Bench presses...

tracieangeletti

Just did my second chest day workout and did flat bench presses and incline ones. Tried to remember to keep my shoulders down and back. My question is where should you be feeling them when you do them? Should I be feeling a strain in my chest or arms? I feel it in my arms. Now I'm not sure if I did them correctly. I can only lift 60 lbs flat and only the bar on incline. I feel like I might have blown this workout because I didn't feel anything in my chest. Should I have felt it in my chest? Just a bad workout day and now I'm stressing because of it. UGH. :-/

whierd

If you are not feeling it in your chest, you likely do not have your grip wide enough.

pjp1125

Also, try 'squeezing' your chest muscles when pushing.

GetSoda

I usually get it in my anterior deltoids and triceps. I never feel the chest actually working - regardless of grip width.

For grip widh, your amrs should be 30-45 degrees when locked out.

rllewell

If you are not feeling it in your chest, you likely do not have your grip wide enough.

This. Closer grip will work arms more, wider grip will work chest more. You didn't do anything wrong, you're arms probably needed it! ; )

krokador

I have a hard time feeling my chest as well. For the longest time dumbbell flyes felt like an arm thing and sometimes still do.

If you don't "get" the movement and all you do is push the iron, your body will try to lift it by somewhat using the muscles that'll have to work less to do it.

Make sure your lower back is pressed into the bench (put your feet up if you have to) and like another poster said, try to think about squeezing your chest when you press up. Really focus on that. Your arms/hands are just hooks holding the weight. Slow down the movement (and use a lighter weight if you have to) until you figure it out.

At least that's what helped me out

GetSoda

Make sure your lower back is pressed into the bench (put your feet up if you have to) and like another poster said, try to think about squeezing your chest when you press up. Really focus on that. Your arms/hands are just hooks holding the weight. Slow down the movement (and use a lighter weight if you have to) until you figure it out.

taking the feet off the floor will isolate the upper body more and prevent you from bracing with your legs/core. (Reducing overall lifting potential.)

Mario_Az

good video for you check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZRIvLmtn9Q

tracieangeletti

Thank you so much for your replies! I think I didn't pay attention to my grip width and that was the problem. I was so focused on keeping my shoulders back and pinched that I forgot about grip. Now I know what to do next time!! :-)