Weak chest

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chriscarter2506
chriscarter2506 Posts: 10 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Any advice please, when I train my chest it just seems a lot weaker then other body parts and I struggle to lift very much weight at all, I always train it first so I’m fresh but I still struggle

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  • shaf238
    shaf238 Posts: 4,021 Member
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    Back to basics, lighten the load, get your form right and build slowly. Hit your muscles with progressive overload over time (ie. more sets, more reps, more weight, less rest, more frequency, etc).

    You'll need to be in a caloric surplus too as building up strength while in a deficit, while not impossible, is incredibly tough.
  • chriscarter2506
    chriscarter2506 Posts: 10 Member
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    Ok thanks, thinking you maybe on to something there, I am Dieting at the moment and on a caloric deficit Of around 500 cal a daybut I’ve managed to keep my weights up to around the same on about all my other body parts..
  • pontious11349
    pontious11349 Posts: 105 Member
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    Shaf238 hit the money.

    Ben bergeron said "If you have poor form its like you are swimming underwater pushing against the ice surface. Sometimes you need to swim down the way to see the hole and then get up out the water".
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
    edited May 2019
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    could also consider lowering your deficit to 250/day. How much do you have to lose?

    what chest exercises are you doing?
    how many reps and sets?
    How many times do you hit chest/week?
    Have you tried deloading and working back up?

    when in a deficit recovery becomes more difficult, so it is possible doing too much volume and the muscle isn't able to repair itself before the next time you hit it again??

    You also posted this in the weight gaining/bodybuilding section... you may get more response if you put this in general exercise or something as you are in a deficit and not bulking.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    edited May 2019
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    With a good eye to the proper volume, intensity, and recovery programmed...chest is one of the muscle groups that actually on average will gain strength during a cut.

    Being chest work is mainly all small muscles the ability to recover faster is there thus all9wing more frequency typically.

    Perhaps you like to post your program along with average intensity you work and we can get you back on track.

    I would also need how you increased volume the past 4-6 weeks.
  • THS2HASPASSED
    THS2HASPASSED Posts: 1,055 Member
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    chest strength also comes from a lot of supporting muscle groups that will help increase your bench. Lats and tricep work helped increase my bench. Are you doing just barbell press or are you doing dumbells as well?
  • little_ricks
    little_ricks Posts: 7 Member
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    Sorry its just that i work with capitals ...and id like to state the important things...no rude intentions
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    little_ricks wrote: »
    PERSONALLY ....WHAT SKYROCKETED MY BENCH FROM SAY ....OBVIOUSLY THROUGHOUT TIME..ive benched 425lbs before at around 232 lbs which isnt much compared to most POWERLIFTERS but anyways !!! SORRY FOR BAD NEWS BUT YOU CANT REALLY INCREASE BENCH ON CALORIE DEFICIT...carbs is one major factor...eat every 4 hours...ID HAVE LIKE 3 MEALS before benching AND I WAS BENCHING AT NIGHT ...also WHEN HITTING CHEST ADD TRICEPS AND SHOULDERS...some people add lats into their program BUT PERONALLY id rather add more accessorie movments OR MORE CHEST ...AND AND AND!!!! ALSO try a powerlifing program for benching and PROGRESSIVELY OVERLOAD say like a 8-12 WEEK PROGRAM AND BE HONEST ABOUT YOUR MAX and apply it...something like WEEK 1 57% 3 SETS X 8 REPS....WEEK 59 % 3X8 .... THEN make sure you overload TOTAL VOLUME...BUT ALSO AND AGAIN SORRY BUT ON CALORIE DEFICITS...EVEN IF YOUR ON ROIDS...ITS STILL HARD TO PROGRESS

    I've found with many lifters who are in a caloric deficit by increasing their volume with a useful intensity they respond to optimally, they can indeed increase their bench ungeared. We are talking strength gain, not hypertrophy.

    Obviously there are many variables to who can do this. Some people respond great, some not, and then the majority will get a average response.

    For this I usually program leaning hypertrophy based focus unless they are a powerlifter and a meet is in near future. This adds volume and obviously lowers intensity where a person will recover well under a watchful eye of adjustments. The volume increase is also very useful to help retain muscle.

    Another variable would be specificity of the lift. If a lifter is doing bench more frequent, they are more apt to at the very least increase their skill at performing the lift.

    You as a example might not respond immediately because it more than likely takes a lot more useful stress build up to accomplish this over time than say someone who is responding to 5 sets of 6 reps of 275lbs(76% 1RM). In other words more experience, more stress needed to drive adaptation.

