I guess I am one of those people that when I bench press my delts and tri’s take most of the load and I rarely see or feel anything in my pecs. Would it be advisable to drop the bench press for a while and concentrate on perhaps flys or some other movement to bring up the strength of my pecs so they can compete??
[quote]steven alex wrote:
I guess I am one of those people that when I bench press my delts and tri’s take most of the load and I rarely see or feel anything in my pecs. Would it be advisable to drop the bench press for a while and concentrate on perhaps flys or some other movement to bring up the strength of my pecs so they can compete?[/quote]
Including flyes couldn’t hurt, however I think you should still keep pressing. There is a technique to use whilst benching with increases pec recruitment; you simply push your hands together whilst holding the bar and pressing upwards (don’t actually move your hands, just exert some force inwards). Thib did an article on this if memory serves.
Hope this helps
I found working my shoulder rotators really helped get by bench up. That and using a semi-supinated grip on all dumbbell motions.
Flys i find are more of a end of a workout movement and have a higher degree of risk as compared to benching.
Keep your bench press because it’s a great and basic compound movement, but instead of doing them in an ordinary manner, pre-fatigue your chest with flyes before doing your presses. In essence, you’re training your chest more than your triceps and delts in the same set. I did a similar thing for my lats because I had a similar problem to yours, and it worked great.
[quote]steven alex wrote:
I guess I am one of those people that when I bench press my delts and tri’s take most of the load and I rarely see or feel anything in my pecs. Would it be advisable to drop the bench press for a while and concentrate on perhaps flys or some other movement to bring up the strength of my pecs so they can compete?[/quote]
Your grip is too close, end of story. You’ll get a lot more benefit from widening your grip.
[quote]Zero_Z wrote:
steven alex wrote:
I guess I am one of those people that when I bench press my delts and tri’s take most of the load and I rarely see or feel anything in my pecs. Would it be advisable to drop the bench press for a while and concentrate on perhaps flys or some other movement to bring up the strength of my pecs so they can compete?
Your grip is too close, end of story. You’ll get a lot more benefit from widening your grip.
[/quote]
Wow, good analysis. I mean, it could be any number of things, but I like how you assumed the simplest possible explanation. If he knows where to put his hands, though, your comment is dismissive and unhelpful.
I had a similar problem that I just overcame a few weeks ago. I found “squeezing” my hands together (as someone else recommended) was helpful, but impossible with any weight I struggled with. So, I dropped down to just the bar for a while.
I also pre-fatigued my chest with flyes before every set. That’s really all it took for me. It was embarrassing benching the bar for my workout, and it sucked feeling like I wasn’t making progress, but I guess you have to learn to keep the ego in check at some point.
Thanks guys some excellent answers there and a few good things to try.
I had similar problems, my delt and tris just overtook the pecs. Currently, I start with inclines, simply because I feel a good stretch in my pecs, and even though I go fairly heavy, I never lock out (try to keep continuous tension on the chest).
Then I do flyes or cables , lastly doing flat, thus ensuring I’m pre-fatigued to some extent, and incampable to really heavy weight (so I don;'t worry about the number, only getting the stimulation). I then really focus again on continuous tension, non-lockouts, and I think this has helped a lot lately, as I’ve never been a big-chested guy, but have good overall pec development, top to bottom, and getting quite rounded if I say so myself -lol
Just my 2 cents 
STu
[quote]Aleksandr wrote:
Zero_Z wrote:
steven alex wrote:
I guess I am one of those people that when I bench press my delts and tri’s take most of the load and I rarely see or feel anything in my pecs. Would it be advisable to drop the bench press for a while and concentrate on perhaps flys or some other movement to bring up the strength of my pecs so they can compete?
Your grip is too close, end of story. You’ll get a lot more benefit from widening your grip.
Wow, good analysis. I mean, it could be any number of things, but I like how you assumed the simplest possible explanation. If he knows where to put his hands, though, your comment is dismissive and unhelpful.
I had a similar problem that I just overcame a few weeks ago. I found “squeezing” my hands together (as someone else recommended) was helpful, but impossible with any weight I struggled with. So, I dropped down to just the bar for a while.
I also pre-fatigued my chest with flyes before every set. That’s really all it took for me. It was embarrassing benching the bar for my workout, and it sucked feeling like I wasn’t making progress, but I guess you have to learn to keep the ego in check at some point.
