Upper chest exercises

[dusty]

Another thing I forgot to mention that prompted the question: my chest is never sore after lifting.

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by dusty

Another thing I forgot to mention that prompted the question: my chest is never sore after lifting.

Do more weight on your benches and do some narrow grip reps. If you need help, get a spotter to help you. Negatives are probably your friend also.

 

[whacked]

Originally Posted by dusty

Another thing I forgot to mention that prompted the question: my chest is never sore after lifting.

Uhmm.. that is not a sure sign of effort in weightlifting IMO; I regularly bench ~1.3-1.4x bodyweight, but I couldn't remember the last time I felt chest sore.

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by whacked

Uhmm.. that is not a sure sign of effort in weightlifting IMO; I regularly bench ~1.3-1.4x bodyweight, but I couldn't remember the last time I felt chest sore.

+1, typically from bench you're going to feel more in your triceps anyways.

 

[quevola]

Originally Posted by whacked

Uhmm.. that is not a sure sign of effort in weightlifting IMO; I regularly bench ~1.3-1.4x bodyweight, but I couldn't remember the last time I felt chest sore.

Originally Posted by drizzt3117

+1, typically from bench you're going to feel more in your triceps anyways.

You guys don't feel even slightly sore a day after blasting your chest? I always do, especially when I mix it up and hit the muscle with chest movements I haven't done in a while (i.e. weighted dips or pec-dec machine). The soreness is not as intense as it was when I first began lifting, but it still occurs.

 

[whacked]

^ Honestly, no

. The only times I encounter soreness are occasionally after doing full ROM (ass to ground) squat or equivalent exercises on machine.

 

[Coulomb]

after an extended break from the gym, i'll get sore the next day after working out.

normally i don't feel any soreness in the chest, but my legs get particularly sore every easily.

 

[drizzt3117]

It depends, but usually no. I will feel soreness in my triceps after a session with lots of bench but typically not in the chest at least not later in the day. I will feel some soreness immediately after using the dip machine with high weight, but it goes away very quickly.

 

[horton]

your triceps being sore and your chest not indicates at least that your grip is too narrow.

Are you at a gym with olympic size bars or is this one of those home set up with shorter barbells? It might just be that the bar is too short for you to get a wide enough grip

Also, honestly, as a beginner I'd avoid inclines flys etc. A lot of those exercises are meant for fine tuning after you have some mass. My advice would be to stick to very basic exercises (e.g., chest would be flat bench only) and to use an inside-out routine, meaning focus on exercises closer to the torso before others. I'd also do a push-pull routine, meaning one session do pull exercises and another push. Thus, on a push day you might do bench, squat, and some form of triceps exenstion (making sure to do tris after bench) (this is a chest and tri day). And another session would be pull (some form of rowing for back, some form of curls for biceps, and some form of leg curl).

The other thing to focus on is to be fanatic about form. Free weights can be remarkably effective (even for hard gainers) but form is key. Don't focus on how much you can bench mentality and instead focus on the form.

As other posters mentioned you'll also need enough calories and the right diet to get better results; however, at present i don't think diet is the problem, as you're saying your chest is not sore after benching -- which is a form issue not a not-enough-energy-for-a-great-workout issue.

Good luck

 

[whacked]

nvm

 

[MilanoStyle]

Here are my tips:

1. consume **** load of protien and high load of carb - you cannot gain muscle with out putting weight on your body. Once you feel that you have reached the body weight that you like then lower carb consumtion.

2. train chest as often as you can. when I was young, my body recovered really fast from the previous work out. And my fovorite workout was bench press. So sometimes I did 30sets of bench presses in 1.5hr or so for 4 times a week!

3. Yes, I agres. wider grip allows you to lift the weight with chest rather than your arms. Do this with open palm. It will be hard but you will know what I mean.

4. train along with the opposite muscle. Do you know what power lifters do before lifting 600lbs bench? They do bent over barbell row. that is why I ALWAYS do chest and back work out together.

5. REST. when you are tired and your muscle becomes sore from previous workout, rest until soreness is gone.

6. You must train with heavy wieghts with low no of reps and high no of sets.

I was a skinny guy but I have put up some nice muscle on my body by following that plan.

 

[dusty]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

[Coulomb]

not to nag at the point but i think many people miss this aspect...

everyone's muscles grow differently. i naturally have larger biceps and i don't need to do much if any isolated exercises to stimulate growth. i just do the major composite exercises that incorporate the biceps such as pull-ups, seated rows, etc... on the otherhand, my chest has been much less responsive to any form of resistance training. i've tried a wide assortment of isolation and composite routines and the results were mediocre at best.

eventually i discovered that it wasn't that my chest wasn't developing, it was that it wasn't developing as fast as my other muscle groups. as a result it would always have this lag effect making it seem as if they weren't growing when in fact they were.

sometimes visual inspection can be deceiving. a better way, in my humble opinion, to gauge growth is by observing strength. if you are constantly getting stronger at the bench, you are in fact developing more muscle in the tri's and pec's.

 

[horton]

nvm * 2

 

[whacked]

^^ My apology, that was uncalled for. Anyway, my post was in direct response to your statement a lack of chest soreness indicates improper technique. I just thought that the 3 personal accounts right above your post already debunked that idea.