Why Don’t I Feel The Bench Press In My Chest?

Q: I was today years old when I found out “Can’t Feel My Face” by the Weeknd is about numbness from cocaine and not the emotional kind caused by a bad relationship with a woman. I know, that’s a complete shock to you too because absolutely nothing about his other songs would ever give you the impression that he has a substance abuse problem. Anyway, on a somewhat related note, I don’t feel my chest when I bench press. I feel it when doing flyes and stuff like that but not on pressing movements, whether it’s with a bar or dumbbells. What am I doing wrong?

A: Cocaine is a local anesthetic. So when applied to certain areas of the body, it can cause the loss of feeling or numbness. So are you rolling around in piles of coke before you train your chest? If so, that could very well explain why you don’t feel your chest working when you bench press. Sure, rolling around in coke is a long shot reason for your problem given your apparent naiveté about drugs to the point that you can’t even grasp blatant drug references in pop music, but yeah, are you?!?!

If you’re not rolling around in cocaine, then what about the weight you’re benching? Is it heavy enough? Using too light of a load won’t engage your chest muscles enough for you to feel anything when you’re lifting. So you’re not doing that either, huh?

If you’re challenging yourself when you lift and aren’t rolling around in cocaine before going to the gym, then what about your form? Are you executing the bench press correctly so the emphasis is on the chest? That means your arms aren’t so narrow that you’re recruiting more of your triceps than pecs and your elbows and wrists are stacked and lined up directly under the barbell or dumbbell handles.

If you’re certain that you’re practicing good form while challenging yourself as you bench press and aren’t rolling around in cocaine prior to working out, then the reason why you can’t feel your chest might be a technique issue.

Often used interchangeably, form relates to how an exercise is performed and is more closely associated with injury prevention and it’s something that can be noticed by an outside observer. Technique, on the other hand, refers to the way you perform an exercise to target a specific muscle and it can sometimes be visible but not always. That explained, try the following technique prescription, which should be an easy fix to your problem.

Part of the form instructions for bench pressing is to push the weight away from your body once it’s lowered to your chest. Instead of simply doing that and involving the front delts and triceps, what you should do as you press the weight up is to think of pulling your arms across your body like you would on the pec deck or when doing dumbbell flyes or cable crossovers. That’s how to bench with the pecs and actually feel them working.

Yeah, it’s that easy!

…

If you don’t find the technique prescription all that easy to perform, a drill you can do is to raise one arm to the side and place the hand of the opposite arm on the outside of your chest by your armpit. With a slight bend in the elbow of the arm that’s raised to your side, perform an imaginary dumbbell fly as you use the hand resting on your chest to feel the pec contract.

Once you’re able to physically feel your chest contract with your hand as you perform an imaginary dumbbell fly with the opposing arm, bend the elbow of your active arm even more so your forearm is in line with your elbow joint like you were bench pressing. From there, use your hand to try to feel your chest contract as you bring your arm across your body like you’re still trying to perform a dumbbell fly.

When you can consistently feel the pec firing with your hand while mimicking a bench press motion, the next step is to bench press with slightly less weight than you normally use on a barbell or with dumbbells and replicate the same movement pattern of pulling your arms across your body as you press the weight up at the bottom position.

The recommended change in technique should make a difference and help you finally feel your chest when bench pressing. That said, while feeling the chest working can be a good indicator that you’re performing the bench press correctly, it’s not absolutely necessary that you feel your chest, or any other muscle, working during an exercise to benefit from it. As long as you’re training with the right intensity and volume, executing proper form, and practicing progressive overload with any given exercise, you’ll build muscle in the intended area even if you don’t feel a sensation there while in the act of lifting.¹

Now, does anyone else have a fitness or nutrition question of their own that they want to ask?

Glossary: arms, barbell, bench press, chest, dumbbell, exercise, fitness, gym, intensity, lifting form, muscle, muscle soreness, nutrition, train, work out

Author
Recent Posts

Monster Longe

Monster Longe is a personal trainer and online coach in San Diego. He's helped hundreds of people lose weight, build muscle, and become more attractive to their loved one so they don't have as strong of a desire to cheat on them anymore. When not working with clients or making content that's easy to read, understand, and apply to everyday life, he enjoys making fun of Drake and people who like the guy.

Why Don’t I Feel The Bench Press In My Chest?

Related Articles: