When I Bench press I feel it in my triceps

If you experience this during your training do not be alarmed. The triceps is naturally involved in the bench press movement to make the magic happen. Based on your setup and execution of the lift you can influence which are you want to target most on your bench press which this article goes into more detail for you.

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How to specifically target the chest or triceps during the bench press

You are enjoying training and the bench press within that routine. Only one thing bugs you a bit, that you only feel it in your triceps and not in your chest like most of the information says you should. So what is it that you might be doing wrong? Maybe you are a freak of nature only using the triceps in your bench press? Something wrong with the execution of the lift? Gripped the barbell in the wrong way?

The range of possible causes is wide and when you are training for strength you will experience all kinds of weird things like some lifts progressing really easily while others seem to be stuck on the same numbers forever. Other freaks of natures can be that on one day you can squat 160kg for five repetitions while on another you struggle to get up with 140kg in your neck. No matter where your training stands, always take a look at the bigger picture and whether you are generally getting stronger. Does your total progress up and to the right? How much did you improve over the last year rather than just the last two days? In my personal experience, that is the healthier way of looking at it.

The Range of motion can be a contributing factor to the symptom of feeling your triceps in the bench press, however, it won't be the deciding factor based on my training experience. The range of motion will determine how deep and intense you will work the activated muscles during the exercise of choice, but to a smaller extent which muscles are being activated. The setup is a factor which has a more decisive influence whether your triceps or your pecs (short for pectoralis major, see graphic) will get more activated during the bench press.

The load can also play a contributing, but not a decisive factor on how much you feel your triceps during the lift. For beginners who have lower weight on the barbell and do more repetitions per sets (8 - 12) they might feel the triceps more than the pecs as this muscle is smaller and therefore fatigued more easily, especially when you have not developed it as much.

The number of repetitions as every other factor on this list is contributing but not decisive on how much you feel your triceps. As outlined the triceps might fatigue quicker than the pecs based on its relative development and therefore causes pain quicker. Especially with the triceps heavy style of bench pressing used in powerlifting this relationship might even change. I personally have a very triceps heavy bench press and therefore have the lowest amount of body fat in that area of my body. It is overdeveloped compared to the rest of my body and therefore I feel the bench press more in my chest muscles than in my triceps.

The setup is the most decisive factor of whether you feel the bench press more in your triceps or chest. A powerlifting style in the bench press in which you arch your back, break the bar, pull the elbows closer in towards your torso and use leg drive is more triceps heavy than the version depicted in the graphic for this article. The bench press as shown in the graphic is closer to the bodybuilding style of bench pressing which targets the chest muscles more than the triceps. If you want a bigger chest you might even want to consider to take the legs completely out of the lift by lifting them off the ground. In addition, you might want to lift lesser weight for more repetitions whilst controlling each of them to maximize time under tension.

Conclusion

It is normal to feel your triceps during the bench press is it is anatomically involved in the upward push movement to achieve your goal. By adjusting your setup you can actively influence whether you want to emphasize the chest or triceps during the execution of the exercise. The closer the grip, the smaller the angle between elbow and torso, the bigger the arch and the more leg drive is involved in the lift the more likely it is that the triceps will get more of a stimulus than the chest. The wider the grip, the less leg drive involved, the lesser the weight and the more controlled repetitions you do whilst pausing on the chest, the more you will stimulate the chest doing the bench press.