Slow Chest Press Progresss

[twigsforever]

7 months into my journey I am still learning how much I can lift with several movements, mostly compound. But really struggling with any chest press.

Talking with my coach, he mentioned a few things that are helpful. First is that it seems chest progress is slow for most people in general. Second is that I shouldn't get hung up on the weight as that's just part of it, the rest including mind-muscle, clean reps, good squeeze, tempo, etc. Makes sense.

He's added an incline movement to my upper day, previously upper just had close grip flat press.

But the process has made me wonder what other movements might share similar "slow progress" traits, and how the more experienced lifters work through those.

When you can't hit 12 reps without rest, what do you focus on in the meantime to keep you dialed into the movement?

 

[Meetketchup]

Your coach is right. We aren't powerlifters. Tension, intensity, progressive overload and volume in a moderate to high rep range.

Incline everything is more advantageous than flat work. You get the same benefits of flat PLUS the added benefits on incline. Varied angles are great as well.

Presses, Flys - Repeat

I like doing chest 2 times/week and 3 if it needs to be brought up. Of course, with volume you can recover from.

Really no secret.

 

[BigMike305]

I love pressing movements

In the past there are a few things that helped me increase my chest pressing strength

Flys
Overhead pressing / military presssing
Dips, weighted if possible
Using a bench box/pad when pressing or using floor presses (helps to get you though that sticking point mid way through the press )

And obviously training for strength Va hypertrophy are two different things . When I was training for strength I kept my reps low, anywhere from 3-8 reps per set

Now that I’ve moved into the hypertrophy world of bodybuilding I tend to keep my reps higher 8-20

 

[soumikr]

Swapping flat barbell for dumbbell presses completely fixed my stagnant pressing numbers last year.

 

[twigsforever]

I’m liking the combination of higher reps and dumbbells, I’ll swap for that strategy and come back to the bar in a few weeks


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[Machforce1]

As others have mentioned, when I stopped focusing on the amount of weight I was moving and started going for form and feel with much less weight, I started responding much better. Also, incline flys, done correctly are absolutely a must for chest thickness.

 

[Big_Jimmy434]

Incline everything is more advantageous than flat work. You get the same benefits of flat PLUS the added benefits on incline.

Exactly. I wish more people understood this!

 

[Wardamn]

7 months into my journey I am still learning how much I can lift with several movements, mostly compound. But really struggling with any chest press.

Talking with my coach, he mentioned a few things that are helpful. First is that it seems chest progress is slow for most people in general. Second is that I shouldn't get hung up on the weight as that's just part of it, the rest including mind-muscle, clean reps, good squeeze, tempo, etc. Makes sense.

He's added an incline movement to my upper day, previously upper just had close grip flat press.

But the process has made me wonder what other movements might share similar "slow progress" traits, and how the more experienced lifters work through those.

When you can't hit 12 reps without rest, what do you focus on in the meantime to keep you dialed into the movement?

Putting an incline in place of close grip bench should help tremendously.

What's your current weight and rep range on the incline?

 

[Vexor]

I love pressing movements

In the past there are a few things that helped me increase my chest pressing strength

Flys
Overhead pressing / military presssing
Dips, weighted if possible
Using a bench box/pad when pressing or using floor presses (helps to get you though that sticking point mid way through the press )

And obviously training for strength Va hypertrophy are two different things . When I was training for strength I kept my reps low, anywhere from 3-8 reps per set

Now that I’ve moved into the hypertrophy world of bodybuilding I tend to keep my reps higher 8-20

Solid list. Overhead presses and dips carry over great to bench, and floor presses help the lockout.

 

[balin]

In general when i am not gaining i look at diet first not the movement. Then i would look at how i was doing them. Then at switching movements. For years i lifted like a power lifter and the pecs did not grow a lot even though my numbers were good.

 

[twigsforever]

In general when i am not gaining i look at diet first not the movement. Then i would look at how i was doing them. Then at switching movements. For years i lifted like a power lifter and the pecs did not grow a lot even though my numbers were good.

Let's not talk about the diet, brother. Haha, nah diet is dialed, just in a cut so not much I can do there. I'm progressing everywhere else.

Interesting thought about the dips, I am actually progressing there as well. Yesterday was dips and I did 20lbs weighted, knocked out the first 2 sets of 12 then stalled at 10 on the last set.

I've been doing upright chest flys, I'll make that switch to incline!

Great tips in here, muchos gracias!

 

[twigsforever]

Putting an incline in place of close grip bench should help tremendously.

What's your current weight and rep range on the incline?

A measly 135 for 12 challenging reps. At 140 I can get to 8 before I'm gassed.