building mind muscle connection

[rt_rusty]

Hey guys having a bit of trouble getting that mind muscle connection and really feeling that target muscle work and squeeze where as my support muscles seem to give out first.

the two exercises in particular are flat/incline dumbbell press and wide grip pull up.

With the dumbbell press i believe my form is pretty good my arms go straight out to the side (90°s to my body) in a semi circular motion and pinch my shoulder blades together but my shoulders always always ALWAYS give out first i still feel my chest working but but no where near as much as my shoulders.

Same problem with my pull ups. I get quite sore in my shoulder joints when I do these. Once again I think my form is good chest out and pinching my shoulder blades together. My lats do not really feel sore when im doing these and my shoulders give out before a get a real burn in my lats.

This is really annoying me cause i no both of these exercises are bread and butter moves and I can not effectively target the main muscle.

Any tips on how to effectively concentrate on the target muscle or form critiques are very much welcome help me pleaseeeee

[BeastBuilder]

Getting a really good stretch on all exercises helps bro, so fully stretch on Pull Ups and full stretch on DB Press (eg shoulders up by ears on pull ups and dbs down to chest on db press)

Also i assume you can flex the muscle when you are just standing there ? So imagine you are flexing the particular muscle when doing the movement, this helps involve that muscle more and have you focus on contracting it.

My .02

[rt_rusty]

Getting a really good stretch on all exercises helps bro, so fully stretch on Pull Ups and full stretch on DB Press (eg shoulders up by ears on pull ups and dbs down to chest on db press)

Also i assume you can flex the muscle when you are just standing there ? So imagine you are flexing the particular muscle when doing the movement, this helps involve that muscle more and have you focus on contracting it.

My .02

Yup im doing the full range of motion

Yeah can flex them when just standing there, ill remember to do this when im next working out. Thanks bro

[rt_rusty]

Anyone else want to add their 2c?

[thatwaslight]

the more muscle you have the better you can feel the contraction, catch 22 really.

[nate225]

Hey guys having a bit of trouble getting that mind muscle connection and really feeling that target muscle work and squeeze where as my support muscles seem to give out first.

Any tips on how to effectively concentrate on the target muscle or form critiques are very much welcome help me pleaseeeee

you know I can't do your ghost curls..... :grin:

My 2 cents is that some exercises you get more of this connection as less other muscles (tendons & nerves) are involved in the movement. Try feeling any sort of connection with heavy squats or deads other than your intestines trying to leave your body!

I didn't used to pay much attention to this but Harry sold me on it. Despite me thinking he was a hippy for a few weeks it seems to have worked for me over recent months.

I tend to focus on the contraction more on later exercises after I've smashed my heavy stuff. I use lighter weights usually in the 12-20 rep range and often close my eyes when doing these (srs).

Just my take tho....

[rt_rusty]

you know I can't do your ghost curls..... :grin:

My 2 cents is that some exercises you get more of this connection as less other muscles (tendons & nerves) are involved in the movement. Try feeling any sort of connection with heavy squats or deads other than your intestines trying to leave your body!

I didn't used to pay much attention to this but Harry sold me on it. Despite me thinking he was a hippy for a few weeks it seems to have worked for me over recent months.

I tend to focus on the contraction more on later exercises after I've smashed my heavy stuff. I use lighter weights usually in the 12-20 rep range and often close my eyes when doing these (srs).

Just my take tho....

I dont do deadlifts but with squats fuckkk me i get a massive burn in my quads and really feel them working which is what i want for my chest and back when i do presses and pull ups

Thats a good idea im gunna try that next workout add in a couple light slow sets at the end. Thanks

[PeterDolan]

Wit chest, back and shoulders, I focus on the movement from the elbow in stead of the hands and a squeeze at the top of the movement

[Pseudonym]

Sometimes I find it's helpful to do another exercise first. For example, it can be tricky to focus on the hamstrings in stiff-legged deadlifts (different from the deadlifts Nate was talking about). I find doing a few sets of leg curls first can help.

In your case, it might be a pec deck machine for chest. And for lats, try standing side-on to a high pulley cable machine so your arm is pulled up about 45 degrees above horizontal. Pull your elbow down to your side (don't let it come round in front of you, or you'll start pulling with your chest). Don't know what that one's called - I made it up, but it seems to work. :pfft:

[rt_rusty]

Wit chest, back and shoulders, I focus on the movement from the elbow in stead of the hands and a squeeze at the top of the movement

Thanks ill give this a go next time as well

Sometimes I find it's helpful to do another exercise first. For example, it can be tricky to focus on the hamstrings in stiff-legged deadlifts (different from the deadlifts Nate was talking about). I find doing a few sets of leg curls first can help.

In your case, it might be a pec deck machine for chest. And for lats, try standing side-on to a high pulley cable machine so your arm is pulled up about 45 degrees above horizontal. Pull your elbow down to your side (don't let it come round in front of you, or you'll start pulling with your chest). Don't know what that one's called - I made it up, but it seems to work. :pfft:

That sounds like a good idea except I dont go to a gym so a bit limited to what exercises I can do but i could maybe do a set of flys before a chest move and what would you suggest for lats that can be done with dumbbells or a barbell?

[rovr4on]

if you have some form of chin up bar you can do wide grip pull up with focusing on the pinching of the shoulder blades at top of ROM... this is good for lats, you can also do barbell rows, head just above the hip with similar pinching of the shoulder blades during the row. Great lats builders, hard to feel the lats being worked, but you will notice good lat growth and other areas of the back will feel very tight and pumped afterwards!!

[olympia]

I get pissed off trying to do close grip bench for my tris , just cant seem to get the feel in them as my chest and front delts burn out first. I have good tris and they arent weak just cant nail it. Reverse grip doesnt help either

[Chemo]

Trial and error.

