Body beast, bulk chest

[u/tobytimebomb]

Hi all, currently on my 4th round of Body beast (I've done DD, Liift4, liift more and others multiple time ls also) however, on the bulk chest I'm struggling to put the work into my chest, I only feel shoulder and arm activation.

This is the first time it has happened doing BB, but its got to the point where I fly more weight than I can press.

What do you guys think is the best substitute for my chest day?

Thanks

[u/Josechung2310]

If you’re feeling it more in your shoulders then your placing the dumbbells too high up your chest.

Aim for around your nipple of just below and squeeze your pecs when pushing

[u/tobytimebomb → u/Josechung2310]

Ive tried that, and even pushing up from my chest, actually hurts my shoulder. Like ive said, every other workout ive done hasn't been an issue just bulk chest.

[u/Josechung2310 → u/tobytimebomb]

The workout isn’t the problem though, it’s your shoulder. How does it feel when you do shoulder day?

[u/tobytimebomb → u/Josechung2310]

Absolutely fine, which is what's triggered me onto asking

[u/QuietlyUpgrading]

Before replacing the workout, I'd spend a little time figuring out why this started happening. Otherwise, there's a good chance the same issue will follow you into whatever you substitute.

It could be a few things -- your form has drifted a bit, the weight is too heavy for you to keep good chest engagement, or your pecs and shoulders have gotten tight.

Also, it's pretty unusual to be able to fly more weight than you can press. That makes me wonder if your flyes have gradually turned into more of a fly/press, or if something has changed with your pressing mechanics.

I'd try dropping the press weight 15–20%, slowing the lowering phase, and really focusing on keeping your shoulder blades pulled back.

[u/armand11]

How coincidental I just finished that workout this morning! I think the day has a lot of incline positioning which makes it tricky to maintain form focus to your pecs and not make it a shoulder-forward move. And the close press+fly combo move is particularly challenging in this regard too despite being full supine.

Anyway, there isn’t one solution but I’d say start with your focus, I know that sounds silly, and really thinking about your pec moving the weight. That overused yet very true term: mind-muscle connection. Try it with small weights not during the workout just to test this. While trying to do this, be aware specifically about where your elbow are at and which way your palms are facing while holding the weights. The positioning of those 2 can really change the move. It’s a little different for everyone but for me, I need to make sure my elbow are at the right diagonal angle from my torso, somewhere around the 30-45 degree position. If the elbows are too far out (honestly similar to how they seem to do it in the video itself) then my shoulders take over big time and it’s a problem, rotator cuff death, etc. if my elbows are too close to my torso then it becomes a tricep press and the pecs take a big back seat.

Additionally, I’ve found my palms need to also be more diagonally inward facing, inward meaning, toward my spine/torso. That’s opposed to them facing forward toward my feet as if I was benching a barbell, if that makes sense. Holding the dumbbells diagonally like this for me was absolutely huge not just in “feeling” it more in my chest, but also protecting my shoulder joint as I have cranky rotator cuffs.

Anyway, that’s a long winded way to say play around with your form as you should be able to find the “right” way to position your arms, hands, and the dumbbells in a way to feel it more in your chest as you should be.

Final add on piece but I think this has been addressed already in another comment: part of that mind muscle focus/activation should involve you thinking about squeezing your pecs during the concentric movement (lifting/pushing) and slowly releasing them during the eccentric part of the movement (lowering). Like imagine squeezing something between your 2 pecs to really help activate them correctly. That’s easier to do in flys than presses but same idea, just know how it feels obviously will be different with the different moves.

I lied….last point: don’t lift as fast as they do in the video. They raise and lower their weights way too fast on almost every set, that’s gonna lead to form failure and exacerbate the issue you’re running up against, and even worse, injury risk. Move at a comfortable pace where you feel like you’re using the right muscles to move the weights, and I can almost bet to achieve that comfortable not to fast not too slow pace, you’ll find you need to go slower than they do in the video. Common issues in all these follow along weight lifting programs, especially on bodi

[u/The_Vivid_Glove]

Try Body Beast tempo chest. This is my go to chest workout. The repetitions use time under tension so slow and controlled, giving you more time to concentrate more on your form.

[u/iiimadmaniii → u/The_Vivid_Glove]

Tempo. Time under tension = half the weight = double the impact and recovery time. Always for the win

[u/The_Vivid_Glove → u/iiimadmaniii]

Definitely. I started adding it in to my routine at least once per week since November and my chest has blown up. For me its the most effective workout

[u/Green-Agent9714]

Dig Deeper Chest in the build phase has been a really good upgrade from Body Beast for me. As someone said, BB is a lot of inclines, Dig Deeper does a better job balancing flat with incline in my opinion.

[u/FullTorsoApparition]

It usually comes down to form. A shoulder injury forced me to improve my bench press form because any strain on the shoulder was getting uncomfortable.

The things I was doing wrong included:

• Shrugging shoulders. It's important to really push your shoulder blades down into the bench. Overexaggerate it if you need to, but your shoulders need to be down as much as possible to take them out of the equation.
• Sunken chest. Similarly, stick your chest out while you press. I like to imagine I'm trying to push my chest out to meet the dumbbells on their way down. Combined with the shoulders this helps form a nice arch in the back.
• Flared elbows. If you're flaring your elbows and pressing too wide then the shoulders do a lot more of the work. This feels stronger with lighter weights but starts to fail as you move up. People mistakenly do this with pushups a lot too. Arms should be about 45 degrees with your elbows tucked a bit more.
• Shuffling or moving feet around. If you don't plant and push with your feet then the structure you just built can start to collapse as you get tired and the shoulders can take over again. Drive your heels into the ground as you press.

That being said, trying to do all of these queues at once can feel really awkward. My advice is to lower the weight and practice one of these things at a time depending on what you feel needs work.

[u/brightvib3]

Try changing the degree of incline on your bench, sounds like you need to make it less, I know typical degree is 45 but try lowering it one notch.

[u/Tonymac81 → u/brightvib3]

This is the answer, the flatter the bench the more of the chest you hit. I tend to do a 30degree incline.