What muscle should you build to do better on Bench Press?
admin | Dec 17, 2008 | 3 comments
Armin13 asked:
According to my friend, the strength of your Biceps has little or no effect on your Bench Press. My friend said that the stronger Pectoral Muscles you have, the more weight you can lift on bench press, which doesn’t really make sense to me. After I bench press, my arms and biceps feel tired, not my chest. Which muscle makes you do better and lift more on Bench Press, your Chest or your Biceps?
Mara
Filed Under: Cardio
First of all, i know what you mean when your biceps feel sore, but dont let it fool you. The triceps are the main muscles that extend your arms out. The biceps bring them in. Of course, they are working in conjunction with all the minor muscles in your arms ie forearms. Now back to your question… The triceps and pecs as well as front and middle delt (shoulder) muscles are what will be used mainly when doing the bench press. Now dont go bust out a bunch of presses and expect the best results, although you will get some, just yet. The best thing you should do in order to improve your bench as well as your total upper body is to perform exercises for your back, upper and lower, equally to your chest. Your shoulders can seriously get injured if all you do is bench presses and no rows or pull ups. And by working your back, you will have a better posture and that cool V shape from your shoulders to your torso.
Aside from the pecs, the triceps are the main extensors in bench pressing. You’ll notice guys with big tri’s most likely have a big bench. So focus on working your tri’s more. Also, the lats play a major role in benching. They kind of serve as the launch pad from which you press. Again, guys with big backs will most likely have big bench numbers.
So there you go, put emphasis on your tri’s and lats through high-intensity workouts to increase your bench.
bench press is a compound exercise… so many muscles come into play here…
of course you want to develop your pectoralis major… that is the priority muscle… it its still most used there…
then there is the shoulder, the biceps, the triceps even the core muscles (the abs)…
the abs do actually minimally here… it simply positions your body so that it does not curl up or down when the arms move, the shoulders do greater, especially the front deltoids…
the biceps is used when you are putting the barbels down…
the triceps is used when you push the barbels up.
If you feel more exhausted in the arms area, it is because it is smaller than the pecs muscle, plus it moves more. In order for you to maximize your workouts, do what some bodybuilders advise: visualize that your pecs are doing the effort… concentrate hard on what you are doing… sooner, you will see the development of your chest anyway. §
You might also want to vary your bench position from straight, to incline and decline… It will also be good if you work out with slightly heavier weights with fewer reps.