Big Back, Big Shoulders, Small Chest?

Pre-exhaust with far away cable flyes on a bench, one arm pec dec, or employ suspended isometric push up holds to really “feel” your chest working.

I think everything is fairly proportionate, you just need to pack on a little bit more size.

And like one of the posters said above, dipping with a forward lean (if you have healthy shoulders - no impingement) is a great chest exercise.

I forgot to mention stopping an inch before touching your chest on bench press…It’s hard to get used to losing all that bounce momentum but it keeps the stress on the chest the whole rep.

Also don’t lockout at the top…You may even want to try partial reps…(21’s)

I’m willing to bet your form isn’t as good as you think it is…My form as improved leaps and bounds, but i still don’t feel like I’m 100% there…Like you, my shoulders are very dominant…

[quote]adamhum wrote:
I forgot to mention stopping an inch before touching your chest on bench press…It’s hard to get used to losing all that bounce momentum but it keeps the stress on the chest the whole rep.

Also don’t lockout at the top…You may even want to try partial reps…(21’s)

I’m willing to bet your form isn’t as good as you think it is…My form as improved leaps and bounds, but i still don’t feel like I’m 100% there…Like you, my shoulders are very dominant…[/quote]

I agree with all of this. I do not touch my chest or lock out. I also get sick of people way smaller and weaker than me telling me I am doing it wrong.

[quote]adamhum wrote:
Maybe try pre-exhausting your shoulders and tri’s as a last resort…
[/quote]

That would only make things worse.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
adamhum wrote:
I forgot to mention stopping an inch before touching your chest on bench press…It’s hard to get used to losing all that bounce momentum but it keeps the stress on the chest the whole rep.

Also don’t lockout at the top…You may even want to try partial reps…(21’s)

I’m willing to bet your form isn’t as good as you think it is…My form as improved leaps and bounds, but i still don’t feel like I’m 100% there…Like you, my shoulders are very dominant…

I agree with all of this. I do not touch my chest or lock out. I also get sick of people way smaller and weaker than me telling me I am doing it wrong.[/quote]

I’m going to disagree on this one. At least for myself, I didn’t get much chest development from bench press until I started touching my chest(not bouncing, just touching). My chest doesn’t engage fully except for maybe the bottom 4 inches of the lift. higher then that all I really hit is delts and tri’s.

[quote]matsm21 wrote:
Professor X wrote:
adamhum wrote:
I forgot to mention stopping an inch before touching your chest on bench press…It’s hard to get used to losing all that bounce momentum but it keeps the stress on the chest the whole rep.

Also don’t lockout at the top…You may even want to try partial reps…(21’s)

I’m willing to bet your form isn’t as good as you think it is…My form as improved leaps and bounds, but i still don’t feel like I’m 100% there…Like you, my shoulders are very dominant…

I agree with all of this. I do not touch my chest or lock out. I also get sick of people way smaller and weaker than me telling me I am doing it wrong.

I’m going to disagree on this one. At least for myself, I didn’t get much chest development from bench press until I started touching my chest(not bouncing, just touching). My chest doesn’t engage fully except for maybe the bottom 4 inches of the lift. higher then that all I really hit is delts and tri’s.[/quote]

Matsm is right. There is no reason not to go all the way down as long as youre not bouncing. You can do whatever is comfortable but the deeper you go the more it hits chest.

[quote]matsm21 wrote:
Professor X wrote:
adamhum wrote:
I forgot to mention stopping an inch before touching your chest on bench press…It’s hard to get used to losing all that bounce momentum but it keeps the stress on the chest the whole rep.

Also don’t lockout at the top…You may even want to try partial reps…(21’s)

I’m willing to bet your form isn’t as good as you think it is…My form as improved leaps and bounds, but i still don’t feel like I’m 100% there…Like you, my shoulders are very dominant…

I agree with all of this. I do not touch my chest or lock out. I also get sick of people way smaller and weaker than me telling me I am doing it wrong.

