Chest Training: 2 Important Tips

Whilst in the gym, you see a lot of people either struggle to activate their chest or injure themselves whilst training it. It’s not uncommon for people to say that they can never feel their chest working and that they feel that their arms are doing all the work.
However there are a few small changes that you can make whilst training chest that can lower the risk of injury and also allow you to place more emphasis on the muscle that you want to target.

1 KEEP YOUR SHOULDERS BACK AT ALL TIMES
If you let your shoulders come forward and your chest become concave, as
many do at the end of a press, the emphasis will come off your chest and on
to other muscle groups. If you keep your shoulders back and chest up
throughout the movement, it will help you keep the stress on your chest.
When you perform chest flys and particularly pressing movements, try to stop
once you’ve reached the highest point you can without your shoulders coming
forward.

2 DON’T LOWER THE WEIGHT TOO FAR
A lot of people in the gym will lower the weight as far back as they can when
doing press and fly movements. Whilst some may say that you should use as
much range as you can, lowering the weight too far can take the emphasis off
your chest and place strain on your shoulders. This will make it harder to
engage the chest again and will also increase the likelihood of injuring your
shoulders. To avoid this, and to keep the stress on your chest, lower the
weight to the point where your elbows are level with your shoulders.
You should still feel a stretch in your chest, will also find it easier to maintain
tension as well as avoiding unwanted strain on your shoulders.


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GAH Gym
Unit 38, Albion Industrial Estate, Cilfynydd, Pontypridd, CF37 4NX