, few people TRY to do), then do some rope pushdowns or something beforehand and focus on getting a pump there. Then go bench. You’ll feel your triceps.
One more question: When people say ‘pull the bar apart’, do they mean ‘grip it as hard as you can’?
Also, if it means trying to move your hands towards the ends of the bar, do you have any tips how I could FORCE myself to do it? I don’t have an elastic band I could do that with
Pulling the bar apart is trying to literally pull the bar apart. Pushing your hands to the ends of the bar.
To force yourself to do it, have some mental fortitude and constantly remind yourself to do it for every rep of every warmup, and during your work sets.
There is only one reason I can think of. You have short arms. You’re gripping the bar excessively wide. Your biceps are pumped from supporting the weight at that angle. Your tricep are minimally recruited until the last few inches at the top and thats why you only feel your chest.
Either that or you are a mutant and i humbly request advance tickets for the new x-men movie.
I would say just focus on pulling the bar apart mentally. Don’t worry about bands. This cue has been around for much longer than bands have been popular, and people have been able to successfully use the cue before.
If you have bands and really want to try it out, go for it. They’re not a necessity though.
[quote]GetBigs wrote:
Until then, isn’t it because my biceps are very weak? I try to think of it like this: I can’t curl 100 pounds with strict form, however, I bench my bodyweight (140 pounds) multiple times…[/quote]
This doesn’t mean much. I can bench at least 2 times what I can curl with strict form. Probably closer to three times what I can curl with strict form, actually.
Once you get that vid up, hopefully someone will be able to help, or maybe you’ll just be able to watch yourself compared to a good bench video and see how you look. Many of us “think” our form is a lot better than it is until we see ourselves on video.
[quote]dt79 wrote:
There is only one reason I can think of. You have short arms. You’re gripping the bar excessively wide. Your biceps are pumped from supporting the weight at that angle. Your tricep are minimally recruited until the last few inches at the top and thats why you only feel your chest.
Either that or you are a mutant and i humbly request advance tickets for the new x-men movie.[/quote]
My arms are 22.8 in long, measured from shoulder (bicep/front delt tie-in) to middle finger. This is considered short, right? Thanks!
staystrong: I can’t. Whenever I do, my biceps get pumped, and I can’t do it on the concentric, only on the eccentric. I’ll try it with a band. Thanks!