Back and chest question.
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There is a lot more involved in a bench press than just your pecs. Triceps and shoulders are heavily involved and if you are doing them heavy and correctly your neck, traps, lats, abs, hips all get involved to some extent. Your bench press is limited by the weakest link which my be something other than pecs.
However, as a rule of thumb, you should do at least as many sets of pulling exercises as pushing exercises, including both horizontal push and pull (bench press/rows) and vertical push and pull (military press/pullups).
If you start following that rule you should be able to reverse any imbalances within a few months.
However, as a rule of thumb, you should do at least as many sets of pulling exercises as pushing exercises, including both horizontal push and pull (bench press/rows) and vertical push and pull (military press/pullups).
If you start following that rule you should be able to reverse any imbalances within a few months.
The problem with the bench is that it only works part of the shoulders. I had (and still have, to a lesser degree) the same problem.
Dswithers is correct in stating that you need just as many pulling as pushing lifts. I had the problem of a bench-centric exercise program (6 bench press lifts a week, no back workouts) and it screwed up my posture and did some (thankfully reversible) damage to my rotator cuffs.
The military press (in front of the face, not behind the neck) is a fantastic exercise for the shoulders and even the back as well as the chest. It's my primary lift and the one I use to gauge my strength gains. The bench press just targets to few muscles, and although it does hit others aside from triceps, pecs, and frontal deltoids, it doesn't hit them enough for it to be your workout capstone.
Dswithers is correct in stating that you need just as many pulling as pushing lifts. I had the problem of a bench-centric exercise program (6 bench press lifts a week, no back workouts) and it screwed up my posture and did some (thankfully reversible) damage to my rotator cuffs.
The military press (in front of the face, not behind the neck) is a fantastic exercise for the shoulders and even the back as well as the chest. It's my primary lift and the one I use to gauge my strength gains. The bench press just targets to few muscles, and although it does hit others aside from triceps, pecs, and frontal deltoids, it doesn't hit them enough for it to be your workout capstone.
I don't think the difference in weight between your bench press and row is a problem. I wonder how much the weight bench itself factors in. What I mean is: in a bench press, I'm lying on a bench, fully supported, and my pecs, deltoids, and triceps are doing the work. In a bent-over row, I'm standing, unsupported, bent over, and lifting the weight.
It might be best to determine if you have rounded shoulders. They are a common issue because a lot of people emphasize the "beach" muscles on the front of our bodies creating an imbalance and on top of that have seated, sedentary jobs which antagonize poor posture (slouched forward, shoulders in and forward, head forward).
You can do this with a digital camera, some of those colored stick-on dots you get at office supply stores, and any photo editing software like Paint.
On each side of your body place a sticker on the outside center of your shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle. If you want you can put on on your ear too, but is not necessary.These go in the physical center of the body part being marked. DO NOT attempt to have all the dots aligned or it negates the purpose.
Have a friend take a full-length picture of you from each side. Download the pics to your computer and then use the line-draw tool in Paint and connect the dots starting from the center of each ear. If the line moves forward from ear to shoulder and back from shoulder to hip, most likely you have rounded shoulders. Perfect posture would theoretically connect all the dots ear to ankle with one straight line.
If you do have shoulders that are rolled forward, you may actually want to start emphasizing back and posterior delt exercises/stretches and deemphasizing the pec and anterior (front) delt.
Maybe for a while go with a 2:1 back to front ratio. Also, avoid stretches (for a similar amount of time) that shorten your pec muscles.
It's also possible that you'll have limited scapular motion. On rowing exercises really concentrate on feeling your shoulder blades moving together like you are pinching a ball back there. On pulldowns/pullups you want to feel them move down and together. Keep your back straight and don't allow your shoulders to roll forward or your back to curve like you see some people do on the negative phase of seated rows. You may have to drop weight significantly to maintain good form.
For stretching, do the doorframe stretch where you place both hands/forearms on either side of a door frame and then try to "walk" through the doorway. Also some rearward shoulder rolls and isometric scapular retractions emphasizing the backward and downward motion of your shoulder blades.
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Good observation. You have much more stabilization due to lying on the bench then standing holding a bar. And a lot of time form on the row goes downhill as the weight increases because as the set goes on, you (not you in particular) tend to stand up straighter, use your lower back for momentum, and don't get a full range of motion.
And I'd say you want a little more back work overall then chest/bench work. Not only does it contribute more to the V-shape, also tends to be applied more to real world situations where you end up in a pulling position more than a pushing position.
Good question. That does read kind of funny the way I wrote it. Stretch to shorten...what!?
In this context, the most popular example is probably the Anterior or Forward/Front Shoulder/Tricep Stretch (depending on who calls it what) http://www.fpes.com.au/images/Shoulder_Stretch.JPG
Barring skeletal abnormality, the main cause of rounded shoulders is most likely chest/back muscular imbalance.
The chest muscles, being relatively and excessively stronger, pull the shoulders in and forward. Weaker trap/lat/post delt muscles are unable to counteract the pulling moment of the front muscles.
In such a case it is wise to stretch those comparatively stronger muscles vs. allowing them to move to their (un)natural shortened state and strengthen the weaker muscles. So stretches like this are good:
Doorway Modified Chest Stretch
Wall Lat Stretch
Of course one still needs to stretch the muscles that are going to be worked as well and the stretches above should accomplish that. Those stretches would also target chest muscles for those days. For tricep muscles I would recommend the overhead tricep stretch where it looks like you're trying to scratch the middle of your back.
Imbalance can also display itself with problems in the joint (shoulder) and is a common cause for shoulder impingement and rotator cuff problems as well. In those cases, the imbalanced musculature pulls the skeletal system out of "whack," creating a smaller sub-acromial space for all the peripheral muscles and connective tissue. Sometimes it can even create tendonitis down into the bicep. The shoulder bones connected to the...
