Building the pecs, the whole pec
 

Hi guys, i tried searching for this, but i couldn't find anything that quite answered my question (or maybe i'm just really bad at searching)

anyway, i recently started working out my chest recently. My problem is that: a) when i do bench presses and incline bench presses, i find that i am pretty much just working my biceps and triceps (mainly my triceps really). I'm going to chalk this one up to really bad technique which is totally possible.

--and--

b) when i do chest flys (hope that's spelt correctly) i find that i am only working my pectoralis major (the outer portion of the chest) and not touching my pectoralis minor (the inner portion of the chest) at all. I don't think this can be chalked up to improper technique, since i'm using a machine and following the instructions.

Any suggestions/exercises/whatever would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!

when doing your flat / incline bench, try to just use your pecs more. Or what ou can try to do, which will isolate the pecs more, is do dumbell flat / incline presses. your ROM (range of motion) is also alot more so you will hit the muscles better. Try doing dips, elbows out, to hit the inner part of the pec.

Your form is off if your not working your pecs when you bench press.

Don't use the machines for one. Ask a guy to show you how to bench press PROPERLY first.

Also are you working your legs out? If not you will see less development in your chest.

Koing

do you mind explaining why?

when you do bench press the wider your arms the more you work your chest and the closer your hands the more you get your triceps

Hit your triceps just before your bench press,(french curls or reverse dips are good) when your arms are tired the pecs will take up the slack.

why ask a guy? dont chicks know how to do benchpresses...im sure some female personal trainers would do just fine :p

When you bench, keep your elbows close to your sides. When you press upwards, the elbows should travel straight upwards. Do _not_ let them spread out to the sides away from your torso. When you do that, the arms take more of the load.

As for the chest flys -- if they're working your outer pecs instead of your inner pecs, the arc of your dumbbells is passing too far down your chest. When your bring the dumbbells up, make sure they're passing over your upper pecs, closer to your neck.

Another good exercise for inner pecs, and I guarantee nobody at the gym is doing this, is a narrow-stance pushup, with both hands planted under or almost under your torso. It works. And when it gets to the point where it's too easy, have somebody lay a ten-pound weight plate in the middle of your back.

i don't think my legs are the problem... i can press 270 with my legs (which is way more than i can bench press) and i run regularly

but i'm not sure why legs would affect my chest. Could someone explain this please?

Rodney: thanks for the idea of those push ups, sounds like a plan! :thumbsup:

I have no idea what legs have to do with chest.

You may be bringing the bar down to high on your chest. Try touching your chest below your nipple line. Also, close grip presses will work the inner side, along with dips. You might be doing flys wrong....you should end at the top ike you are hugging a tree.

Good luck.

if you're triceps are tired, you won't be able to extend your arm with all that weight on it. he should hit his chest before touching his tri's. if his tri's are burnt before he does his chest, he won't be able to lift as much weight, period. his chest won't pick up the slack.

a suggestion would be to, when the bar is lowered to your chest, contract your pecs before the actual push, and hold the contraction through the entire movement... if that makes sense... i may be explaining that poorly.

someone posted something awhile back saying that if you want to develop big arms or whatever you had to work out your legs too. the guy who said do legs for a big chest in this thread is either the same guy, someone who read that and didn't read the responses disputing that, or someone else who thinks incorrectly.

exercising your legs has nothing to do with the development of your chest. you should be doing your legs anyways, just so that you're developing evenly. but one does not have an effect on the other... just think about the arm you jerk off with versus the one you don't. the one you do use is often a tiny bit bigger/firmer than the other (unless you've been lifting for a while and corrected it). in other words, the size of one muscle has nothing to do with the size of another (unless they're in a chain... ie. if you're triceps are weak you're not going to be able to push up as much weight on the bench press as if they were stronger).

working out your legs as opposed to not working them out releases more natural test...and thats why people say working your legs will give you an all around help in growth.

personally i think the amount 'additional' test is very small.

when i perform decline or incline bench i like to keep my arms at a 45degree angle from my body. if you are using correct form then i would say you are feeling it in your tri's because they are lacking compared to your chest. bench is a compound movement which envolves your chest, arms and shoulders. if one of these is lacking you will run into problems.


Take a look at the below links for your inner and outter chest that dont exist. the difference between flys and bench is flys are a isolation exercise and bench is a compound exercise. if you are looking for a more defined chest...ie line down the middle...then you need to focus on lowering your bf% and of course adding mass to your chest.

pectoralis minor http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/PectoralisMinor.html
pectoralis major http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/PectoralisSternal.html

my chest routine:

incline x4
decline x4
incline flys x2

not to mention that your legs end up using that testosterone for their growth.

It sounds as though your hands are a little too close on the bar (if you're using a bar) which would work your tris more, try going beyond shoulder width. I actually am slightly puzzled how you can't work chest doing bench press, and I am more puzzled how you are working biceps. I prefer to keep it simple and usually do 3 incline, 3 flat and 3 decline presses, and 2 incline and 2 flat flys, in that order. I would also recommend asking a trainer to assist you with your weight selection and form.

[QUOTE=Seige]but i'm not sure why legs would affect my chest. Could someone explain this please?[QUOTE]

Your body grows as one unit, and doesn't like to grow only in certain bits. Training legs gives more stimulus to the rest of the body to put on muscle because it is all getting trained.
Also by doing things like squats your using your entire body for stability (squats will give you a midsection to be proud of) you force the muscle to further grow to carry the weight.

At the bottom of the bench press movement (i.e. the weight is just above touching your chest) your forarms should be pointing right up, not angled to the sides.

[QUOTE=stevie667][QUOTE=Seige]but i'm not sure why legs would affect my chest. Could someone explain this please?This myth is really getting out of hand. Your body grows where it is worked. While there may be a small effect on some parts of your body such as your abs that stabilize your torso when you do exercises in free space such as squats, working legs will not appreciably build your chest. This is why soccer players have big legs and not big chests. Haven't you seen tons of guys in the gym with big chests and tiny little chicken legs? If your body truely developed as one unit this would never happen. If I want to build chest, i work chest, if I want to build arms I work arms, If I want to work more than one group or connecting muscles I'll do a compound exercise, it is not rocket science, stop trying to make it more difficult than it is.