Help! I have no chest.....

[BRUCE]

The title to this thread may be a little misleading (although I do actually have no chest ), but I've recently started getting back into training and noticed that my chest is particularly difficult to train.

What I mean by this is that whilst I find it easy to pump my arms, legs and back, my chest is difficult to work.  Because of this I notice virtually no soreness the next day seemingly regardless of my intensity.

One of the reasons for this, I feel, is that i have tiny joints and long arms (I'm 6'2) and I fatigue my triceps long before chest.  My routine mainly involves these exercises (in no particular order):

DB Presses
DB Flyes
BB Incline Presses
DB Incline Presses

As you will have noticed, I don't do flat BB bench, not because i don't think it wouldn't help, but because I don't have a training partner and am afraid I will injure myself.

Anyone else suffering from this same problem?  Any advice at all would be great....

Cheers

[GMCtrk]

8-12 reps. high intensity. stick to basic movements. ain't nothin to it but to do it!

[ARMZ]

If you don't have a chest, but have big arms, please don't do heavy press movements. Just stick with pec dec and cable stuff, maybe hammer strength presses..

[dontknowit]

Do you maybe have any kind of Hammerstrength equipment (plateloaded) or something similair. Those machines can be beneficial, if you make sure that you keep doing db/barbell press. And what about oldfashion dips? Oldschool upperbody massbuilder.

Why don't you start trying doing barbellpresses. 220 lbs on your chest doesn't hurt, even 310 or higher doesn't hurt, as long as is doesn't drop on your chest.
And I haven't seen anything like that happening over the last 10 years. Usually you can't lift, gently put it on your chest, en start screaming, as long as you can breath, or other strange happenings, try putting the barbell on the side, try rolling it to the front,
but nobody injured.

[JPM]

Dips (weighted) and Pullover & Presses equal larger pecs. Good Luck.

[stayhungry]

What i would o if i was you is:

1) try sliding your hands apart a bit(wider arm grip on the bar) and bench, this will involve less tricep work.

2) Dont lockout your elbows on the way up, if you dont ever stop the weight on the way up or down i promise you you will feel a heck of alot of burn but you wont be able to do lots of weight.

3) do dumbell presses, help with shoulder injurys and just get youa burn all around.

[triple_pickle]

....I don't do flat BB bench, not because i don't think it wouldn't help, but because I don't have a training partner and am afraid I will injure myself.

wtf?  ask somebody to spot, pussy

[NoCalBbEr]

if you have big arms but not chest. i would say do all flys. bc  your arms are working during your chest movements if i was you, i would diff add flat bench press bc you  need a base to grow a big chest. i  do bench press, with no spotter. i sometimes dont want a spott. so that i, dont get use to a spott all the time. but for a heavy set then i'll get a spot rom someone. one of the most basic chest routines is flat bench press, incline bb/db press and  some flys.

[sarcasm]

If you don't have a chest, but have big arms, please don't do heavy press movements. Just stick with pec dec and cable stuff, maybe hammer strength presses..

that's the worst thing he could do, just get your bitch ass on the flat bench and send that bar up just ask someone in the gym to spot you.

[ARMZ]

that's the worst thing he could do, just get your bitch ass on the flat bench and send that bar up just ask someone in the gym to spot you.

I've seen it 100 times, big arms small chest = torn pec..  chest can't hang with the weight.

[Cleanest Natural]

had the same problem a while back due to my biomechanics. i got hooked up w/ ron love and here's how he fixed it forme..we used preexhaustion a lot..i'll give u a sample workout : start w peck deck 4x12, then flies 4x12 then slightly incline dumbell presses 4x6-8, hammmer strenght machine lying on my back(the one that makes u press in an arch) then dips(botommed out) then  cable flyies 4x12 then close grip pushups ( feet on the floor hands on the side of the bench...squeeze at the top).... pause 15-20 seconds in between sets, u gotta use a weight u can handle ,and it will be light, in between db presses strech pecs w/a partener ) ...the only thing different is db presses : heavy , longer rest and streching in between....good luck

[haider]

that's the worst thing he could do, just get your bitch ass on the flat bench and send that bar up just ask someone in the gym to spot you.

wow, I agree. How hard is it to increase your numbers on compounds, eat, and watchy ourself grow?

[Hedgehog]

I agree with those urging you to stick with compound movements.

Unless you're gonna compete in benchpress, I'd suggest you use a slight incline bench (15-20 degrees) when doing the benchpress, instead of the flat bench.

Add DB presses.Those two excersises will be enough IMO.

Next step would be to decide how many sets of each, how many reps and how often.

I would recommend doing more sets without ever going to failure, and training fairly frequently. Also, do many repetitions, maybe 6-7 reps.

YIP
Zack

[gtbro1]

I agree, slightly inclined bench,ask someone to spot you,or use a squat rack,just so long as nobody is wanting to squat at the time.

[lion33]

first thing you want to do is to squeeze your shoulder blades togather and stick your chest out. second is after grabbing the bar keep your elbows out really wide.(your arms at this point should be straight across from each other).

lighten up the weight and concentrate on squeezing the pec and not powering it up. dont use cables and do that fly crap. it might help define but your chest will get no bigger. flys are for guys who have slabs of meat on their chest and are trying to shape it up. and when you get to that point then you can do that.

make sure that during incline/flat barbell press you keep you chest expanded and shoulders rolled back. if you dont feel a burn then the weight is too much. i had to lower the weight about 100 pounds to get that burn.

from what you said about yourself, you are probley like the majority of us and have an underdeveloped chest and big front delts. if this is the case then the more you worry about how much weight you are doing and not following the 2 things i told you to do you will see no progress. if shoulders arent rolled back then the front delt takes all of the work.

hope this helps.go to bodybuilding.com and watch milos sarcev chest training.

[lion33]

one more thing. its not about reps,exercises or how often you do chest. its that your mechanics are bad and as soon as you correct them you will start seeing results. although once you get your technique down i would recommend heavily favoring incline barbell and training you lagging body part (chest) twice a week .

[Cold]

i have two simple advice for you hopefully they will help you.

1) when you bench or do other chest exercise, do not rep all the way up. keep it short from 1/2 to 3/4 of the full range only. this will help you greatly with your long arm / triceps-exhausted-before-chest problem and focus more energy and power to your chest workout.

2) don't get to fancy. chest is one of the few body parts that grow bigger with heavier weight. keep it basic and heavy, and if you're not already going heavy, try to work on increasing your strength.

[Unknown8471]

i would say to add flat bench, it might help you never know.

[Odinn]

Try doing some ultra-wide bench presses, get your hands as close to the weights as you can without pinching yourself on the hooks when you rack the weight.