This article is suitable for veterans at all stages. Keywords: chest muscles; square chest; flat upper chest. Let’s discuss: It is not easy to train the upper chest. Will the middle seam of the upper chest be more difficult to train? Most friends like to train their chest, but ho

This article is suitable for veterans at all stages of

Keywords: chest muscles ; square chest; flat upper chest

Let’s discuss: It is not easy to train the upper chest. Will the middle seam of the upper chest be more difficult to train?

Most friends like to train their chest, but how many people can develop perfect chest muscles? Take away those people who just use words to train, and there are more friends who really want to change themselves. Because everyone easily encounters this problem.

When doing chest training, sometimes I feel that my chest has no feeling and my shoulders are very sore. I want bench pressing to accurately stimulate your chest muscles, but I don’t want my shoulders and arms to compensate. Is there any way to truly transform every training session?

The editor has recently received some private messages about upper chest training in the background. Some people said that no matter how hard I push, I can’t feel the upper chest? Some say that you don’t need to train your upper chest deliberately, while others say that your lower chest is more important than your upper chest? Let’s see what Brother Jun in the group thinks about ?

Brother Jun’s guidance

In order to solve the problem of breast problems, the editor has used many adjustment methods before. The first one is to do incline chest push at a large angle.

Incline dumbbell bench press with an inclination angle of 60-75 degrees. This action mainly stimulates the muscles connected to the upper pectoral muscles (that is, the clavicle bundle) and the shoulders. It’s actually pretty good to practice like this. For us iron-lifting enthusiasts, the health of the shoulder joint is one of the limiting factors that limits the development of strength and chest muscles.

If you still find it difficult to do shoulder presses, then practice more dumbbell bench presses with an incline angle of 60-75 degrees. After you become proficient, practice the shoulder presses over your head. Both of these movements can stimulate the chest muscles at the same time. and the development of deltoid .

The second method is the 1.5-rep training method. The 1.5-rep training method requires you to do a complete chest press, and then control the half-way chest press, so that it is considered a complete movement.

The extra half-range action will force yourself to slow down the speed of chest pressing. Both the chest muscles and deltoid muscles can achieve greater stretching. At the same time, it also increases the time the muscles are in tension. Note that once you shorten the stroke of an action, you limit the development of the force-producing muscles.

This training method allows the use of 70% of the conventional bench press weight. You can use this training method to do 3 groups of 8-10 times at the end of a training plan.

The third type, I think it is also useful in practice, but the practice is not quite right, it is called rotating chest push. Most experienced chest trainers unconsciously pursue heavy weights. The dumbbell rotating chest press cannot push that heavy, but it can maximize the actual training effect.

When pushing the dumbbell upwards, rotate your palms to contract the chest muscles to the maximum extent. In a training plan, we first perform rotational bench presses to improve the nerve connection between the brain and muscles, and then put this movement at the end to exhaust unactivated muscle fibers.

First do one or two sets of warm-up, each set of 8 times, and then do 3 sets of 8-10 times each, resting for 60 seconds in between.

The last trick is very torturous, which is to pause the bench press for 5 seconds. Most fitness injuries are caused by the poor quality of training movements. One of the best ways to improve your technique is to increase the tension in your muscles by pausing between each movement.

Instead of setting the goal of breaking through the weight limit every time you go to the gym, it is better to use a 5-second pause training method.

If the lowest point of the bench press is the weakest, then weak chest muscles may be the source of the problem. During training, adding a short pause in the second half of the exercise is a good way to enhance the bench press. If the highest point of the bench press is the weakest, weak triceps may be the source of the problem. Add the pause method to strengthen the stability of the weakest point, which can also break through the bottleneck period by improving joint stability and strength.

Do 3 sets of 5 times each, pausing for 5 seconds in the eccentric or concentric phase to allow the chest muscles to fully stretch or contract.

If you need to know where to learn these rich and comprehensive training methods of and , the editor will tell you, just privately message the editor and find the editor.

I can’t even feel my chest when I bench press, but my shoulders are sore. The editor has tried these five tricks and they are really useful. Fans can adjust them immediately according to their own situation!

1. Bench Press with Shoulder Pads

If you have access to a straight bar, the shoulder pads can mimic the floor bench press, but if you are doing it alone, this may be a better exercise.

shoulder pads reduce range of motion and stress on your shoulders. Shoulder pads are great for bench press training. During the final stage of the bench press, the pressure on the shoulders is very high. By adding shims to a straight bar, you'll never get to that range.

The rack bench press is a similar exercise where you can reduce the range of motion. However, this type of training puts higher demands on the joints. I personally prefer the bench press with shoulder pads.

