Pecs

[freestyle18]

All,

Quick questions, when I work my pecs why do I always feel it, where my pec joins my shoulder? Do I have bad technique? How can I really hit the rest of the muscle? I have been doing incline, flat bench and I think they are called butterflies. The other thing is, why do my arms give out. Ever since I started to workout again, my arms feel very, very weak. When I bench or do dips, I am shaking like a loser, why is that. How should I get them back into shape for working out? Hopefully this is a common thing. Any help appreciated.

Nate

 

[Mudge]

I am the same way with arms, my shoulders and triceps get alot of workout from pressing movements. When you do flat benches where on the chest do you hit? Aim for nipples or 1" below.

Not everyone is going to have the same pressing genetics, I'm a little tall (I don't know my arm reach though) and have never been a great presser. There are rules to pressing though 'safely', and following this has helped take load off my shoulders which upped my bench slightly and also helped me to actually do barbell presses without hurting my shoulders constantly.

* Arch back slightly
* Feet on floor (is best to help maintain position)
* Pull shoulder blades in (takes load off shoulders)
* Bring arms in (takes awhile to get what this means), if you stick your elbows way out into outer space, this is putting the load on your shoulders not your chest
* To help bring the arms in, bring the bar down to approximately 1" below the nipples, this helps enable you to keep the arms close to alongside the body.
* Center the weight over your entire forearm, many people without noticing can end up using thier wrists to hold the weight, which can tire you out and also hurt the wrists when you start using heavier weights.

It took me about a week to understand all this and get used to it, but ever since I can do heavy barbell presses without hurting my shoulders, something I haven't been able to do in a long time. Before this I used the "dead fish technique", basically lying flat on the bench and sticking my elbows out more than I should, I had no idea.

I also like to use dumbells ALOT.

When you do declines, if you use nice slow deliberate reps (which I hope you do) then you can try to aim for the upper chest instead of below when lowering the bar, just 'listen' to how your shoulders feel about the situation. When you use slower reps you can drop the weight and still feel it plenty, another easy to way to work out regularly without getting injured!

At the last part of the rep though (the last 20% or so) my arms still take a beating, generally I don't fully lockout but I come close, try to keep tension on the pecs FEEL THEM and listen to them while doing this. I also find that dips blow the snot out of them, more than pressing. Try to stop a little short of lockout until your last rep of course, and see if that utilizes your chest more.

Remember not everyone is built the same, if your tall then its going to be different for you than a shorter person, or etc, insertion points and etc though play a role as well.

 

[Scotty the Body]

Good post Mudge, I've found that i hit my chest much better using DB over BB.
I also find using the DB, my shoulders don't seem to be holding me back as much.

 

[Mudge]

Yep, I really like dumbells, probably most especially for shoulders, I do NOT do barbell overheads anymore!

 

[NickB]

I cant seem to get my pecs worked out either, i feel them in the same place (where the pec meets the shoulder)

I dont understand how to get it in the rest. Ive tried getting someone to show me but i couldnt get it still, heh.

After the pec workout though, the next day or 2 i can poke my booby and it's sore everywhere, i just dont feel it during the workout.

 

[Mudge]

Then it is at least hitting the chest, when you work a muscle feel it being worked, in other words don't just go through the motions. This also helps to keep your form in check, instead of using ancilary muscles as much.

 

[NickB]

I *really* need to get fit, im trying. im not just going through the motions like some of the people at the gym.

 

[Mudge]

Some people are so oblivious that they do an excersize, and picture it hitting a totally different bodypart, some people are in touch, some aren't.

 

[Josh]

Freestyle, what Mudge describes above is correct. I too had a problem with improving my chest, but when I switched to using dbs and kept more strick form, I begin to feel improvements with my chest.

- Josh

 

[Mudge]

Using dumbells your forced to stabalize instead of the bar doing it for you, almost like doing a butterfly and press at the same time.

 

[SVB99]

I'm not getting sore after my pecs workout. Am I doing it incorrectly? The only workout I really get sore after is the triceps and maybe the shoulder one. other than that, I never feel soreness? Maybe I should do more DB stuff.

 

[Josh]

But do your chest grow, SVB? Because I understand soreness is not a prerequisite for growth. But in any case, I also did not feel any soreness after pecs workout, and I wondered about it as well because my chest did not grow at all. Then after asking and learning and trying, I switched to dbs (I always use dbs now and have not returned to bb so far) and tried to maintain strict form (see Mudge's description), and as a result now I almost always feel soreness the day after chest workout, and my chest grows. So my advise is simply use dbs and maintain strict form, it works for me, I think it should work for you as well.

- Josh

 

[Mudge]

SVB, I'm almost never sore, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.