    Sometimes our gains aren't immediately realized either. This is very common for some folks to be stuck at the same number for months and then numbers start sprouting seamlessly out of no where. This doesn't mean there programming that particular day/week was the cause for such apparent strength increase. It very well could be a build up and essentially they "peaked".

    Do I expect somebody running SL or Wendler's to increase their bench on a cut? No, I don't expect either programs to produce a notable bench increase in a surplus for the majority of lifters after they stall the first time. More advanced programming is needed.



  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 463 Member
    edited May 2019
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    Chieflrg wrote: »
    little_ricks wrote: »
    PERSONALLY ....WHAT SKYROCKETED MY BENCH FROM SAY ....OBVIOUSLY THROUGHOUT TIME..ive benched 425lbs before at around 232 lbs which isnt much compared to most POWERLIFTERS but anyways !!! SORRY FOR BAD NEWS BUT YOU CANT REALLY INCREASE BENCH ON CALORIE DEFICIT...carbs is one major factor...eat every 4 hours...ID HAVE LIKE 3 MEALS before benching AND I WAS BENCHING AT NIGHT ...also WHEN HITTING CHEST ADD TRICEPS AND SHOULDERS...some people add lats into their program BUT PERONALLY id rather add more accessorie movments OR MORE CHEST ...AND AND AND!!!! ALSO try a powerlifing program for benching and PROGRESSIVELY OVERLOAD say like a 8-12 WEEK PROGRAM AND BE HONEST ABOUT YOUR MAX and apply it...something like WEEK 1 57% 3 SETS X 8 REPS....WEEK 59 % 3X8 .... THEN make sure you overload TOTAL VOLUME...BUT ALSO AND AGAIN SORRY BUT ON CALORIE DEFICITS...EVEN IF YOUR ON ROIDS...ITS STILL HARD TO PROGRESS

    I've found with many lifters who are in a caloric deficit by increasing their volume with a useful intensity they respond to optimally, they can indeed increase their bench ungeared. We are talking strength gain, not hypertrophy.

    Obviously there are many variables to who can do this. Some people respond great, some not, and then the majority will get a average response.

    For this I usually program leaning hypertrophy based focus unless they are a powerlifter and a meet is in near future. This adds volume and obviously lowers intensity where a person will recover well under a watchful eye of adjustments. The volume increase is also very useful to help retain muscle.

    Another variable would be specificity of the lift. If a lifter is doing bench more frequent, they are more apt to at the very least increase their skill at performing the lift.

    You as a example might not respond immediately because it more than likely takes a lot more useful stress build up to accomplish this over time than say someone who is responding to 5 sets of 6 reps of 275lbs(76% 1RM). In other words more experience, more stress needed to drive adaptation.

    Sometimes our gains aren't immediately realized either. This is very common for some folks to be stuck at the same number for months and then numbers start sprouting seamlessly out of no where. This doesn't mean there programming that particular day/week was the cause for such apparent strength increase. It very well could be a build up and essentially they "peaked".

    Do I expect somebody running SL or Wendler's to increase their bench on a cut? No, I don't expect either programs to produce a notable bench increase in a surplus for the majority of lifters after they stall the first time. More advanced programming is needed.



    I have a 2 pound per week deficit and have definitely gotten quite a bit stronger everywhere. Chest is my weakest and slowest to develop area, but even that has developed fairly well through the cut. I had a lot of fat though and ate a lot of extra protein which may be why I've been able to keep this up. Bench has increased from 90x5 to exhaustion in Feb to 130x8 as of yesterday, and probably higher as my current plan makes me hold back a bit. I think that's not bad for 3.5 months. It's not as crazy as the strength gain in legs, core or back, but it's not bad. Strength gain has been relatively linear, with 2 bigger jumps in between out of nowhere. I've lost about 50 pounds since December. If pace stays consistent with the last 3 weeks, I should be 20 pounds higher by this time next month.

    People can definitely get stronger on a cut, and if you are fat enough and untrained enough, you can probably build muscle too.
  • ca_josh
    ca_josh Posts: 35 Member
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    My body mechanics has me maxed at a 255lb bench. Anything above that and my shoulder pops and grinds or my wrists begin to sprain.
  • Silkysausage
    Silkysausage Posts: 502 Member
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    shaf238 wrote: »
    Back to basics, lighten the load, get your form right and build slowly. Hit your muscles with progressive overload over time (ie. more sets, more reps, more weight, less rest, more frequency, etc).

    You'll need to be in a caloric surplus too as building up strength while in a deficit, while not impossible, is incredibly tough.

    Thank you! I read that some hit PR's in a cut, not me I'm losing it and it's hard to watch.

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