Proper form for chest, with NO delt use

[y2gt]

Hey all-

This is screwing up my gains lately. I CAN NOT for the life of me do chest exercises without burning the S#it out of my anterior deltoids. (Pic below).

I decided to take a week off of doing chest/shoulders so they can recover fully. I tried chest again after the week off and they still get hit too much. What can i do to stop this?

One example: If your doing flat bench press, do you keep the bar below your nipples, at the nips, or at shoulder level?

Should I stop doing chest/shoulders on same day? Right now, my routine has been:
Sun-off
Mon-chest/shoulders
tues-off
wed-legs/abs
thrs-off
fri-back
sat-arms

 

[HoldDaMayo]

what about doing more decline bench? I like to do 3 sets of each, incline, decline and flat bench when i do chest...

In response to bench form, have you tried adjusting your grip to a narrower position?

 

[Mudge]

Delts come into play with presses, period. Check the sig for proper bench form, my shoulders have been thanking me for some time.

 

[Arnold]

try dumbbell flyes.

 

[djrx06]

Delts are hit regardless. They are incorporated in the Press Movement.

You probably have overworked your shoulders if you have been doing the spilt you have mentioned for a long time. Try a different split where you do your shoulders on a different day and see if that helps you out,

 

[y2gt]

I like this split, but I will change it around if need be.
How 'bout:

sun-off
mon-chest/bi's
tues-back/tri's
wed-off
thrs-legs/abs
fri-shoulders/traps
sat-off

Thanks mudge for the bench form article

 

[neanderthal]

i used to have the same problem. try pinching your shoulder blades together when your doin your chest exercises. granted this wont take all the stress off your delts, but it will defifnitly shift alot of it onto your pecs. you may have to lower the weight just a little bit too

 

[Tha Don]

Originally posted by y2gt
I like this split, but I will change it around if need be.
How 'bout:

sun-off
mon-chest/bi's
tues-back/tri's
wed-off
thrs-legs/abs
fri-shoulders/traps
sat-off

that looks like a far better split to me

i wouldn't do chest/shoulders same day, splitting them up will mean bigger lifts and should lead to better progress on both parts

 

[Flex]

Originally posted by neanderthal
i used to have the same problem. try pinching your shoulder blades together when your doin your chest exercises. granted this wont take all the stress off your delts, but it will defifnitly shift alot of it onto your pecs. you may have to lower the weight just a little bit too

my thoughts exactly. pinch your blades back as far as possible throughout the lift. make sure you focus on squeezing your chest, don't just push the bar. get that whole mind to muscle think down...

 

[Skib]

Originally posted by y2gt
I like this split, but I will change it around if need be.
How 'bout:

sun-off
mon-chest/bi's
tues-back/tri's
wed-off
thrs-legs/abs
fri-shoulders/traps
sat-off

Thanks mudge for the bench form article

that's my exact split except i work my tri's on my chest days and my bi's on my back days... makes more sense to me...

i think the key factor to keep in mind is to leave at least a 2-3 day gap in between training your chest and shoulders otherwise you'll experience tremdendous fatigue when you go to work your chest after shoulders or shoulders after chest and won't be able to hit one of the muscle groups as hard as you would if you were to take a few days rest in between...

 

[JerseyDevil]

Originally posted by neanderthal
i used to have the same problem. try pinching your shoulder blades together when your doin your chest exercises. granted this wont take all the stress off your delts, but it will defifnitly shift alot of it onto your pecs. you may have to lower the weight just a little bit too

Ditto. The biggest improvement I've made in bench technique, both in taking stress off the front delts, and in weight, was to pinch the shoulders as you describe (which helps create a slightly exaggerated arch). I also used to have my elbows flared outwards, now I bring them in some towards my sides. These two things really helped take the pressure off my delts, and like you said, places a lot more emphasis on the pecs

 

[y2gt]

thanks guys. I'll try pinching like you all said. I'm gonna try this new split for a while too. later.

 

[Freeman]

Originally posted by Skib
that's my exact split except i work my tri's on my chest days and my bi's on my back days... makes more sense to me...

i think the key factor to keep in mind is to leave at least a 2-3 day gap in between training your chest and shoulders otherwise you'll experience tremdendous fatigue when you go to work your chest after shoulders or shoulders after chest and won't be able to hit one of the muscle groups as hard as you would if you were to take a few days rest in between...

I never understood doing tris on chest day or bis on back day. I used to do it when I first started lifting cuz someone suggested it, and I didn't know jack. But, I find that if I do tris after chest (or bis after back) they are already spent for the most part and I can't do as much weight as I normally would. For example, when I do overhead DB extensions for tries, I start out with 90lbs or 100lbs DBs. Now, if I do these after chest, I have to start with 80s, and THAT is a struggle. Just MO.

 

[y2gt]

Originally posted by Freeman
I never understood doing tris on chest day or bis on back day......

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Mudge]

Because they are already warmed up, I have done that in the past. Right now back day is such a bitch that frankly I would fear injury doing biceps on the same day.