Pushups vs. Chest Press
Hi everyone.
A little catch up on what I’ve been up to.
Plus, I’ve got a very big cheat night coming to me tonight that I’m very excited about so just letting you know what mischief I plan to get up to with my night of over consumption and debauchery!!!
Also, I’ve been working on my Pushup form since my last post about Pushups. Its not easy with the revisions you guys gave me.
And now you’ve got me thinking about my Chest Press form. Am I doing it right? I need your input again.
Check it out and let me know.
Here’s the video with the Chest Press demo:
Here’s the original post in case you want to see everything I was up to that day:
Chest Press 35lb Dumbbell Demo
So, what do you think everyone? Lemme have it.
What am I doing wrong? What am I doing right? Should I give up working out altogether? LOL!! (please don’t say THAT, cuz it ain’t gonna happen!).
But definitely post comments in my comments section so everyone can see it. I’ve got nothing to hide (even though maybe I should have? hahaha) But I’m sure everyone else watching & reading would like to know what you’ve got to say too!!
Also, one other thing!!
I’ve experienced a minor meltdown of my mailing list service… if you can consider a full loss of my contacts as ‘minor’… sigh… I don’t think it ever actually sent out anything that I intended to send out either.
Anyway, I’ve joined a very reputable service now and have a new opt-in box for my occasional newsletter over on the sidebar (at the top).
So, if you’d already joined, I apologize for asking this, but please re-join so you don’t miss any of the fun stuff I’m planning to send out over the next few months.
For anyone who hasn’t yet joined: good lord, what are you waiting for? Sign up!! A FREE interview conducted by ME with my favourite guy Mike Geary coming your way immediately as a special thank you for your understanding.
THANKS!!
May 28th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
OMG, loved it! You *are* an inspiration…I truly feel motivated to steal my kids weights and start reducing the flabby arms (very “lunch lady” looking these days!). Thank you for putting yourself out there! I appreciate it and will try to figure out how to subscribe so I won’t miss another one…
May 28th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
HI JEANETTE!!!! THANKS FOR THE COMMENT!!! to subscribe, just click on my RSS feed button, should route you right into your reader to approve me as a subscription!! thanks again, love having you here!
Jackie
May 28th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Hey J!
I saw the original chest presses. 35 lbs is no joke. Firt off, there is nothing wrong with the motion at all. Its neat and jerk free. However, you are not working your chest muscles at all. To a certain degree yes but with the downward motion you have restricted yourself thoroughly.
On your downward motion, you need to bring the dumbbell further down and almost level with you chest. You are restricted because of the width of the coffee table that you use to substitute the bench. The bench typically should be narrow enough and fall just a bit short of the shoulder blades. Hence you can move your arms further down. This is when the chest press is most effective. You will “feel” the muscles being worked. I would suggest you get a narrow bench and use that for your presses.
Hope this was helpful. Cheerio!
Shrinath (twitter.com/javashri)
May 29th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Hey Shrinath!! Thanks for commenting… great to see you here!!! I actually AM able to bring my elbows down further than my chest on the downward movement, even with that makeshift bench I use (the pillows help), so will try that next time I’m pressing. Funny tho, I didn’t think I was able to do that with a BB press, because the bar stops you when it hits your chest but maybe I’m mistaken. I’ll have to pay more attention to that when I do my next occasional gym visit to play on the BBs.
thanks again for the comment!! you rock! see ya in tweety-land!
J
May 29th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Hey Jackie!
I thought I’d chime in with a few thoughts.
Fistly, the pressups – they will be more difficult for a start just because you’re using the muscles slightly differently but you’ll soon get your strength back up in them. Don’t be disheartened though, I know a lot of females who can’t even do 1 full press up, let alone complaining about 10 being a struggle! Don’t lose sight of that!
With your dumbbell presses – I would say that you need to stabilise yourself more. If you look at the video, there’s quite a lot of movement all over which will reduce your ability to press more.
Personally, I would have you set your feet out wider than what they are and making sure your feet are below your knees or slightly behind them with your heels being pushed into the ground.
I can’t tell if you’re doing it from the video but I would also have you squeeze your shoulder blades together before pressing the weights – again, this will add stability to the movement and in turn allow you to lift more weight.
Any questions then shout me :-)
Jon
http://joncoulson.blogspot.com/
May 29th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
cool!! awesome comments Jon. Thanks tons. Shall take it all to heart next time I’m pressing! and thanks for the peptalk about the pushups!!! :-) I must remember I’m stronger than most chicks I know so won’t let it get me down that I’m back to having my feet on the ground while I relearn my form!! :-)
you rock!
J
June 1st, 2009 at 7:31 pm
When I went from a flared elbow style of benching to a more elbows in style, my weights went down A LOT! Don’t worry, it comes back :) Your body just has to learn a different way of lifting.
Incidentally I wasn’t suggesting the ‘bodybuilding’ style of lifting was wrong … I was just offering a different alternative that I’ve PERSONALLY found to be a better option.
I’ve found that by using the ‘elbows in’ style, I get better shoulder stability and it also allows me to bring the lats into the lift. Overall, I think it ‘feels safer’ and it has definitely enabled me to lift heavier weights (eventually).
K
June 1st, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Good gawd, FG!!! I don’t feel safer with my elbows in at ALL!! just the opposite, in fact, way less stability with them in. I’ve never suffered any shoulder woes so maybe I’m good to go with the ‘bodybuilder’ style? I kinda like playing in the big boys arena anyway (or hadn’t you already noticed that? LOL)
thanks for the comment!
June 18th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Ha, not sure why I ended up here- oh yeah to see the recipe for the Oatmeal Pancakes and started watching this video- You Rock! Gosh it is beautiful out there- got an photos of the beach or videos from the beach? I wanna see- I am an east coast girl- Ft Lauderdale so was wondering what it looked like out your way!
Anyway Great Post! As Usual
June 18th, 2009 at 12:55 am
yah girl!! I twitpic pics from the beach all the time… and if you check out my video from about 3 posts ago, I do a whole walking tour of the seawall and beaches area… check it out!! :-)