Need help w/ Bench Press

[nefarious]

My chest is underdeveloped compared to the rest of my body. I bench press but for some reason I dont go up in weight and if I try to I feel all the stress in my triceps and shoulders instead of my pecs. What could I be doing wrong?

 

[jeremys]

im an advocate of PL form, which is elbows tucked instead of flared. if you feel it in your shoulders and triceps, then you could almost be doing PL form

 

[needsize]

I get better results jeremys said keeping my elbows in close as well as using a more narrow grip on the bar than most use

 

[WarriorPL]

I use to have that problem but i've worked out of it.

I had a problem where i had my elbows in and barely felt it in my chest working. I went really light for about 1 month working with my elbows out and i just can't lift the same... i always got stuck at the bottom. My solution was this: have your elbows close to your body the first few inches off your chest to get out of the sticking point but then flare them out as you're out of the sticking point and moving up and locking your elbows out. After doing those heavy for the first time... i saw my pecs explode in size. Happy lifting!

 

[nefarious]

thanks for the replies!

 

[JOKER47]

If you are interested in developing your chest more than increasing your bench press, you might consider DB's. They always targeted my chest more directly than BB.


Just a thought,
Joker

 

[nefarious]

I used to do dumbells. I went up in weight but I never felt it working or feeling my chest sore. Only with decline do I feel like Im hitting my chest, but it doesnt look right to have the bottom of my chest noticable and the middle and top of my chest to look flat.

I looked up another post and someone said that they were pushing with their arms and thats what I think Im doing. My upper arms/shoulders will ache after I bench with a barbell or dumbells.

so WizKid25, just to make sure I understand you right, are you saying that when the bar is low to keep my elbows closer to my rib cage and midway into pushing up bring them out, paralell to the bar?

 

[JOKER47]

I looked up another post and someone said that they were pushing with their arms and thats what I think Im doing. My upper arms/shoulders will ache after I bench with a barbell or dumbells.

Can you tell if your shoulders are coming up off the bench when you press? They should stay flat as though you are pushing yourself through the bench, not rotate up. (I hope I explained that well.) I noticed a lot more chest involvement both with DB and BB when I began focusing on that.


Just another thought,
Joker