🔥 BENCH PRESS FOR MUSCLE GROWTH

✅ Are you performing the bench press correctly for muscle growth? Most of us have heard or know that the bench press is classified as a push exercise and think of it as such when performing it. The problem with that is that a pushing motion is very general and covers a lot of different joint and muscle movement. This can lead you to activating the accessory muscles more than they ought to be. The pec major during the bench press provides the pull force for horizontal adduction and that is what we want to focus on during the bench. There should be no protraction of the shoulder blades occurring, at least for hypertrophy training.

✅ At one point or another you’ve noticed when the weight on the bar might’ve been a little too much you pushed your shoulders forward a little to help you get the bar. That’s because the deltoids can fire up better in that position. This is what happens when we push the weight up, we engage the deltoids and serratus more than we should.

✅ To better isolate and focus on the pec major, focus on a adducting motion, think of bringing your humerus (upper arm) towards your midline to provide the force to lift the weight up. You’ll notice a difference in how much weight you can lift between this motion and bench where your goal is to push the weight up. This is why cuing is crucial when it comes to exercises, and knowing what muscles does what. This scenario applies to flys as well, all too often people are trying to hug the weight forward protecting their shoulder blades.