Chest Workout Making Shoulders Bigger

[Two Bulls]

I've been working out since about 2006 now and my chest is nowhere near the size I feel it should be. I recently read that some people's shoulders grow more from chest workouts than the chest does. I feel like I might fall in this category. I've made massive gains everywhere else in my body over the years but the chest seems to have fallen behind. Anyone else have this issue? If so what changes have you made?

 

[Gerbil]

What is your chest workout? Tried weighted dips yet?

 

[Jiigzz]

Are you benching properly? Massive issue with people is that they let their anterior deltiod do all the work in a bench press which reduces the amount of work your chest will perform

http://articles.elitefts.com/features/so-you-think-you-can-bench-get-the-whole-series-here/

Hence why many people have overly developed anterior deltoids and underdeveloped chests. Get your technique in check, hit your chest hard with compounds and isolations (preferably in that order) and watch it grow.

Oh and eat and sleep heaps

 

[retrofitted]

I've had the opposite effect...no shoulder development, decent chest size. But definitely agree with the poster above...make sure your bench technique is spot-on. And from what I understand, the bench press won't put size on in the same manner that isolation exercises might. Second on the weighted dips.

 

[Two Bulls]

What is your chest workout? Tried weighted dips yet?

I think my bench program is pretty solid, but I'll admit that don't hit my lower chest as much as maybe I should. I've always been under the impression that inclines build a big chest. So I keep my workouts focused around incline and flat using either dbells or a bbell, and also incorporate flyes and cable work. All that gets mixed around and interchanged every 3 or 4 weeks. I'll give the lowers some more work and see what happens.

 

[Two Bulls]

Are you benching properly? Massive issue with people is that they let their anterior deltiod do all the work in a bench press which reduces the amount of work your chest will perform.

Hence why many people have overly developed anterior deltoids and underdeveloped chests. Get your technique in check, hit your chest hard with compounds and isolations (preferably in that order) and watch it grow.

Oh and eat and sleep heaps

I thought I was using correct form. I read the book Starting Strength a long time ago and have based my form off the techniques in that book. The book, however, is more about powerlifting than about bodybuilding. Anyone else read it and have any thoughts on how that could affect chest/shoulder development? I'll give the article you linked a good read in the mean time. Thanks.

 

[Rodja]

If your shoulders are taking over, then it's a technique issue. Generally, it's from not staying locked into position (e.g. scpaula retraction, tight lats).

 

[iliketosquat]

Is your incline maybe too inclined? If you are doing barbell or dumbell bench on an incline that is set to high you will hit shoulders more.

 

[Two Bulls]

Is your incline maybe too inclined? If you are doing barbell or dumbell bench on an incline that is set to high you will hit shoulders more.

It's a possibility, but I always keep it under 45 degrees. I'll try dropping it down a little more and mixing in more lower chest work along with some form correction and let you guys know how it goes in 3-4 weeks. Thanks for all the input. If anyone else has anything to toss in let me know, I'll be checking back in regularly.

 

[Doss]

I've found heavy flies to be a godsend for my chest development. Might be worth trying if you feel up to it. Let it really stretch at the bottom as well.

 

[Dr_J]

I would incorporate flies as well. Incline, flat and especially decline. Your pecs are your biggest adductors (bringing arms towards your midline) and flies take this into account. Cable flies that allow you to bring your arms slightly past midline are also great. Incline bench tends to increase the demand for anterior deltoid involvement and so may hinder overall chest development. Decline bench however is a great power builder

 

[Jiigzz]

I would incorporate flies as well. Incline, flat and especially decline. Your pecs are your biggest adductors (bringing arms towards your midline) and flies take this into account. Cable flies that allow you to bring your arms slightly past midline are also great. Incline bench tends to increase the demand for anterior deltoid involvement and so may hinder overall chest development. Decline bench however is a great power builder

Thats not adduction... thats horizontal flexion aka the 'hugging' movement. Adduction is the downward part of a lateral raise (moving arms downward). Abduction is moving arms upward etc.

 

[lonewolf0420]

For incline, I found that angling the bench at 35 degree's instead of 45 put much more of the workload on my pecs.

Also dips, with a slight forward lean. Not too much or your put to much load on your anterior delts.

 

[Dr_J]

Thats not adduction... thats horizontal flexion aka the 'hugging' movement. Adduction is the downward part of a lateral raise (moving arms downward). Abduction is moving arms upward etc.

Adduction is moving a body part towards the saggital plane. In the shoulder, adduction can occur in many forms. In this case both horizontal flexion and adduction are the same. I sat through this discussion many times both in undergrad for my exercise physiology degree then in chiropractic school for my doctorate. So same thing, different terminology

 

[Jbeezee]

I've been working out since about 2006 now and my chest is nowhere near the size I feel it should be. I recently read that some people's shoulders grow more from chest workouts than the chest does. I feel like I might fall in this category. I've made massive gains everywhere else in my body over the years but the chest seems to have fallen behind. Anyone else have this issue? If so what changes have you made?

Mind muscle connection dude. It's not a myth. You need to focus on squeezing and flexing your chest during your routines.

 

[Jiigzz]

Adduction is moving a body part towards the saggital plane. In the shoulder, adduction can occur in many forms. In this case both horizontal flexion and adduction are the same. I sat through this discussion many times both in undergrad for my exercise physiology degree then in chiropractic school for my doctorate. So same thing, different terminology

Oh I see. Never used that terminology for my masters. Kept it the way it seemed the most logical and easiest to follow. Kind of confusing to have two terminologys for different movements though

 

[bobbymac]

I've found heavy flies to be a godsend for my chest development. Might be worth trying if you feel up to it. Let it really stretch at the bottom as well.

Bingo!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[Two Bulls]

I would incorporate flies as well. Incline, flat and especially decline. Your pecs are your biggest adductors (bringing arms towards your midline) and flies take this into account. Cable flies that allow you to bring your arms slightly past midline are also great. Incline bench tends to increase the demand for anterior deltoid involvement and so may hinder overall chest development. Decline bench however is a great power builder

Great advice and I really appreciate the quick kinesiology lesson! Thanks a ton.

 

[kingjameskjf]

Are you benching properly? Massive issue with people is that they let their anterior deltiod do all the work in a bench press which reduces the amount of work your chest will perform

http://articles.elitefts.com/features/so-you-think-you-can-bench-get-the-whole-series-here/

Hence why many people have overly developed anterior deltoids and underdeveloped chests. Get your technique in check, hit your chest hard with compounds and isolations (preferably in that order) and watch it grow.

Oh and eat and sleep heaps

If your shoulders are taking over, then it's a technique issue. Generally, it's from not staying locked into position (e.g. scpaula retraction, tight lats).

I agree with both of these right here. It does sound like too much anterior delt involvement. Keep your shoulder blades locked back and down and keep your lats and legs tight. Another thing you can try is bringing the bar lower, closer to your zyphoid process like power lifters do. I also like incorporating DC training style extreme stretches.

 

[3clipseGT]

If your shoulders are taking over, then it's a technique issue. Generally, it's from not staying locked into position (e.g. scpaula retraction, tight lats).

I agree with this, also i think people dont know how to "feel" there chest while they train.

Also utilizing exaustion techniques works well. Blast your chest with 5-6 sets of pec dec, ensuring you squeeze and push blood into the muscle before hitting your major sets.

 

[sweetchuck200]

I have this problem also.

 

[Gerbil]

[video=youtube;vUcjOIZc80c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUcjOIZc80c[/video]


This video helped me learn proper technique.