Need help with bench press

todtown wrote:
> I posted this message a couple of days ago but it never showed up.
[...]

> What the hell am I doing wrong?

Not waiting patiently for your posts to finally appear.

For one.

Best wishes with your benching, however. Btw, how much weight are you
using?

--
Curt
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press 

Tod wrote:
[...]

re weight training

> I know, I sound pathetic. I just want to make sure I'm doing everything
> correctly and not find out weeks down the road that I was wasting my time.

You don't sound pathetic.

Are you training in a gym? Get a *good* personal trainer and they'll
be able to take you through the different exercises, machines, etc. as
well as answer many of your questions and, hopefully, offer you advice
and information that will be helpful to you in your workouts.

Emphasis on good, too.

There was a woman at one gym wearing a TRAINER t-shirt while taking a
client through his paces. She had rep and set confused and the way she
had this poor guy using the calf machine was effed UP!

--
Curt
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press 

"Steve Freides" <steve.DeleteThis@fridayscomputer.com> schreef:

> Any exercise regularly performed is better than none - keep lifting and
> realize that, for your purposes, the specifics aren't that important. Also
> realize that we are all telling you the same thing - lift heavier weights
> for fewer reps, whether or not you happen to like or expect what it feels
> like during or afterwards. 10 reps done twice with more weight and a rest
> in the middle will accomplish more for you than 20 at one time.

Nonsense.

That is enterily goal dependend. Its also possible to do 20 singles with
even more weight.

If you are a 400 meter runner, doing 4 X 100 meters several times will
accomplish nothing...

--
Pete
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press 

"todtown" <todtown.TakeThisOut@sbcglobal.net> schreef:

> Increasing them to 20 really made a difference.

Difference in what exactly?

> Here's the problem. I can not get the bench press to work for me. It's
> supposed to be a chest exercise, right?

Well, chest/delt/tris, but dominantly pecs, yes.

> I'm not feeling it. I've
> adjusted my grip (wide grip, narrow grip, underhand, overhand), raised
> and lowered weights, etc.My arms get tired before I even begin to
> notice any kind of response from chest muscles. No soreness the next
> day. No visible improvement.
>
> What the hell am I doing wrong? Is there a better way to work this
> muscle group?
>
> Any advice will be appreciated.
>
> tod
>
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press 

On Jul 19, 1:52 pm, "Tod" <todt....TakeThisOut@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>
> Thanx for your reply. The 20 reps gives me more of a 'burn' toward the end
> of the set. The 10 reps would do the same if I loaded on a LOT of weight,
> but I didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything. My current goal is not
> to bulk up, but to condition my muscles. I've lived a very 'couch potato'
> existance. Now I ride my bike 10-15 miles per day, eat normal-sized meals
> and lift weights 3-4 times per week. I did not start experience noticable
> change until I upped to 20 reps. Maybe there is a happy medium, like the
> 12-14 that some have suggested.

"Burn" and "pump" (and, as mentioned before, soreness or DOMS) aren't
the hallmarks of progress that they're often made out to be. It
certainly feels good to think that we're getting positive feedback
from our bodies, but truth is, there are competing theories about
what's going on, physiologically, because nothing's been
scientifically proven yet.

By one school of thought, since you're not trying to "bulk up" but, it
sounds like, condition your muscles for endurance, you're fine doing
what you're doing, high reps and all.

> The other pecs exercise I tried is the chest fly. It really worked well with
> the outside chest muscles, but nothing really for the larger ones. I think
> maybe the arm soreness is because I'm still a fat and flabby weakling. <g>
> Maybe my upper arm muscles aren't yet strong enough to easily support the
> amount of weight it takes to effectivly work the chest with the bench press.
> I know, I sound pathetic. I just want to make sure I'm doing everything
> correctly and not find out weeks down the road that I was wasting my time.
>
> tod

That's the thing: what are your goals -- exactly? If you just want to
"be in shape" in a general mainstream sense, you're doing fine.
You're not looking to be a bodybuilder, you're not looking to be a
powerlifter, so what kind of problem do you have with your bench
press?

Have patience. Even genetically-endowed steroid-addled champions
train for years for their gains. From what I can tell, you are just
starting out.
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press 

On Jul 19, 6:12 pm, Curt <curtja....DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> You don't sound pathetic.
>
> Are you training in a gym? Get a *good* personal trainer and they'll
> be able to take you through the different exercises, machines, etc. as
> well as answer many of your questions and, hopefully, offer you advice
> and information that will be helpful to you in your workouts.

It's hard enough getting a good lawyer or doctor, forget about finding
a "good" trainer. Might as well ask him to become rich first so that
he can afford that good trainer once he finds him or her!

I don't think beginners could make good use of trainers so much as
they could of their local public library (or the internet, for that
matter, and MFW). Main topics should be nutrition (and nutrient
timing when it comes to supplementation) and sports injuries (namely,
proper form and prevention).

> Emphasis on good, too.
>
> There was a woman at one gym wearing a TRAINER t-shirt while taking a
> client through his paces. She had rep and set confused and the way she
> had this poor guy using the calf machine was effed UP!

