Bench Press=shoulder work

[silverlightning]

I don't flat bench very ofter anymore, but today I did after about a few months of not. I feel it in my front delts until I get about 5 sets in. anyone else? I did manage to hit 275 for two reps(no spot) though.

[paolo59]

You can't do a whole lot of excercises for chest without shoulder involvement that's for sure. I always workout shoulders and chest on the same day, but start with shoulders. By the time I get through a good shoulder workout, chest is a bit rough. LOL

[scorgie]

Same thing. Bad insertion on the left pec for years. I found that if I do decline first things get better and bench is solid.

There has been some positives from the shoulder issue - injuries kind of force those on ya - I am more careful about positioning and control than before. It took me a while working from 135 to 185 to 225 to 275 to 315 but now I use 225 for sets of 12 no prob.

275 for two is great shoulder or no shoulder.

[Marius_Ursus]

There are two motions that muscles perform, pushing and pulling. Anything that pushes on your body is going to push when you're recruiting it. Same goes for pulling. All contractions cause multiple muscle groups to be recruited. Even curls need forearm muscles, or the biceps can't contract.

[silverlightning]

Marius, true. I'm more concerned that on flat bench I'm feeling the shoulder joints more than the pec muscles. maybe my form is bad. i've never been real strong. the most i've benched is 310 a few years back and that was when i was over 200lbs and not working out consistently.

[paolo59]

Not enough responses! I think that chest and shoulders are a good workout, same day. Both are "pushing" movements. It all depends on your focus. If it's chest, start with that, if it's widening the shoulders, hit them first! One will diminish your maximum lifts on the other, granted. But then again, who thinks, after having worked out for several years, that a maximum lift has anything to do with overall symmetry and muscular development? Think! It's the complete package that we are hoping for, no?

[SerpentHearted]

as a suggestion, sometimes i like to do some pre-fatiguing by doing an isolation exercise first. For example do dumbbell (or cable i guess, whatever rocks your boat) flyes first before you go into bench press. This way your pecs are already fatigued and you should feel the pecs working throughout the bench press and they should be exhausted before the shoulders (and triceps for that matter) start to come into the equation. Obviously you won't be able to lift as heavy but IMO going lighter is not a bad thing if it means you can isolate your targeted muscle group a little better.

Supersetting d/b flyes into d/b press is my favourite for this approach.

Also i find it helps to make sure you're retracting the shoulders almost as if you're trying to grip the bench between your shoulder blades... takes some of the front delt out and isolates the pecs a little more.

I'm sure some of the more experienced & successful guys will have more good suggestions too.

[Reality_Check]

I don't flat bench very ofter anymore, but today I did after about a few months of not. I feel it in my front delts until I get about 5 sets in. anyone else? I did manage to hit 275 for two reps(no spot) though.

Thats right flat bench is a major deltoid exercise.

[Marius_Ursus]

Marius, true. I'm more concerned that on flat bench I'm feeling the shoulder joints more than the pec muscles. maybe my form is bad. i've never been real strong. the most i've benched is 310 a few years back and that was when i was over 200lbs and not working out consistently.

If your concern is how much more you're feeling it in your anterior delts, check your upper back and arm position. Focus on retracting your scapula and hold them tight together and tuck your elbows. That'll bring a lot more focus into your pectorals.

[JOHN GARGANI]

this thread is about mind muscle connection....sometimes it is not just the hand/arm positioning as much as it is the MMC....

at any rate, what makes benching so wonderful is that it DOES work most of the upper body...

trying to relegate bench to an "isolation" type movement is futile and unnecessary.....

beginning a chest workout with benching is just that: BEGINNING...as you follow with other movements, you can narrow down the targeting of the pec muscles.....

[Reality_Check]

at any rate, what makes benching so wonderful is that it DOES work most of the upper body...

trying to relegate bench to an "isolation" type movement is futile and unnecessary.....

