dropping benchpress

M

mindstar

New Member
So I have some forearm/elbow problems thatreally hurt me on BP...so much so that I find it hard to let go of the bar with my left hand and occasionally throughout the day my forearm/elbow will ache.

This only happens on BP, so I was thinking of dropping it for a while and replacing it with flyes...now my chest is already lagging, and I want to avoid going backwards. Are there protocols that people can suggest for chest that don't involved a BP or simmilar movement which will keep me growing?
 
I am still off bench while my right acromio-clavicular joint heals but I'm able to do heavy dips which, I guess, are out of the question for you right now?

If you are OK with flyes then go with them and just do your usual progression. They are a great stretch point movement. You can vary the angle of the bench too for more variety.

Let your body heal before getting back to bench or it will just prolong the situation and might even get worse. No sense in that.
 
Dips are definitely better than benchpress, though some pain is starting to bleed over...I think I can handle dips and flyes...now should I do them both ever workout, or alternate them as I've been doing with bp and dips?

Yeah, this has been bothering me for a while and taking 2 weeks off here and there doesn't seem to help, so I think I'll try another tack.
 
I'd alternate between dips and flyes. That's what I'm doing right now and it seems to be allowing my AC joint to heal well. If dips do turn out to be troublesome just stick to flyes for a couple of months.

All the best.
 
I dropped benching over a month ago. I started doing wide-grip dips (about 32") and my pecs are growing, with no more shoulder-issues. One time I tried to do flyes after my dips, but my pecs were already so worked, the flyes felt almost painful on the pecs, so I know dips are doing the job!
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Does your gym have Hammer Strength equipment? If so, try the wide grip chest press - I too have shoulder problem with my R side and this exercise does not cause ANY pain and you sure can use pretty heavy weights (I'm over 300 vs a bench of 210) and is more 'compound' and probably better strength/bulk building than flyes. JMHO
 
Personally I like dips but haven't seen that much from them, as compared to flyes and definitely inclines. But they are 3 different animals. Flyes are more of an isolational exersize, especially pec decks. But I've done inclines long enough now to notice I need to hit lower pecs, as they are lagging, so a possible decline bench is in order, but I have other problems with that. Hm. What to do, what to do? So I'm thinking sort of a decline d/b flye, after I modify my bench.
OLDER LIFTERS:
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I need to make less of a decline in it due to the danger of aneurisms in us older guys, from the increased blood pressure in the head.
 
I like the Hammer Strength chest press machines too. I have been getting much better results using them than I got doing flat bench db bench press.
 
I never do declines. They can be dangerous, especially if you tend to not breathe correctly. I do a giant set of DB inclines, Dips and Flat bench flyes. It seems to hit the overall chest nicely. However, I do have to switch to a BB incline when working with 5 reps. It's just too damn hard to get the DB's up. I tried PowerHooks but found them to be rather dangerous as they interfered with my grip and ability to control the heavy DB's.
 
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