[/quote]
Wow, douchebag much? He gave a good answer. Most experienced trainers will tell you the same thing: traditional flat bench presses are shitty pec movements. Frank Gironda listed this as one of the things bodybuilders did wrong. Using a wider grip-sometimes called the Gironda Press- will cause less involvement of the deltoids and triceps and will affect the pectoral muscles more.
If he knew where to put his hands, chances are, he wouldnt be feeling it mainly in his shoulders and tri’s but rather in his pecs. Its called reading into the context.
All the of the pre fatique mind muscle coonection bullshit in the world wont turn a deadlift into a squat, and it works the same way for the traditional bench press as the pecs are only marginally activated.
I had trouble stimulating the chest before. I found the best way to work the chest, rather than tris/shoulders is to focus on almost squeezing the chest during benching. At first you might not have great strength, but it pays off.
After a week or two of your chest hurting like a bitch, you’ll be able to recruit your chest more, which has given me more strength, have less shoulder pain (if you have it), and you’ll barely feel your triceps during your chest workout.
I know where you’re coming from, my tris used to be super pumped after a chest day, but my chest only had a mild pump.
I also was reading one of prof. x’s post saying about splitting upper and lower chest and gave it a try. This has seemed to fill out my chest a little more as well as help recruit more fibers. As well, I was reading some posters have used post-exhaustive 15 - 20 rep sets, on the pec deck, to really recruit fibers at the end and exhaust the chest. I’ve found this also works in helping recruit the pectoralis fibers.
[quote]steven alex wrote:
I guess I am one of those people that when I bench press my delts and tri’s take most of the load and I rarely see or feel anything in my pecs. Would it be advisable to drop the bench press for a while and concentrate on perhaps flys or some other movement to bring up the strength of my pecs so they can compete?[/quote]
I’m assuming that you are doing barbell bench presses, if so try using dumbbells. In my experience these work best for developing the pecs with flat and inclined pressing movements.
[quote]fightingtiger wrote:
Aleksandr wrote:
Zero_Z wrote:
steven alex wrote:
I guess I am one of those people that when I bench press my delts and tri’s take most of the load and I rarely see or feel anything in my pecs. Would it be advisable to drop the bench press for a while and concentrate on perhaps flys or some other movement to bring up the strength of my pecs so they can compete?
Your grip is too close, end of story. You’ll get a lot more benefit from widening your grip.
Wow, good analysis. I mean, it could be any number of things, but I like how you assumed the simplest possible explanation. If he knows where to put his hands, though, your comment is dismissive and unhelpful.
I had a similar problem that I just overcame a few weeks ago. I found “squeezing” my hands together (as someone else recommended) was helpful, but impossible with any weight I struggled with. So, I dropped down to just the bar for a while.
I also pre-fatigued my chest with flyes before every set. That’s really all it took for me. It was embarrassing benching the bar for my workout, and it sucked feeling like I wasn’t making progress, but I guess you have to learn to keep the ego in check at some point.
Wow, douchebag much? He gave a good answer. Most experienced trainers will tell you the same thing: traditional flat bench presses are shitty pec movements. Frank Gironda listed this as one of the things bodybuilders did wrong. Using a wider grip-sometimes called the Gironda Press- will cause less involvement of the deltoids and triceps and will affect the pectoral muscles more.
If he knew where to put his hands, chances are, he wouldnt be feeling it mainly in his shoulders and tri’s but rather in his pecs. Its called reading into the context.
All the of the pre fatique mind muscle coonection bullshit in the world wont turn a deadlift into a squat, and it works the same way for the traditional bench press as the pecs are only marginally activated.[/quote]
Yeah, Gironda was going somewhere with that. He didn’t allow regular bench presses done in his gym. He wanted his pupils to do neck presses, a bench press wherein you lower your bar just below your neck. You’ll decrease the weight a lot, but it will isolate the pecs. I tried this, and I felt it a lot more in my chest than anywhere else. I love the feeling and the results it gives me.
I disagree with your pre-fatigue claim. Like Gironda’s neck press, it works. I personally used this method, and I know other people who did as well, and we all had success in correcting our problem areas. I’ve never known anyone who didn’t get this benefit from pre-fatigue.
[quote]undeadlift wrote:
fightingtiger wrote:
Aleksandr wrote:
Zero_Z wrote:
steven alex wrote:
I guess I am one of those people that when I bench press my delts and tri’s take most of the load and I rarely see or feel anything in my pecs. Would it be advisable to drop the bench press for a while and concentrate on perhaps flys or some other movement to bring up the strength of my pecs so they can compete?
Your grip is too close, end of story. You’ll get a lot more benefit from widening your grip.