Exactly

[gjohnson5]

I don't flat bench very ofter anymore, but today I did after about a few months of not. I feel it in my front delts until I get about 5 sets in. anyone else? I did manage to hit 275 for two reps(no spot) though.

You should youtube Dave Tate.
The reason your shoulders hurt during flat bench is because you're not arching your back and dropping the bar @ the nipple or slightly lower.. Doing so would alleviate much of the shoulder rotation. Not to mention you should keep your elbows alongside your body when lowering the weight.

To me it sounds like bad form

*edit*
If you bench flat backed , you're adding several inches the weight has to be lowered and hence the shoulders have to rotate to lower the bar...
Benching flat backed is the reason you shoulders hurt
*edit*

[DaddyR]

Maybe its just me, but I feel even more front delt involvement on the incline bench. Not so much on flat bench. Mind muscle connection is indeed critical - good point.

[-=FLEX=-]

Good job on 275 for 2.

You're just about ready for a 3 plate 1 RM

-=FLEX=-

[Maluket]

I only feel it in my delts if I exhaust them before doing flat bench. But I go in the opposite order because I feel like I have pretty big shoulders compared to my chest. As SerpentHearted suggests, I strongly retract my shoulder blades for the bench press. But as John Gargani says, the bench press IS a compound exercise. Be happy that it's recruiting a lot of muscle. And if it's hitting your anterior deltoids more than your pecs, well, that's probably just a sign that you need to work on your anterior deltoids, which is then just what the exercise is doing. So the problem IS the solution.

[Old-Time-Lifter]

Maybe its just me, but I feel even more front delt involvement on the incline bench. Not so much on flat bench. Mind muscle connection is indeed critical - good point.

I agree, I feel delts much more on inclines.

[RonGoon]

flat "bench" with a med-wide grip has increased the fullness of the rear area of my outter/side delt thinger...i never would have guessed...i know it's the flat bench because it's pretty much the only upper body exercise i do anymore.

[anonymous]

You should youtube Dave Tate.
The reason your shoulders hurt during flat bench is because you're not arching your back and dropping the bar @ the nipple or slightly lower.. Doing so would alleviate much of the shoulder rotation. Not to mention you should keep your elbows alongside your body when lowering the weight.

To me it sounds like bad form

*edit*
If you bench flat backed , you're adding several inches the weight has to be lowered and hence the shoulders have to rotate to lower the bar...
Benching flat backed is the reason you shoulders hurt
*edit*

yup, it's likely that poor form is causing the shoulder issue by overstretching the shoulder, OP are you benching with flared elbows, lowering high on the chest and not arching or pinching your shoulders together?

[mandm001]

I like the idea of hitting flys and dumbells before bench, I wish I could feel more of that burn on my shoulders though, even when I try to isolate shoulders I still don't feel anything.

[John Prophet]

those guys are so relieved, they've been waiting 4 years for more feedback!

[thor93]

There are two motions that muscles perform, pushing and pulling. Anything that pushes on your body is going to push when you're recruiting it. Same goes for pulling. All contractions cause multiple muscle groups to be recruited. Even curls need forearm muscles, or the biceps can't contract.

I had a dream last night i was repping away 135 on barbell curls. I did 17,then someone grabbed the barbell from me,they curled it a few times and i grabbed it back and then did another set,curling it 24 times. You mentioning about curls and forearm muscles made me recollect this dream,as silly as it was. Most reps i ever actually did with 135 on bb curls was 14,that was way back in 1996,when i was 26.

But anyway,as far as the main topic of the thread,I cant even do full rom anymore on flat bench unless the weight is WAY below 200 and i dont like to use 135 or so on bench,so when i was using the flat bench at the gym,i would place this pad atop my chest to decrease my own rom,enabling for smoother reps without shoulders getting all excessively involved in benching,which i think they really should'nt anyway. Objective should be chest and also tri's as a bonus as they should be being they are the actual muscles that are actually enabling you to move the weight upwards.