When I do dumbbell chest press it hurts my shoulders and I dont feel it in my chest

[Sage1095]

What could I be doing wrong & how do I fix it

[DJAuto]

What could I be doing wrong & how do I fix it

Hurts as in soreness or pain?

Refine your technique. Maintain some form of scapular retraction throughout the movement.

[BrainDonn]

keep your elbows in tighter to your body.. dont go as deep at the bottom of your rep

[SickStory]

When you bring the dumbells down, bring them as wide as you can and then once you've fully extended your arms, you should touch the dumbels together, almost like you're doing flyes, except you're bending your arms.

[THElabCHIMP]

lower your weight.
concentrate on form

follow the advice above!


you don't want to get injured unnecessarily.

[layarph]

When you bring the dumbells down, bring them as wide as you can

If you want to focus on using your chest and taking your shoulders out of the equation, this is wrong information.

Starting at the bottom and with your feet firmly planted, have your arms at ~45 degrees to the sides of your body, pull back and tighten your shoulders blades by pinching them together, and have a slight, natural arch on your back ... push up from this 45 degree angle, keeping your shoulders pinched and the natural arch.

If your keep your arms as wide as you can, ie flaring your elbows, you're heavily incorporating the shoulders.

[Darwel]

If you want to focus on using your chest and taking your shoulders out of the equation, this is wrong information.

Starting at the bottom and with your feet firmly planted, have your arms at ~45 degrees to the sides of your body, pull back and tighten your shoulders blades by pinching them together, and have a slight, natural arch on your back ... push up from this 45 degree angle, keeping your shoulders pinched and the natural arch.

If your keep your arms as wide as you can, ie flaring your elbows, you're heavily incorporating the shoulders.

^ This is 100% accurate.

Nice post

[luatkosy]

thank you

[godsamurai]

no matter what form I use, including the most famous standard rule, I always get shoulder pain during inclined dumbell press. The genetic plays huge role sometimes.. I got a friend who feels shoulder pain on the flat db press.

[CanadianMMM]

I was having a similar experience. I've been upping my reps, then upping my weight, etc. I wasn't experiencing that burn in my chest that I used to. I switched to doing chest press on the Smith, pretty heavy weight for me (needed a spot to get the last two reps out) and had the best chest burn I'd had in months!!! I'm going to alternate week to week maybe. Fiddling with it as I was having the same experience as you.

[Benjo87]

Another thing, when you come down on the the negative, make sure the weights are not over your front delts. They should be to the side of your chest. Focus on squeezing with the chest rather than pushing with the shoulders.