This seems weird to me

M

Mick G

0
I have noticed in the last few workouts that when after working on my chest, my biceps feel much harder than when I actually get to the point when I get to do concentration curls, hammer curls etc!
 
And again after this evenings workout...am I alone on this one??:eek:
 
I think yer alone.

The biceps are mostly acting as supporting/synergist muscles on chest presses, basically counter-balancing the triceps.
 
The eccentric portion of a bench press will work your biceps plenty to get them pumped. If you are in a horizontal position, this is normal.

The biceps are mostly acting as supporting/synergist muscles on chest presses, basically counter-balancing the triceps.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Triceps & chest move the weight up. The bicep stabilizes the weight on the way down and activates a great deal.

You are getting a normal reaction.
 
Seems reasonable to me that the biceps would be worked some on the chest press. If the biceps which antagonize the triceps weren't working, you wouldn't be able to control the descent. Naturally, the triceps do most of the work.
 
I say what naturally comes to me, but, I never really noticed this with myself.

I am guessing you're pecs and triceps are much much stronger than your biceps. A slight imbalance in the agonist/antagonist function maybe.

Tell me how often you work your biceps and how often you work your chest and triceps, I bet you are concentrating more on the chest.
 
g8r80 said:
Seems reasonable to me that the biceps would be worked some on the chest press. If the biceps which antagonize the triceps weren't working, you wouldn't be able to control the descent. Naturally, the triceps do most of the work.
Click to expand...

Explain to me how the biceps are controlling the decent. Or better yet, how they're doing "most of the work."

It's the eccentric contraction of pecs, triceps and shoulders that are controlling the majority of the decent.
 
Its just a blood pump. Because the biceps are not completely at rest and are stabilizing during a bench press, blood is forced to rush to those mucles. Should be minor though.
 
An antagonist does not do the eccentric contraction of a movement.. the agonist does.
That being said, the biceps will fire to stabilize the elbow and probably also the shoulder joint (co-activation).
Also, the biceps can help in flexion and transverse adduction (called transverse flexion in my link) of the shoulder, according to exrx.
Biceps Brachii

Thus, there will be biceps activity when bench pressing.. I think it's weird that you get a pump, though.. How used are you to benching? If you're new to it, stability will most likely be an issue, which could mean more biceps activation.
 
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