Wow, good analysis. I mean, it could be any number of things, but I like how you assumed the simplest possible explanation. If he knows where to put his hands, though, your comment is dismissive and unhelpful.
I had a similar problem that I just overcame a few weeks ago. I found “squeezing” my hands together (as someone else recommended) was helpful, but impossible with any weight I struggled with. So, I dropped down to just the bar for a while.
I also pre-fatigued my chest with flyes before every set. That’s really all it took for me. It was embarrassing benching the bar for my workout, and it sucked feeling like I wasn’t making progress, but I guess you have to learn to keep the ego in check at some point.
Wow, douchebag much? He gave a good answer. Most experienced trainers will tell you the same thing: traditional flat bench presses are shitty pec movements. Frank Gironda listed this as one of the things bodybuilders did wrong. Using a wider grip-sometimes called the Gironda Press- will cause less involvement of the deltoids and triceps and will affect the pectoral muscles more.
If he knew where to put his hands, chances are, he wouldnt be feeling it mainly in his shoulders and tri’s but rather in his pecs. Its called reading into the context.
All the of the pre fatique mind muscle coonection bullshit in the world wont turn a deadlift into a squat, and it works the same way for the traditional bench press as the pecs are only marginally activated.
Yeah, Gironda was going somewhere with that. He didn’t allow regular bench presses done in his gym. He wanted his pupils to do neck presses, a bench press wherein you lower your bar just below your neck. You’ll decrease the weight a lot, but it will isolate the pecs. I tried this, and I felt it a lot more in my chest than anywhere else. I love the feeling and the results it gives me.
I disagree with your pre-fatigue claim. Like Gironda’s neck press, it works. I personally used this method, and I know other people who did as well, and we all had success in correcting our problem areas. I’ve never known anyone who didn’t get this benefit from pre-fatigue.[/quote]
Im not saying pre-fatigue methods dont work, but that all of the fancy shit in the world isnt going to make a shitty chest exercise into a good chest exercise.
And another thing. No offense or anything, but at your weight, I dont think you should be talking about “correcting problem areas” or “what really worked well for me”.
Peck deck for a few light sets of 15-25, then your chest will be so pumped that recruiting it in the bench won’t be a problem.
is the Gironda Press possibly what killed that hs football player last week?
A little off-topic, but: How’s it with DB bench? You can’t really use a wider grip there, so what do you do with those suckers to recruit mostly pecs? (Anything besides tucking shoulders in and arching the back)
[quote]Airtruth wrote:
is the Gironda Press possibly what killed that hs football player last week?[/quote]
Being dumb is what killed that football player.
sorry if this was already said i just glanced through the other posts… but have u tried pre-fatigue with the squeeze press? Squeeze press helps isolate a different portion of the pec as opposed to flies… maybe u would want to switch back and forth
[quote]fightingtiger wrote:
Im not saying pre-fatigue methods dont work, but that all of the fancy shit in the world isnt going to make a shitty chest exercise into a good chest exercise.
And another thing. No offense or anything, but at your weight, I dont think you should be talking about “correcting problem areas” or “what really worked well for me”.[/quote]
I don’t see why my weight should change the fact that a lot of people I know benefited from pre-fatigue.
[quote]undeadlift wrote:
I don’t see why my weight should change the fact that a lot of people I know benefited from pre-fatigue.[/quote]
What does your weight have to do with it? Remember this?
[quote]undeadlift wrote:
I did a similar thing for my lats because I had a similar problem to yours, and it worked great.[/quote]
And this?
[quote]undeadlift wrote:
You’ll decrease the weight a lot, but it will isolate the pecs. I tried this, and I felt it a lot more in my chest than anywhere else. I love the feeling and the results it gives me.
I disagree with your pre-fatigue claim. Like Gironda’s neck press, it works. I personally used this method, and I know other people who did as well, and we all had success in correcting our problem areas. I’ve never known anyone who didn’t get this benefit from pre-fatigue.[/quote]
You weigh 145 lbs. You do not have �??problem areas�?? nor do you have �??strong areas�??. You posted in another thread about going on a cutting phase. At 145 lbs, you haven�??t figured out what works for you yet, let alone for other people.
I am tired of seeing 140-150 lbs armchair bodybuilders tell others how to really �??blast their chest/arms/lats, etc�?? when they themselves weigh little more than the average household pet. Im not saying that trainers and experts have to be jacked themselves, but a 145 lb teenager acting as a trainer makes about as much sense as an alcoholic acting like a life coach.