For me a lot of this stuff clicked when I got my posture right. Mainly from doing rows and deads. Shoulders back, chest out, stomach in sort of stuff.

Getting those shoulder blades in place works wonders for bench and rows.

Easing my grip for arm movements helps me with getting the upper arms to contract.

Ideas for the DB bench. Trial a motion similar to a fly, or somewhere inbeteween a fly and a press. At the top of the motion bring the dumbells out a bit before bringing them down, almost like an arcing motion. Letting the shoulder blades come together and the chest really open up. I try to think of keeping my hands just above and outside of my elbows, keeping the forearms completely vertical throughout the rep. You wont be able to lift the same weight but you'll but a heck of a lot more load onto the pecs. Especially at the bottom of the motion.

[rt_rusty]

if you have some form of chin up bar you can do wide grip pull up with focusing on the pinching of the shoulder blades at top of ROM... this is good for lats, you can also do barbell rows, head just above the hip with similar pinching of the shoulder blades during the row. Great lats builders, hard to feel the lats being worked, but you will notice good lat growth and other areas of the back will feel very tight and pumped afterwards!!

yeah I have a chin up bar but when i do a wide grip i feel pain in my shoulder joint after a few reps, but will try barbell rows

Trial and error.

For me a lot of this stuff clicked when I got my posture right. Mainly from doing rows and deads. Shoulders back, chest out, stomach in sort of stuff.

Getting those shoulder blades in place works wonders for bench and rows.

Easing my grip for arm movements helps me with getting the upper arms to contract.

Ideas for the DB bench. Trial a motion similar to a fly, or somewhere inbeteween a fly and a press. At the top of the motion bring the dumbells out a bit before bringing them down, almost like an arcing motion. Letting the shoulder blades come together and the chest really open up. I try to think of keeping my hands just above and outside of my elbows, keeping the forearms completely vertical throughout the rep. You wont be able to lift the same weight but you'll but a heck of a lot more load onto the pecs. Especially at the bottom of the motion.

Thanks ill try the arcing motion

[rovr4on]

I get pissed off trying to do close grip bench for my tris , just cant seem to get the feel in them as my chest and front delts burn out first. I have good tris and they arent weak just cant nail it. Reverse grip doesnt help either

have you tried doing it in a manner where your elbows dont flare out? I found when I focused on this I got alot more burn in the tris, love it now

[ScrotieMcBoogerBalls]

With pull ups, instead of trying to pull yourself up, try to pull your elbows to the floor. Try it and you'll see

[AgentOrange]

With pull ups, instead of trying to pull yourself up, try to pull your elbows to the floor. Try it and you'll see

best Alias ever mate.

[olympia]

I get pissed off trying to do close grip bench for my tris , just cant seem to get the feel in them as my chest and front delts burn out first. I have good tris and they arent weak just cant nail it. Reverse grip doesnt help either

have you tried doing it in a manner where your elbows dont flare out? I found when I focused on this I got alot more burn in the tris, love it now

Yeah bro for sure i keep them tucked in tight . They just never seem to tire out and then my front delts or chest start aching like hell. Just have to stick to skull crushers .

[Android]

Exact same thing used to happen to me and ao I avoid close grip bench alot.

Worse again is after doing skull crushers TP wants to exhaust with close-grip press...my inner chest gets worked way more than my Tris.

So I played around with things and finally switched to Smith machine close grip press with a widened grip, just a little not much. And press below the chest (so upper body is way ahead of the bar) and I can work triceps all day long without pecs feeling the pain.

Reason I think it works is because with the bar so far down the body your elbows just naturally tuck in nicely where you want them :-) can't do that with a free bar

Might not work for everyone but def worth trying things to find something that works 4 you, good luck

[olympia]

Exact same thing used to happen to me and ao I avoid close grip bench alot.

Worse again is after doing skull crushers TP wants to exhaust with close-grip press...my inner chest gets worked way more than my Tris.

So I played around with things and finally switched to Smith machine close grip press with a widened grip, just a little not much. And press below the chest (so upper body is way ahead of the bar) and I can work triceps all day long without pecs feeling the pain.

Reason I think it works is because with the bar so far down the body your elbows just naturally tuck in nicely where you want them :-) can't do that with a free bar

Might not work for everyone but def worth trying things to find something that works 4 you, good luck

That sounds awesome ill give that a try for sure . Cheers. :clap:

[rt_rusty]

Alright just finished chest/shoulder/tri workout

Took those suggestions on board and it def felt like it made a difference. I dropped my weight a little and really focused on getting perfect form but a new problem has arised.

On DB press with the slower reps i really felt it in my wrists and a bit in my forearms too. Any tips?

Would switching to BB take some of that stress off my wrists? Or not make any difference at all?

[greemah]

make sure you are holding the DB at bottom of your palm so you can keep your wrists vertical and not bending back

[rt_rusty]

make sure you are holding the DB at bottom of your palm so you can keep your wrists vertical and not bending back

Thanks ill make sure im doing this next time

[KarenLamb]

I’m day sleeping again. This time it’s hearing about how a colleague of mine knows exactly how to increase muscle size. Wouldn’t be so bad but I keep hearing this and he doesn’t even look like he works out!Strength is about improving your efficiency at a lift. To do this requires adaptations in the nervous system, so more muscle fibers are recruited to help in that liftYou can develop great mind-muscle control by moving very slowly throughout both phases of a repetition while focusing on the contraction in your working muscles.

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[BIGKIWI]

Try thinking and tensing individual muscles when you are not working them , tense - release. Get the feeling of working that individual muscle and what it should feel like when you do an exercise. Concentrate on form when you do the exercise but also the muscle you are working and squeeze and release. This is one thing so many people don't get and sometimes takes years to master