Movement Tips

• Adjust the bench press rack.
• The shoulders are drawn back, contracted and slightly sunken.
• Don't let your spacer slide down or relax your upper limbs, and don't use your chest muscles to rebound to complete the movement. Do it like a regular bench press, or you can use pauses or let the bar touch your chest.

2. Opposed Grip Bench Press

When the shoulder rotation movement is not good for you, then you can tighten your upper back and rely on your shoulder blades to create a solid foundation to complete the bench press - when the barbell contacts the pecs , then your shoulders are internally rotated.

A lack of internal rotation in the shoulder or excessive movement of the upper body may be the cause of pain. Adding internal rotation is one solution. Another solution is to work around this limitation by adjusting the grip/type of barbell. The overhand grip puts more emphasis on external rotation, which will "open up" the shoulders.

Movement Tips

• Perform like a regular bench press.
• The opposite grip position reduces the generation of twisting force, and you must stimulate the upper back more fully to keep the shoulders stable.
• For most people, a wide grip creates the least amount of pressure on the shoulders.

3. Pause push-ups

This is what you do when your shoulders need more freedom. In the traditional bench press, the shoulders are fixed. This will bring about a series of problems. Movement capacity is limited, and you may end up driving other muscles to compensate. Since the bench press is so technically demanding, this can be a big problem.

The stiffer the shoulders and upper limbs, the more severe the overcompensation. Practicing pause push-ups will give you more freedom and freer shoulder movement. In fact, the scapula does not have to be fixed in one position. The scapula can move more freely, which can relieve or avoid pain.

To perform push-ups correctly, you need to avoid spinal/lumbar hyperextension. You need to contract your abdominal muscles at all times, so this action may also replace regular plank support and other training.

Action Tips

• When in the starting position, the spine should be kept straight.
• Pull the ribs down and draw the pelvis in to activate the abdominal muscles.
• Opens the chest by activating the upper back. Avoid arching your back excessively.
• If you have shoulder discomfort or you want to avoid overrotating your shoulders at the bottom position, choose a wider stance (similar to a bench press).

4. Chain bench press

When your shoulders can no longer bear the weight at the lowest position of the bench press, then you might as well try the chain bench press. When you remove the barbell and bench press using only chains, you get constant resistance.Therefore, there will be a corresponding reduction in resistance at the lowest position of the bench press where the shoulders are most vulnerable.

Then as you push past the weakest stage, the resistance increases. If you use heavier chains, your chest and triceps will feel it. The chain bench press is not only an ideal muscle-building bench press movement, but also an ideal accessory movement to build strong bench press ability.

Just install the chain on the handle or dumbbell. If your shoulders are really weak, you can also install bent bars to adjust the chains so they don't add resistance during your heaviest phases.

Action Tips

• The movements in the initial stage are actually very similar to the dumbbell bench press.
• The scapula remains in a fixed position and avoids elevation.
• You can lock the elbows to drive the triceps or you can pause briefly to maintain more constant tension on the pecs. Choose a medium to high rep range for your exercises.

5. Dumbbell floor bench press

The floor bench press is actually a bench press lying on the floor, which will relatively reduce the range of motion because the elbow will stop due to contact with the floor.

You might think that this might be a more appropriate bench press position because there is no excessive spinal curvature. Everything is adjusted to a more "neutral" position. You might think that a regular bench press would be difficult to perform, but that won't be the case with a floor bench press.

Since the range of motion is reduced and there is no stretch reflex in the chest and shoulders, the triceps will be the main working muscle. The floor bench press is very popular in the powerlifting session because it can reduce the pressure on the shoulders and is more friendly to the joints.

Barbells are good, but dumbbells are actually more useful. During dumbbell movements, your shoulders will be relatively freer, and you can choose to hold them oppositely.

Action Tips

• Start by lying on the ground with your feet on the floor. You can choose the starting position of glute bridge or the position with legs straight. The latter eliminates all leg drive, but the floor press doesn't involve much leg drive in the first place.
• Push the dumbbells up at the same time, and imagine pushing the shoulders toward the floor with the weight. This helps avoid typical shoulder compensations.
• Keep your shoulders as stable as possible, but this position does not allow you to use your shoulders like you normally do with bench presses. You can lie down on a yoga mat to create more stability.

Bench Press Recommendations

The bench press is an ideal exercise to enhance upper limb muscles and strength. At the same time, bench pressing is also likely to cause injuries to the shoulder, elbow, or wrist.

It doesn’t matter whether the cause of the injury is technical, structural or functional. If pain is present, choose one or more alternative exercises to stay strong and maintain muscle tone. Problems will be solved, but you can't always use the same strategy to solve them.

Bench pressing requires new techniques to bring new excitement, strengthen lagging muscles and solve technical problems. It’s time to develop your body in a balanced way! Really perfect chest muscles should be given to you who train the most diligently!