Bench Press not helping

[umop_3plsdn]

Hi,
I've been doing lots of bench press to help develop
my chest muscle... the attempts were in vain.

Everytime, instead of my chest feeling sore, my arms does...

what am I doing wrong???

 

[don_juan_20]

Try spreading your arms out more. Sometimes doing flys before benchpresses can help. Make sure your elbow are bent though and I don't go all the way down, when doing flys.

 

[NMMWCR]

Its most likely either your form or not enough weight.

It is possible that your arms just aren't strong enough yet? Are you a skinny bastard with 12" arms?

It won't hurt you at all do bench with very close and again very wide grips to target tris and chest seperately.

 

[Cremasta]

Like a lot of people, for you the benchpress is probably targetting your front delts.

Use non-compound exercises to target your chest better. Good ones are dumbell flyes and cable crossovers.

 

[NMMWCR]

Originally posted by Cremasta
Like a lot of people, for you the benchpress is probably targetting your front delts.

Use non-compound exercises to target your chest better. Good ones are dumbell flyes and cable crossovers.

If the bench press hits mostly the delts, you need to work on pinching your shoulders back and together. The bench press isn't just laying under the bar and pushing. It's how you push that matters.

 

[WORKEROUTER]

Originally posted by umop_3plsdn
Hi,
I've been doing lots of bench press to help develop
my chest muscle... the attempts were in vain.

Everytime, instead of my chest feeling sore, my arms does...

what am I doing wrong???

use my chest routine:

4 sets flatbench
4 sets incline bench
2 sets decline bench
2 sets cable rows

focus on your chest with each of these exercises..when you actually focus to where you wana target the pressure you learn the motion that should be done to hit that muscle group.

 

[Army_of_One]

You might be doing too many reps and in all actuallity targeting your triceps and delts even more than your chest.

Since you sound like your just starting out I recommend using light dumbells and practice on the full contraction of the exercise as well as your form. Make sure you aren't just bouncing the Barbell off your chest. Dumbells prevent you from doing this. Try dumbells and write back to let me know how it worked

 

[umop_3plsdn]

Thnx guys, I use dumbells and see how it works out...

One more thing -- I was thinking... the purpose of
doing these exercise is to "tear" your muscles and let them "rebuild" thus making them stronger

So; wouldn't beating the muscle (like punching it or hitting it till it hurts) helps develop more muscle?

Just wondering

 

[MongooseDog]

Tearing the muscle and letting it grow back?!?! Nooooooo!!!! The purpose of it is to build new muscle, not let it get damaged and rebuild itself! I cannot see how tearing the muscle would help at all in strength training!! But...What do I know.~Craig~

 

[Army_of_One]

Mongoose,

You are obviously just starting which is good. Congrats on starting a program. Most people sit their a$$ on the couch and say they will start but never do.

But you don't know much about muscle physiology. The purpose of breaking down the fibers is to rebuild them through proper rest and nutrition. It sounds like you'd be hurting yourself but if you work at a high intensity and then give the muscle group about 4-7 days to rebuild you will get stronger and bigger.

Good Luck

 

[Bonhomme]

Too light and/or no variety?

You might not be using heavy enough weight.

Also, try varying your exercises. When your body gets acclimated to a routine, it loses its effectiveness.

 

[MongooseDog]

Army: Yep, you're right, and thank you for correcting my incorrect statement! I don't claim to know much about muscle physiology, but I intend on studying up! Sorry for the mix up!~Craig~

 

[Shiftkey]

You're probably going down too far. Try going down far enough so that your arms are at a 90 degree angle instead of making the bar hit your chest.

 

[DIESEL]

Originally posted by umop_3plsdn
Hi,
I've been doing lots of bench press to help develop
my chest muscle... the attempts were in vain.

what does "lots" of bench press mean?

please post your routine.

also, you sound like one of those newbies who expects to get Arnold's pecs in a month, then quit, saying all your training was in "vain" when it doesn't happen. Newstip. It takes YEARS of consistent training to get a huge chest.

Everytime, instead of my chest feeling sore, my arms does...

what am I doing wrong???

I have no idea since you really haven't given us any concrete information to work with.

However, there are two big possibilities.

1. Your triceps are much weaker than your pecs.

Which means that the triceps are fatiguing way before your chest is, thus your pecs are not getting worked to the point where it would stimulate growth, but your triceps are. Not much you can do about this imbalance until your tricep strength catches up. So, whatever you do, don't stop lifiting... once your triceps catch up your pec development will start to kick in.

2. You are doing way too many reps with way too little weight, which combined with your weak tris, are "burning out" the triceps.... sort of like an endurance lifting effect.

D