How I Work My Chest Without Destroying My Shoulders

The pectoralis major is the biggest and strongest muscle in the chest. It's also one of the most difficult to train without placing a lot of stress on the shoulder joint.
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[@60SecondCalisthenics]

For sure! The pecs were the very first place where I really saw any real muscle gains. Interesting conversation about the chest/shoulder connection. 👍🏽

[@enterusername7746]

Same for me

[@nathansidhu6723]

Must be nice.

[@StrongandConditioned]

Your content is a joy brother

[@kimlong13]

How about the floor press with dumbells and arms close to the body. I have started doing them since i have AC joint problems, and it feels great. I know the ROM is not as big, but it is a lot safer on the shoulders. Try them out😎

[@rbergsv]

Fantastic vid as always Matt! But it made me think - what about the Romanian ring push up. I’ve tried it a couple of times and I think it works pretty well. Do you have any thoughts on this exercise ?

[@johnsmith-jg2xz]

When it comes to chest, the close grip push up is my go to.

[@Poeticbladezero]

when you mentioned close grip push up...do you mean diamonds or just having your hands closer to the body when doing a push up?

[@igoresque]

@@Poeticbladezero close grip is shoulder width, so not diamond

[@johnsmith-jg2xz]

@@Poeticbladezero I don't say diamond because your hands don't have to touch, but I would say any position where your hands are under your chest is good.

[@johnsmith-jg2xz]

@Grand Rapids by being better at doing them, my friend.

[@ibrahimismail7881]

@Grand Rapids bring hands closer every time you reach a rep goal I suppose eventually you can do overlap pushups and archer pushups mentioned on this channel.

[@ellrow]

Cables and dumbbells over bench bar any day.

[@hbeezey]

Walk up to wall. Act like you're going to push it as hard as you can. Your elbows aren't flared. Congrats, basic shit. Doing bench press or any chest press with flared elbows is really stupid.

[@williamtomkiel8215]

TY as an 0ver 70 guy with a normal lack of bilateral symmetry and some anterior delt issues this will go far for "progress' , such at might be, with a positive attitude for a smarter "maintenance structure" of effort

[@michaelblacktree]

Thanks for the tip! I actually injured one of my shoulders trying to work the pecs harder.

[@TheRickydamen]

Me too

[@jk07ist]

@@TheRickydamen #me too

[@CastroMKE]

I'm 5'10 with 76.5" reach (+6.5 ape index) so naturally regular wide pushups destroy my shoulders, this is the way i do them now the way you explain. also, instead of having my index finger straight forward, i make my thumb be straight forward (hands rotated slightly outwards) and this helps in external rotation and i feel this increases chest motor unit recruitment.

[@pauld3327]

I'm 6'2 and new to fitness. Do you think I could destroy my elbow doing pushups and therefore I should avoid them ?

[@CastroMKE]

@@pauld3327 I don’t think so, if you have prior elbow pain maybe stop at 90 and don’t fully lock out at the top but I’m not a physician brother, if it hurts, it hurts and it’s your body saying your either doing it wrong or don’t do it

[@pauld3327]

@@CastroMKE Thank you for your response 👍

[@edge3220]

I love doing cable bench presses, but recently I've started using a supinated grip like you would do on rings. I swear this has taken my chest training to another level. I have to drop the resistance but it's far beyond worth it.

[@milangra1404]

ring push up does that

[@marianolarrosa79]

Hey Matt. Seeing how important it is to bring the elbow well back, in addition to being close to the body, for push ups on the ground, would it be very beneficial to have our hands on something solid that allows us a greater distance in the execution of the exercise? BFLF

[@michaelhoughton8449]

I'd say yes because it gives your chest more of a stretch which brings more blood to the muscle. Yeah deep pushups are good.

[@stephenbrady5907]

Good looking man 😝

[@Oldmanorange]

Is that a poster board of tickets on your wall?

[@RedDeltaProject]

Kinda, it's a bunch of ticket stubs in a frame. I collected tix from back when they were printed on paper

[@Oldmanorange]

@@RedDeltaProject I've got a collection of movie tickets, concert tickets and so on that I've been keeping since about 1999 for a board idea like that.

[@intrinsicfreedom]

Thank you! I knew I was doing something wrong, ALL THOSE YEARS! LOL! A little research does wonders! Thank you, RDP.

[@yoshi1951]

Because of a nerve issue I can't do push movements with elbow under 90 degree, my nerve snaps over the elbow, which is not comfortable under pressure. So for me, really wide push ups works best. After some time of getting used to it, my shoulder never seem to have a problem with that, even after a year of doing them like this.

[@beeplo8069]

Me too lol. I think it's called ulnar nerve displacement.

[@yoshi1951]

15 percent of people have this, it's not a disease. But most don't notice it because it doesn't make trouble ever. For me it's not bad enough to risk surgery. I work around it and watch out that my muscle don't get too tense from too hard workout.

[@funtastikfitness9883]

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[@datahigh]

thumb head! you have no shoulder... you didn't work out your shoulder.... you have to work out your shoulder... then your shoulders will be stronger and not get hurt by your disproportionately large turtle torso....

[@dontpanicitsorganic9821]

It is not about building a muscle It's about building a connection with your muscle

[@funtastikfitness9883]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWTEap9tibqbba8

[@jonahfleming1355]

There's something that can be said about the rom of a ring dip

[@ruiseartalcorn]

Awesome! I agree 100%! :)

[@Makima_Enjoyer]

Really informative video

[@jim-es8qk]

I do medicine ball press ups!!

[@eloelo6944]

0:30 Back in the 80s? You was old enough to hit the gym back in the 80s?

[@RedDeltaProject]

Just barely, but I also have a hobby of reading classic bodybuilding magazines and periodicals from that era. That was certainly a different time.

[@JustinKork]

What about elbows? pushups been killing em, despite moving them into/closer to body

[@BeGrizzlyStrong]

Move them back more. If you can avoid overloading past the 90 angle seems to help. Still seek maximum range of motion with lighter weight whenever possible.

[@funtastikfitness9883]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWTEap9tibqbba8

[@charlieparkeris]

Push ups, ring push ups, dips and ring dips. That's the list of chest exercises that hurt my shoulders, and why I have gone back to the gym and can't train 100% calisthenics.

[@dropweightdaddy]

The chest has always been the hardest Arrieta hit two.