Chest

C

Chris13321

0
Hello,

I am 14 years old, 5'10, 166lbs. I am happy with my legs, back and arms, but my stomach and chest are not in such good shape. I recently created a diet and workout routine and it has been going well except for one problem with my chest. I usually bench press 11 reps with 3-4 sets. About 3 to 4 hours after I do them and even the next day I am not feeling any burn/pain in my chest. Am I doing them incorrectly, I just take the bar and raise up, then down until it almost touches my chest then repeat. Any help would be greatly apprieciated!!

Thanks,
Chris B.
 
You're doing everything right in my opinoin. I would say just keep up the routine. You shouldn't be lifting like crazy at ur age imo, just lots of reps so you can grow.

What helped for me for my chest was doing dips. Daaaammnn, my chest was SOOO sore after those. First, I had to get strong enough to even do a dip which was quick, and then i moved on to 3-4 sets of 10-12. If you find that is too easy, strap on some weights. I dunno, this exercise worked well for me.
 
being sore doesnt mean you had a good workout..you can do 9000 curls a day and be sore that doesnt mean its good..try adding some fly's and incline bench presses..
 
Is it hard for you when you bench? More precisely, how does it feel when you work out? Also, you might want to go down all the way to your chest for some good hyperextension.
 
Being sore isn't a good way to show progress, give it time and see if you improve. If not then...

Try db's. Personally until I get into the 1-3 rep range, I feel little or no burn, and experience little progress. So doing sets of 12, 10, 8 or 10, 10, 10 on the barball for me doesn't help. Everyone is different, every exercise will have different effects on people. I suggest geting a trainer or someone who knows what they're doing to check your form on the bb, if your form is 100% then use db's more often. Whenever you workout chest, let's say Mon, Thurs, Sunday, on Monday do db's, on Thursday do db's and on Sunday do barbell. A 1:2 ratio has always worked best for me, cutting out the barbell completely hindered progress.
 
when bench pressing, try to fold the bar in half when you are pressing, meaning you are trying to bend it so that your hands come together and touch. if you have a large theraband, the kind you get from physical therapists, wrap that around both hand and press. this will make you recruit your pecs a lot more.
 
Thanks for the help everyone. I will continue with what I am doing, switching it up between dumbbells and barbells and some flys, and see how it turns out after a couple of months. LeiYunFat: whenever I bench press I feel it working my shoulders, triceps, and biceps.
 
bench press should never work biceps as they are a pulling muscle (I suppose if you have weak grip and benching heavy, your forearms would take a beating, but not the bi's).

try to pin your shoulders back to the bench to de-emphasize them. try to focus on pushing the elbows up with the chest...you may wanna drop weight by 50% and just practice feeling it in the right muscles. build the connection with the muscles, then up the weight again for working sets.

this is a good thing to do when warming up. warm up the mind as well as the muscles for a better quality workout.
 
Sounds to me like you have a very narrow grip. Widen your grip to shoulder width or beyond. Bench to your chest this way and you'll start working the chest better. But warm up and go light, get your form down before you start going heavy.
 
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