Why do i feel incline db press more than on flat?

[MobyDickFace]

Whenever i flat bench it feels like my chest does little to no work compared to my shoulders/tris. But when i do a mild incline db press with a slight arch in my back it feels like i activate the hell out of my pecs. Took me a while to learn this.. my arms are way bigger than my chest which is practically non existent.. should I just stick with incline DB press while slightly arching back to catch my pecs up to the rest of my body? The chest is by far my laggiest muscle. Probably somewhat genetic but i think a big part is flat bench for me hits mostly shoulder/tris. Any advice bros?

 

[notdorianyates]

On flat you should engage pecs and tris bro! If you are feeling it on your shoulders that will mist likely be down to bad form because you're lifting too heavy. Drop the weight to knock out 8-10 happily and see how it feels. It still shoulders drop weight again until you get your form- then build up weight again. Better to check your ego and make gains where you want them than fight to lift weights with incorrect form and injure yourself.

Incline sounds better with you feeling the pecs, but the fact you are arching your back means again you're probably lifting too heavy.

Sorry bro, but you will make much better noticeable gains by dropping weight and hitting the right muscles with the correct form.

Good luck.

 

[MobyDickFace]

Appreciate the advice man. I even lowered the weights on my flat DB press earlier and hit it. But once again the second i changed to minor incline i felt the best contractions in my pecs.. I dont feel that at all when i do flat even at lower weights. (maybe because im more used to flat and havent done any incline work?) Im thinking about starting with incline, hitting flat after, and finishing with some dips from now on. Maybe im just feeling the incline contraction more intensely because my upper chest is nonexistant? Im still a rookie but learning a lot =)

Also, i think my form is pretty decent for the most part. I never actually FEEL it in my shoulders when i do flat (was just a speculation and concern if this is/could be the case). when i hit my press my arms are almost straight out but not 100% perpendicular to my body and my DBs come up slightly diagonal. I know my tris are getting hit hard for sure cuz they are growing like a weed. when i first started lifting my pecs were sore as hell. Just hard to gauge sometimes cause my recovery has sped up significantly and i don't get the soreness much at all anymore.

 

[Optimal]

Almost always a form issue. Tuck those shoulder blades together!!!

Also, this:
Dave Tate's Six-Week Bench Press Cure - YouTube
People talk shit about "powerlifter form" all the time but they are the ones striving to get as little stress on the shoulder as possible in order to prevent injury... using their form will build up some great pecs & tris. And if you want less tri involvement then just don't go up all the way.

 

[MobyDickFace]

Tuck the shoulder blades? Like this ? How to Squeeze Your Shoulder Blades When Benching StrongLifts

Looks like the dude is just squeezing his traps together?

 

[Kazmir]

I had the same issue for the longest time and Optimal is right most likely a form issue. My problem was bring the weight down too high on my chest, I found slight arch in my back, both shoulder blades squeezed and actually on the bench and bringing the weight down slightly higher than my nipples has done wonders..

 

[MobyDickFace]

Now that i think about it i bet it is my shoulder blades. Cuz when i go into incline press my shoulder blades retract before my back hits the bench. I dont do that when i hit my flat however. I'ma have to do some sperimenting =D

 

[Austinite]

The larger portion of the chest gets pumped now matter what exercise you perform. The lower insertions of the upper chest are only felt when incline is performed. That's probably the "extra" feeling you're getting. I prefer the incline over any other chest exercise. Sometimes I'll take the bench to a silly incline to target this.

 

[MobyDickFace]

The larger portion of the chest gets pumped now matter what exercise you perform. The lower insertions of the upper chest are only felt when incline is performed. That's probably the "extra" feeling you're getting. I prefer the incline over any other chest exercise. Sometimes I'll take the bench to a silly incline to target this.

Right on right on.. Does it sound like my flat bench form might be off from my earlier description?

 

[Austinite]

Right on right on.. Does it sound like my flat bench form is off from my description?

Hard to tell on a forum. I'd have to see. But I haven't benched pressed in nearly 4 years. Waste of time compared to DB's (for me). I dropped barbells all together.

 

[MobyDickFace]

Hard to tell on a forum. I'd have to see. But I haven't benched pressed in nearly 4 years. Waste of time compared to DB's (for me). I dropped barbells all together.

Yea, i haven't benched in minute (i did this for the first 2 months with no prior experience lifting) . I noticed that when i switched to dbs from barbell my pecs got sore again. It's just hard to gauge now whether im getting a good chest blast or not cuz i dont ever get sore anymore. My tris, bis, and traps are the only thing i can BARELY get sore from now (im assuming this is because i have a much easier time isolating the contraction of these muscles than everything else)..

If its hard to do a pushup at the end of my push day is this a good way to tell that i hit it right? lol

 

[Austinite]

Weighted Dips do well for my tri's.