Soreness from dumbell bench presses - is this right?

[Phokus]

Hey guys,

I haven't been lifting for quite a while and i'm just getting back into it, so i'm back to newbie soreness phase where my recovery is a bit slow. Anyway, most of my soreness around my pecs are the parts of my pecs that are near my arm pits and i don't feel much soreness towards the center or insides of my pecs. Is this normal? I'm doing a 5x5 'starting strength' program (but doing dumbells rather than barbell presses). I just want to make sure i'm not doing anything wrong. Maybe i need to squeeze my pecs more when i 'click' the 2 dumbells together at the top of the press?

[knicksfan20]

Hey guys,

I haven't been lifting for quite a while and i'm just getting back into it, so i'm back to newbie soreness phase where my recovery is a bit slow. Anyway, most of my soreness around my pecs are the parts of my pecs that are near my arm pits and i don't feel much soreness towards the center or insides of my pecs. Is this normal? I'm doing a 5x5 'starting strength' program (but doing dumbells rather than barbell presses). I just want to make sure i'm not doing anything wrong. Maybe i need to squeeze my pecs more when i 'click' the 2 dumbells together at the top of the press?

I dont really have a good answer for you. But maybe you are bringing your elbows down too far past the bench? Maybe your arms are flaired out as well?

Hard to tell if your doing anything wrong without seeing you, but when your benching... Make sure your elbows are tucked in, your bring the dumb bells to about where your nipples are and up.

If your just starting back in the gym, maybe start off with a little bit lighter of a weight to get your body used to lifting again. So try to do a 4-6 set with 8-10 reps each, just for the first week or two.

Also, make sure you give your chest at least 2-3 days to heal.

[NGV22]

its pretty normal i would say? remember dont flare those elbows out while u are benching

[doughnut91]

Hey guys,

I haven't been lifting for quite a while and i'm just getting back into it, so i'm back to newbie soreness phase where my recovery is a bit slow. Anyway, most of my soreness around my pecs are the parts of my pecs that are near my arm pits and i don't feel much soreness towards the center or insides of my pecs. Is this normal? I'm doing a 5x5 'starting strength' program (but doing dumbells rather than barbell presses). I just want to make sure i'm not doing anything wrong. Maybe i need to squeeze my pecs more when i 'click' the 2 dumbells together at the top of the press?

You can squeeze your pecs without tapping the dumbbells together, I guess that's just down to personal preference. Your soreness is normal.

[Phokus]

You can squeeze your pecs without tapping the dumbbells together, I guess that's just down to personal preference. Your soreness is normal.

Thanks for the tips guys!