Recommendations for chest and shoulders

KeepGood
KeepGood Posts: 386 Member
edited 2:05PM in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everyone,

I'm looking for recommendations for exercises for the chest and shoulders. My shoulders feel very weak and my progress there is slow (really really slow lol).

For the chest I'm mainly using the chest press machine and I feel like my right side is weaker than my left.
For my shoulders it's the shoulder press machine, strangely it feel like my triceps are giving out when doing that (are they even involved in that movement?). Am I completely tripping by thinking that?

My sorry wee gym finally has a bit of a selection of free weights so I'm looking for options.

Thanks :smile:

Replies

  • Spook_Nuke_Em
    Spook_Nuke_Em Posts: 408 Member
    Game style push-ups as well as walk out push-ups. Good old fashion dips and pull-ups.
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
    edited January 2016
    Incline bench for upper chest. Flat bench for overall chest. Dips for lower chest. OHP for shoulders. Other good but more isolation for shoulders are rear delt raises, side raises, front raises, face pulls
  • beatua1
    beatua1 Posts: 98 Member
    In short barbell exercises.

    Specifically Bench press and overhead press with a barbell. Check out Strong Lifts 5x5 or starting strength for really solid full body exercise programs.
  • AnabolicKyle
    AnabolicKyle Posts: 489 Member
    beatua1 wrote: »
    In short barbell exercises.

    Specifically Bench press and overhead press with a barbell. Check out Strong Lifts 5x5 or starting strength for really solid full body exercise programs.

    I would agree but I think chest is a lot of genetics because mine still looks terrible and I have been benching for years
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
    AnabolicKyle wrote: »
    beatua1 wrote: »
    In short barbell exercises.

    Specifically Bench press and overhead press with a barbell. Check out Strong Lifts 5x5 or starting strength for really solid full body exercise programs.

    I would agree but I think chest is a lot of genetics because mine still looks terrible and I have been benching for years

    Just flat bench? If you want a good looking chest, it might help to start focusing on incline to fill in the upper chest.
  • KeepGood
    KeepGood Posts: 386 Member
    Thanks I'll look into game style push ups. I've been doing dips and pull ups, I'm progressing well there.

    Ahhh right, dips for lower chest, that makes sense with the shape that's starting to appear on me :smile:

    I was doing dumbbell flyes at the beginning and found I was really wobbly so I was sticking to the machine. I'll need to work on that.

    The benches in my gym don't have the rack to hold a barbell (they do have barbells though). Would using dumbbells on the incline bench be effective?
    Nice, I'm liking the input; giving me plenty to look up :smile:

  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
    ^^^ do you have heavy dumbbells? They'll work fine for the bench. You'll likely lift less total weight than with a bar because they hit extra stabilizer muscles.
  • KeepGood
    KeepGood Posts: 386 Member
    I was doing the stronglifts program... kind of. The equipment they have at my gym is so limited so I was trying to get as close to the program as I could using the equipment there. Making the best of it :smile:

    There are mega heavy dumbbells... like I can only drag these badboys along the floor lol
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
    edited January 2016
    KeepGood wrote: »
    I was doing the stronglifts program... kind of. The equipment they have at my gym is so limited so I was trying to get as close to the program as I could using the equipment there. Making the best of it :smile:

    There are mega heavy dumbbells... like I can only drag these badboys along the floor lol

    Perfect. Use those, just take it easy at first. Like I said they take extra stabilizer muscles, so get use the the range of motion before going too heavy, you don't want to drop on on yourself.
  • KeepGood
    KeepGood Posts: 386 Member
    galgenstrick wrote: »
    ^^^ do you have heavy dumbbells? They'll work fine for the bench. You'll likely lift less total weight than with a bar because they hit extra stabilizer muscles.

    Sorry I'll start using the quotes. When I tried the dumbbell flyes I found I was a bit all over the place keeping my balance with a lighter weight than using the machine. Is that the reason?

  • KeepGood
    KeepGood Posts: 386 Member
    galgenstrick wrote: »
    KeepGood wrote: »
    I was doing the stronglifts program... kind of. The equipment they have at my gym is so limited so I was trying to get as close to the program as I could using the equipment there. Making the best of it :smile:

    There are mega heavy dumbbells... like I can only drag these badboys along the floor lol

    Perfect. Use those, just take it easy at first. Like I said they take extra stabilizer muscles, so get use the the range of motion before going too heavy, you don't want to drop on on yourself.

    Just answered my question. Thanks
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
    KeepGood wrote: »
    galgenstrick wrote: »
    ^^^ do you have heavy dumbbells? They'll work fine for the bench. You'll likely lift less total weight than with a bar because they hit extra stabilizer muscles.

    Sorry I'll start using the quotes. When I tried the dumbbell flyes I found I was a bit all over the place keeping my balance with a lighter weight than using the machine. Is that the reason?

    Yes, because with a machine there is tension along the cable, with the dumbbell the force vector is pointing to the floor which can be a little awkward at first. Skip the flies though, the aren't as good as just incline and flat bench. If you want to keep doing flies just do them last.
  • KeepGood
    KeepGood Posts: 386 Member
    Yeah I'll go with the bench. I just used the fly as an example because I had tried it before and found I was really unsteady. Would I be right in thinking that by using the machines so much I wont be working stabilizer muscles anywhere near as much as I could be using different exercises?
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
    KeepGood wrote: »
    Yeah I'll go with the bench. I just used the fly as an example because I had tried it before and found I was really unsteady. Would I be right in thinking that by using the machines so much I wont be working stabilizer muscles anywhere near as much as I could be using different exercises?

    That is correct. Machines really isolate a certain muscle, and are good if your a competing body builder and really need to focus on a certain muscle. If your a beginner or intermediate lifter, than you should be focusing on compound exercises because they hit every muscle in your body and give you the best foundation the quickest.
  • KeepGood
    KeepGood Posts: 386 Member
    galgenstrick wrote: »
    That is correct. Machines really isolate a certain muscle, and are good if your a competing body builder and really need to focus on a certain muscle. If your a beginner or intermediate lifter, than you should be focusing on compound exercises because they hit every muscle in your body and give you the best foundation the quickest.

    I'll do some reading up on compound exercises and see what ones I can do with the equipment available.

    Thanks for the input :smile:
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    My workout:
    -Parallel bar dips 1x unweighted 3x weighted
    -Incline bbell flys followed immediately by heavy Dbell press x3 (pre exhaustion method)
    -Cable flys alternating angles x3 last set is a drop set.

    -Shoulders lateral raises followed by seated Dbell press x3 (pre exhaustion seems to help my shoulders/CNS warm up)
    -posterior shoulder flys Dbell x2 (alternating stances/positions)
    Front delt cables raises x2
    -Dbell shoulder shrugs x4

    Keep in mind I do swap out exercises every couple weeks in order to mix it up, this is just my favourite set up in regards to those muscle groups.
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    But yes, compound free weight exercises will be your best friend in regards to building a base. All you ever see is kids going on bicep curl machines doing 20 sets and never making progress, when they should be doing pull-ups, pull downs, and rows with curls being accessory to that.
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