Benching with eagle arms

[Jerkthamerk]

I am 6'4" and my wingspan middle finger tip to tip is almost 80". It has always been so hard to build chest but my arms blow up instantly. I have trouble isolating my chest from my tris also.

Does anyone have any advise on how to get around this? I usually just have to mostly use dumbbell press incline decline and flat but it gets painful at higher weights eventually. Flat bench is my worst enemy.

 

[Longboy]

Hi mate, I'm also your height and in the eyes of experienced lifters still very much a novice but what works for me is a good 5 minute shoulder warm up then I'll start with an isolation exercise like cable crossovers then on to some compound movements and finishing with another isolation exercise. I've made good progress with this.

What is it that hurts when your lifting?

 

[Jerkthamerk]

Mostly my shoulders. One is much worse than the other. When I get up to the 115 or so Dumbbells it starts to feel like its grinding bone on bone though it's not obviously. Like in the ball joint.

 

[RodgerThat]

Make sure you are benching properly for one. As for your chest and triceps it's a compound movement.... You aren't suppose to be able to isolate your chest from your triceps. If you want to work just pecs then move onto a fly variation of some sort, cable cross overs high to low and low to high do this nicely with a solid squeeze inbetween.

 

[Jerkthamerk]

Shoulder pain is most prevalent when doing incline dumbbell press with higher weights. And I have tried different positions on flat bench without much improvement. I know it is a compound movement but my triceps feel like they are doing 90% of the press. Atleast that's how it feels when they burn out before my chest on flat bench. I just meant isolate my chest to the point I'm not working out my tris more than my chest on flat bench.

 

[Jerkthamerk]

Take a tape measure and pull out 80". Lol I'm telling you these arms are longer than fuckkkk.

 

[RodgerThat]

Take a tape measure and pull out 80". Lol I'm telling you these arms are longer than fuckkkk.

I'm aware of how large 80" is bud yes you are at a mechanical disadvantage but on the same coin you are at a LBM advantage as you can have more muscle with larger muscle bellys. If you want to burn your chest out at the same rate as your triceps you have 2 options. Option A get stronger triceps so they aren't burning out first, do this by working overload sets, pin presses, tricep overhead extensions. Option B superset your compound with a isolation ex: bench press SS cable cross over, incline bench SS cable high to low, decline bench SS cable low to high. Another way is to go on a hammer strength pec press and sit at a 45 and press inward such as this:

 

[Jerkthamerk]

This is kind of what I have been doing lately. I've been using a lot of cable crossover just focusing on upper, lower , inner chest by changing position. These are the only reason I have definition. I've never tried the hammer pec press like you pictured. I will try this. Looking at it I think it would be a way for me to actually build my chest up because everything else just maintains/defines it. That's the main issue is finding something heavy enough to put on mass where I am still able to isolate chest. Is this you in the picture? If so Those deltoids look like a fucking road map! Good on Ya.

 

[RodgerThat]

This is kind of what I have been doing lately. I've been using a lot of cable crossover just focusing on upper, lower , inner chest by changing position. These are the only reason I have definition. I've never tried the hammer pec press like you pictured. I will try this. Looking at it I think it would be a way for me to actually build my chest up because everything else just maintains/defines it. That's the main issue is finding something heavy enough to put on mass where I am still able to isolate chest. Is this you in the picture? If so Those deltoids look like a fucking road map! Good on Ya.

No not me, I look like a 55Gallon barrel fucked a patatoe. Just an example photo. It's got all the proper mechanics to hit chest really good but mass building isn't about heavy weights it's about muscle activation and calories. If you do cable cross overs and achieve a good pump and eat enough you will grow. You can have size in the absence of strength and vice versa

 

[theprodgicalson]

when you are planning on lifting chest you could also do some tricep work BEFORE you do bench work. do something like pulldowns fairly light weight just to tax your triceps enough that they arent 100% for bench. in result your chest will take over a bit more as it is more fresh.

you could also do the same for shoulders by doing some shoulder raises prior to bench.

 

[johntt44]

I'm 6"2 with 79" wingspan. I benched 415 for 5 a couple of weeks ago. That's just an excuse. Find the right grip and body position and eat. I've been lifting over 20yrs also. Plug away because it's not gonna happen overnight.