Pecs Advice

PeadarofAodh

Hi all,
I've been going to the gym regularly now (UCD Crunch) for a few months. I generally stick to the machines because I find the free weights section is usually annoyingly busy and I prefer to feel at ease to go through my workout at my own pace without feeling any pressure to hurry up too much. I therefore use the fly bench for working on my pecs but recently I find that it's putting too much strain on my shoulder joints and it's been causing me a bit of discomfort.

I'm wondering could anyone recommend me another machine to use that might not have the same effect. I realise I'm most likely using the machine wrong but I'd rather move onto something else for a change anyway.

Also wondering could anyone recommend a decent, cheapish home bench press? I'm thinking about getting one over Xmas. Cheers

walt0r

Machines = cheating. Free weights = teh win.
It's more natural for you to use free weights. Among other things there is no friction and you have a full range of motion. Somebody should have told Tony Soprano that before he bought that ****ty machine bench he has in his basement.

Transform

I agree start using the free weights and you will get more progress.

Get down there and do your own thing, no one will rush you and if you are taking ages to just do a few exercises then you really need to pick up the pace.

start bench pressing

Degsy

PeadarofAodh wrote:

Hi all,
I've been going to the gym regularly now (UCD Crunch) for a few months. I generally stick to the machines because I find the free weights section is usually annoyingly busy and I prefer to feel at ease to go through my workout at my own pace without feeling any pressure to hurry up too much. I therefore use the fly bench for working on my pecs but recently I find that it's putting too much strain on my shoulder joints and it's been causing me a bit of discomfort.

I'm wondering could anyone recommend me another machine to use that might not have the same effect. I realise I'm most likely using the machine wrong but I'd rather move onto something else for a change anyway.

Also wondering could anyone recommend a decent, cheapish home bench press? I'm thinking about getting one over Xmas. Cheers

If its putting pressure on your shoulders you need to adjust the height of the seat,more than likely you need to raise it a bit.As the others have said you'll get very limited results from a pec machine by itself,you should start benching.If it looks busy you can allways ask somebody can you work with them..most people wont have a problem with that.

PeadarofAodh

Benching it is!

Any advice re: home benches? Should I get one that does legs as well or does that cost a lot more?

Dragan

There are too many excellent free weight excercises for the legs to bother getting a crappy addition to a home bench to do them! Squats, lunges, bulgarian split squats, stiff legged deadlifts etc.

With regard to the free weights vs machines rule I would simply advise that yes, any workout should contain a lot of free weight movements, but there are some very good machines out there to do isolation work on….and especially for back cable rows etc can be excellent.

PeadarofAodh

Anyone know anything about where to look for home benches so?

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

Yes, Mickk has started to stock them. My friend is buying some stuff off him at the moment and he sells all kinds of things like squat racks and olympic benches. They will be pricier than the crap you will get at Argos, Elverys and the like but are definitely worth spending money on in the long run.

rubadub

Has Mickk got a website up yet?

J.S. Pill

PeadarofAodh wrote:

Hi all,
I've been going to the gym regularly now (UCD Crunch) for a few months. I generally stick to the machines because I find the free weights section is usually annoyingly busy and I prefer to feel at ease to go through my workout at my own pace without feeling any pressure to hurry up too much.

If you find that the free weights section is too busy (which it invariably is in the evening time as I remember) I suggest using one of the chest press machines instead of the pec fly machines. They have one that you push straight out and one thats inclined (you push it out at an angle). Vary which one you use every couple of weeks.

I strongly strongly recommend getting a proper assessment done by one of the staff there. Costs about 10 quid per session but well worth it. They'll do up a program for you and help you out with technique and nutrition. Some of the instructors are better than others though.

PeadarofAodh

Home Benches advice anyone?

tribulus

I don't see what the problem is with the crunch benches tbh!

If you're decided on home benches, 1) don't bother with leg or fly attachments, the movement feels terrible and the foam padding barely pads at all.

The one I had many moons ago was a york one, the leg attachment had a 35kg max limit! What use is that!

Also don't bother getting an incline one as it's impossible to fit under the 2nd incline setting and even the top one is a tight squeeze.

All in all i think it's a waste of money when you're a paid member of a gym but...

york90 bench is fairly cheap. I got mine from argos for 90E with leg attachments, it had 2incline settings and max weight was 180kg - that includes your own bodyweight.

walt0r

Peadar, send a PM to Mickk. I'm in the process of buying a rack and bench from him at the moment. With a power rack you can do squats/deads/shrugs/benching flat/incline/chins/dips. It'll be more expensive but definitely worth it. You'll have your own work-out station at home and it'll last for years and years. If you buy one of those silly argos/elverys benches you'll grow out of it in a few years when you're a big boy.

PeadarofAodh

Thanks Waltor, I'm guessing the weights don't come with that - where should I look for those?

I'm looking into getting a home bench because I find the UCD Crunch free weights section is often really really busy and I want to get in and out without having to wait around for too long.

Easygainer

Dragan wrote:

There are too many excellent free weight excercises for the legs to bother getting a crappy addition to a home bench to do them! Squats, lunges, bulgarian split squats, stiff legged deadlifts etc.

With regard to the free weights vs machines rule I would simply advise that yes, any workout should contain a lot of free weight movements, but there are some very good machines out there to do isolation work on….and especially for back cable rows etc can be excellent.

Bump, although I don't believe machines are just there for "isolation".

A good routine will icorporate differing ranges of movements and angles for the same muscle group so machines can help here. Hammer, cybex and nautilus are the best because tey are close to free weight movements and mostly isolateral.

To give you an idea of my use of machines for pecs in a sample routine-
day 1: incline smith press
day 2: hammer chest press
day 3: incline machine chest press

I only train one exercise per bodypart on a day so this would fall in with my chest, shoulders tris workout, of which I doi a rotation of 3 workouts...

Machines have the distinct advantage of allowing you to really kill yourself without fear of getting trapped under the bar if you have no spotter...

Anton17

I really couldn't recommend machines for your chest. I joined crunch ucd last year. I shyed away from the bench press and stuck to the fly and chest press machines. I increased the weights rapidly,starting at about the 8th stack on the fly. I had almost maxed out the machine in 4 or 6 months,with very little gains in mass. I joined a 'real gym' back home for the summer months. The guys there got me onto a real programme (didnt charge me 10e either) and continously updated and monitored it. Bench presses, inclines and dumbell flys have yielded far better results.
Get over your shyness, your not gonna be the smallest guy down there I guarantee it.

Neamhshuntasach

i wouldn't even bother with the fly's if i was you. not that great. stick with the main compound movements. flat bench and incline dumbbells is all you need for your chest. the chest muscles already act as a synergist with other exercises. i find most gains with only working each muscle directly once a week.