I’m going to disagree on this one. At least for myself, I didn’t get much chest development from bench press until I started touching my chest(not bouncing, just touching). My chest doesn’t engage fully except for maybe the bottom 4 inches of the lift. higher then that all I really hit is delts and tri’s.[/quote]

I used to do that when I was smaller. The bigger I got, the less doing that seemed to help.

[quote]bdennis wrote:
matsm21 wrote:
Professor X wrote:
adamhum wrote:
I forgot to mention stopping an inch before touching your chest on bench press…It’s hard to get used to losing all that bounce momentum but it keeps the stress on the chest the whole rep.

Also don’t lockout at the top…You may even want to try partial reps…(21’s)

I’m willing to bet your form isn’t as good as you think it is…My form as improved leaps and bounds, but i still don’t feel like I’m 100% there…Like you, my shoulders are very dominant…

I agree with all of this. I do not touch my chest or lock out. I also get sick of people way smaller and weaker than me telling me I am doing it wrong.

I’m going to disagree on this one. At least for myself, I didn’t get much chest development from bench press until I started touching my chest(not bouncing, just touching). My chest doesn’t engage fully except for maybe the bottom 4 inches of the lift. higher then that all I really hit is delts and tri’s.

Matsm is right. There is no reason not to go all the way down as long as youre not bouncing. You can do whatever is comfortable but the deeper you go the more it hits chest.[/quote]

Gee, there is a reason if you notice more growth by NOT doing it. I am not making recommendations for ALL lifters. However, I know my own body and apparently many larger lifters are in the same boat.

[quote]matsm21 wrote:
Professor X wrote:
adamhum wrote:
I forgot to mention stopping an inch before touching your chest on bench press…It’s hard to get used to losing all that bounce momentum but it keeps the stress on the chest the whole rep.

Also don’t lockout at the top…You may even want to try partial reps…(21’s)

I’m willing to bet your form isn’t as good as you think it is…My form as improved leaps and bounds, but i still don’t feel like I’m 100% there…Like you, my shoulders are very dominant…

I agree with all of this. I do not touch my chest or lock out. I also get sick of people way smaller and weaker than me telling me I am doing it wrong.

I’m going to disagree on this one. At least for myself, I didn’t get much chest development from bench press until I started touching my chest(not bouncing, just touching). My chest doesn’t engage fully except for maybe the bottom 4 inches of the lift. higher then that all I really hit is delts and tri’s.[/quote]

this, except neither of us are x and ymmv

Did those who object to using a range of motion that doesn’t necessarily have the bar going all the way to the chest ever stop and think about these factors?

  1. Your pecs do not know and cannot sense where the bar is. What they attach to is the upper arm. It is the angle of that that is relevant, not the height of the hands.

(Yes, for a given person the angle of the upper arm and the position of the hands are related, but for differing people, one might have their upper arm more sharply downwards with their hands still high enough that the bar is off the chest, than another person’s upper arm is when they have the bar on the chest.

  1. If a given person’s arms were an inch or so shorter, then wouldn’t the bar be lower for the same upper arm angle? Or if longer, then the bar is higher for the same upper arm angle? Including off the chest?

So you mean to say that if an invididual’s arms were an inch or whatever shorter, then the EXACT SAME MOTION of the upper arms would be good and proper bench pressing, but with the arms the length they are then the motion is useless?

C’mon. Recognize that individuals vary. Some can touch the chest with their elbows no lower than the bench. Others, to touch the chest, have to have their elbows way below the bench. The simplistic view is that both are doing the exercise the same way on account of judging by the simple method of “where is the bar relative to the chest,” but in fact these people are doing two different things. And if the elbows-level-with-bench position (for example) gives great results for Lifter 1, why would anyone be convinced it’s the wrong way for Lifter 2, who has longer arms and therefore the same upper arm position has the barbell higher, say an inch or two above the chest?

[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
Did those who object to using a range of motion that doesn’t necessarily have the bar going all the way to the chest ever stop and think about these factors?

  1. Your pecs do not know and cannot sense where the bar is. What they attach to is the upper arm. It is the angle of that that is relevant, not the height of the hands.