There are people in my gym wearing tee shirts with "STAFF" imprinted
on the back...I had to take a second look before I realized that that
was just a style of dress, like how folks wear "NYPD" or "Army" tee
shirts around....

> --
> Curt
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press 

On Jul 20, 5:15 am, "Pete" <phouts....TakeThisOut@wanadoo.nl> wrote:
>
>
> <SNIP>
>
>
> Well, chest/delt/tris, but dominantly pecs, yes.

Nah, not mainly ("dominantly"). I think the biomechanics are such
that arms and shoulders (delts) kick in much more effort for most of
the movement.

It's the same thing with an exercise like chin-ups. The arms and
shoulders are doing most of the work. Doesn't matter how you change
your grip and whatnot -- just biomechanics. Another example is
abdominal crunches and such -- the legs and hips get much more out of
it. Just the way our bodies are made. I used to think I was doing
something wrong, too, like the OP, but then I read up on how the
muscles connect to the bones and how they work in relation to one
another and I realized that it wasn't my grip or anything, it was just
the way evolution turned out.
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press 

The bench press should be the first exercise in your routine. If you
do it later in your routine your arms will give out before your chest.
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press 

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007, Prisoner at War wrote:

> On Jul 20, 5:15 am, "Pete" <phouts... DeleteThis @wanadoo.nl> wrote:
>
>> Well, chest/delt/tris, but dominantly pecs, yes.
>
> Nah, not mainly ("dominantly"). I think the biomechanics are such that
> arms and shoulders (delts) kick in much more effort for most of the
> movement.
>
> It's the same thing with an exercise like chin-ups. The arms and
> shoulders are doing most of the work. Doesn't matter how you change
> your grip and whatnot -- just biomechanics.

I don't think this is true. Have you got any data to back this up, other
than your own uninformed observations?

tom

--
We got our own sense of propaganda. We call it truth. -- Rex Steele,
Nazi Smasher
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press 

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007, Hobbes wrote:

> In article <1184955806.797521.121710.TakeThisOut@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
> Prisoner at War <prisoner_at_war.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Even Arnold makes mention of the fact that arms probably get developed
>> much more easily compared to the lats (by which remark we may also
>> apply to the pecs) because our nervous system is more sensitvely wired
>> there since we used our arms more often and in more ways....
>
> SAY WHAT?
>
> If that was the case the hands would be the most developed muscle wise.

Or the tongue.

tom

--
.... to build a space elevator, that's got to be hundreds of thousands
of pounds ... -- Mike Froggatt
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press 

In article <Pine.LNX.4.64.0707202127140.19315 RemoveThis @urchin.earth.li>,
Tom Anderson <twic RemoveThis @urchin.earth.li> wrote:

> On Fri, 20 Jul 2007, Hobbes wrote:
>
> > In article <1184955806.797521.121710 RemoveThis @g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
> > Prisoner at War <prisoner_at_war RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Even Arnold makes mention of the fact that arms probably get developed
> >> much more easily compared to the lats (by which remark we may also
> >> apply to the pecs) because our nervous system is more sensitvely wired
> >> there since we used our arms more often and in more ways....
> >
> > SAY WHAT?
> >
> > If that was the case the hands would be the most developed muscle wise.
>
> Or the tongue.
>
> tom

Funny that - have you ever actually seen the tongue in a cadaver?

It is one huge, honkin' big muscle. I think the ennervation is primarily
due to taste and touch.

The university here is one of the few left in North America that uses
human tissue in the anatomy labs. The only real suprise to me was the
size of the tongue. That and how different organs and muscles look in
different people.

--
Keith
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press 

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:21:13 -0600, Hobbes <khobman800.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote:

>In article <Pine.LNX.4.64.0707202127140.19315.RemoveThis@urchin.earth.li>,
> Tom Anderson <twic.RemoveThis@urchin.earth.li> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 20 Jul 2007, Hobbes wrote:
>>
>> > In article <1184955806.797521.121710.RemoveThis@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
>> > Prisoner at War <prisoner_at_war.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Even Arnold makes mention of the fact that arms probably get developed
>> >> much more easily compared to the lats (by which remark we may also
>> >> apply to the pecs) because our nervous system is more sensitvely wired
>> >> there since we used our arms more often and in more ways....
>> >
>> > SAY WHAT?
>> >
>> > If that was the case the hands would be the most developed muscle wise.
>>
>> Or the tongue.
>>
>> tom
>
>Funny that - have you ever actually seen the tongue in a cadaver?

No, but I bet Anna Nicole did.


OR


>Funny that - have you ever actually seen the tongue in a cadaver?

No, I usually limit my souvenir-taking to fingers and ears.
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press 

On Jul 20, 2:50 pm, <marog... DeleteThis @yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> The bench press should be the first exercise in your routine. If you
> do it later in your routine your arms will give out before your chest.


Indeed! And that's because the bench press works arms and shoulders
more than it does the chest (pecs)!

If the bench press worked the chest primarily, and not so much your
arms, then you should be able to do it later on in your workout
(assuming a total body workout, say). The reason you must do bench
first is 'cause it uses the arms and shoulders more than anything else!
 >> Stay informed about: Need help with bench press