(Yes, for a given person the angle of the upper arm and the position of the hands are related, but for differing people, one might have their upper arm more sharply downwards with their hands still high enough that the bar is off the chest, than another person’s upper arm is when they have the bar on the chest.

  1. If a given person’s arms were an inch or so shorter, then wouldn’t the bar be lower for the same upper arm angle? Or if longer, then the bar is higher for the same upper arm angle? Including off the chest?

So you mean to say that if an invididual’s arms were an inch or whatever shorter, then the EXACT SAME MOTION of the upper arms would be good and proper bench pressing, but with the arms the length they are then the motion is useless?

C’mon. Recognize that individuals vary. Some can touch the chest with their elbows no lower than the bench. Others, to touch the chest, have to have their elbows way below the bench. The simplistic view is that both are doing the exercise the same way on account of judging by the simple method of “where is the bar relative to the chest,” but in fact these people are doing two different things. And if the elbows-level-with-bench position (for example) gives great results for Lifter 1, why would anyone be convinced it’s the wrong way for Lifter 2, who has longer arms and therefore the same upper arm position has the barbell higher, say an inch or two above the chest?[/quote]

That shouldn’t have needed an explanation.

Further, if someone is going to say I am training wrong, I would sure as hell hope they are MORE developed than me and way stronger.

Whether your chest is in proportion with your back or not, you need to be vastly more advanced before you start worrying about details like that.

If your chest was non-existant, and you had the back of Dorian Yates, then you’d have a problem. This is however irrelevant because this couldn’t happen - your body wouldn’t let it.

Get to the point when people are referring to you as huge/massive/whatever, before you waste time pre/post-fatiguing or “pumping” anything.

Pop out 315 x 10 on the bench, reassess, and go from there.

add some rest pauses.
thats what i use when i need to add size to my chest.

[quote]trmn8r99 wrote:
add some rest pauses.
thats what i use when i need to add size to my chest.[/quote]

You are 6’1" and 180lbs. Maybe you should stop trying to make this even that complicated and simply work on getting stronger overall and eating more.

This is also not an insult but I simply have a hard time understanding how people at your stage of development feel comfortable giving advice to others about how to get big.

Why would you even need to do “rest pause” to grow at your stage?

[quote]Professor X wrote:
trmn8r99 wrote:
add some rest pauses.
thats what i use when i need to add size to my chest.

You are 6’1" and 180lbs. Maybe you should stop trying to make this even that complicated and simply work on getting stronger overall and eating more.

This is also not an insult but I simply have a hard time understanding how people at your stage of development feel comfortable giving advice to others about how to get big.

Why would you even need to do “rest pause” to grow at your stage?[/quote]

At 6’1" and 180lbs I think pretty much any training would help. At that size I’d wonder if he even trains in the first place

[quote]Dave_ wrote:

At 6’1" and 180lbs I think pretty much any training would help. At that size I’d wonder if he even trains in the first place

[/quote]

What got me was that, “when I need to add size” comment…as if he doesn’t need to add size ALL THE FUCKING TIME right now.

Damn the standards have dropped.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
What got me was that, “when I need to add size” comment…as if he doesn’t need to add size ALL THE FUCKING TIME right now.
[/quote]

Actually LOL’d at that one.

i’m weighing in at 193 right now.
i started my off season 4 weeks ago.
i’ve been cutting for a really long time.
i’m still pretty lean too. I use rest pause a lot i think its really important and for me it adds size to my chest pretty fast.

also i’m only 18 years old so for me to be like 250 right now naturally is pretty impossible but i’m workin on it.

small bottom portion ROM presses ftw.

i saw this guy doing what i think were SUPPoSED to be incline db presses but he was starting out lockout and going down like 3-5 inches then locking out again.

wanted to tell him he was doing it backwards…but im kinda done wasting my time on people like that.

even on this site i dont bother posting in peoples threads anymore. “oh i need help with this, i need to bring up that”. yea, i dont care cause i know youre just going to do your own thing and not listen to anyone (me)