Burning while lifting chest

[greg72982]

I want to first say that I am not new to lifting weights. I have had some lapses but have been lifting more or less since about 2003. I do not do it religiously however.

I have noticed recently on days that I do chest my shoulders start to burn. It is like the exercises I am doing are hitting the shoulders more so than the chest. I still feel soreness the next day in my chest area so I am working it, but I feel like this burning that occurs after a few sets, normally at the end is holding me back.

I have widened my grip on the bench press and it doesn't help. On incline with dumbbells is where it seems to burn the most.

I quit lifting for about a year and just started back in February and I don't ever remember having this problem before. What can I do? Where am I going wrong? My form is fine in my opinion, but could it be that my shoulders have weakened?

[counihan]

I want to first say that I am not new to lifting weights. I have had some lapses but have been lifting more or less since about 2003. I do not do it religiously however.

I have noticed recently on days that I do chest my shoulders start to burn. It is like the exercises I am doing are hitting the shoulders more so than the chest. I still feel soreness the next day in my chest area so I am working it, but I feel like this burning that occurs after a few sets, normally at the end is holding me back.

I have widened my grip on the bench press and it doesn't help. On incline with dumbbells is where it seems to burn the most.

I quit lifting for about a year and just started back in February and I don't ever remember having this problem before. What can I do? Where am I going wrong? My form is fine in my opinion, but could it be that my shoulders have weakened?

Actually, using a wider grip on the bench press will put more stress on your shoulders/rotators. And obviously doing incline with dumbells is going to incorporate your shoulders as well...maybe you do need to start with a little lower weight when you work shoulders to build them up again...but only you know that. Do you do any type of warm-up before you get right into bench? I see some people just jump right in before doing any warm-up...not even some shoulder rotations! It could be the difference. Ummm...that's all I got, haha! Good luck getting back into it!

P.S. GO STILLERS!!!

[JakeLock]

I was going to say the same thing about the grip Cou. Narrow it up a bit Greg, and try doing some shoulder lifts. Get a good rotation from front to rear, it'll work your shoulders and your traps.

If that doesn't help, you may be developing some shoulder problems and should get them checked out.

[CityOfChicago]

Is it the muscle that is burning? Like when you train biceps or triceps, and you get that pumb and burn? If so, this is most likely because your shoulders are 'weakened' and are fatiguing faster than your chest. This actually makes sense if you think about it - the shoulder muscels combined are still smaller than the chest muscles, so they will fatigue faster.

The solutiion is to train shoulders. What are your set/rep schemes for chest? If it's 8-10 reps for 3 sets, work shoulders for 10-12 reps, 3-4 sets, and use a weight that gets them exhausted. That is, you should feel that you can no longer continue past 12 reps. Also, watch the clock and make sure your rest periods are 60 seconds. Work overhead presses (DB, machine, or barbell in front of the head, whichever you prefer), DB lateral raises, barbell front raises ( personally I prefer the cambered bar for this), and rear delt flyes. These exercises will not only work the three heads of the deltoid, but the rep ranges will help build up the local muscular endurance and lactic acid tolerances so that shoulder 'burning' buring chest disappears.

[phantasm]

The weakest point of most people is the shoulders. Try to focus on your shoulders every 3 days for a month or two, and easing back on the weights for the muscle groups that use the shoulder's to assist (pretty much anything upper body). I would also suggest picking up a weightlifting/body building book that has exercises and the primary and secondary muscle groups that they work. There are exercises that you can do for some body parts that are isolation exercises. For the upper body, it would mainly isolate the arm mucles (biceps/triceps), but there are definitely ways to lessen the stress on the shoulders. The rotator cuff muscle is the EASIEST to tear/damage, and that will take you out of lifting for a LONG time.

[greg72982]

Actually, using a wider grip on the bench press will put more stress on your shoulders/rotators. And obviously doing incline with dumbells is going to incorporate your shoulders as well...maybe you do need to start with a little lower weight when you work shoulders to build them up again...but only you know that. Do you do any type of warm-up before you get right into bench? I see some people just jump right in before doing any warm-up...not even some shoulder rotations! It could be the difference. Ummm...that's all I got, haha! Good luck getting back into it!

P.S. GO STILLERS!!!

The main reason I have widened the grip is because i have very long arms. I felt like with the old grip I wasn't targeting the pecs as much. I always warm up prior however I don't really focus on the shoulders. I don't do anything different than in the past only now it seems to burn.

And actually I tend to switch up the exercises so yesterday I did bench last. I read somewhere this shocks the muscles for better results.

Is it the muscle that is burning? Like when you train biceps or triceps, and you get that pumb and burn? If so, this is most likely because your shoulders are 'weakened' and are fatiguing faster than your chest. This actually makes sense if you think about it - the shoulder muscels combined are still smaller than the chest muscles, so they will fatigue faster.

Yes the muscle burns. I don't really have an issue on days I do bi's and tri's. I mean in the passed they would fatigue but not actually burn like someone is holding a cigarette to them.

The solutiion is to train shoulders. What are your set/rep schemes for chest? If it's 8-10 reps for 3 sets, work shoulders for 10-12 reps, 3-4 sets, and use a weight that gets them exhausted. That is, you should feel that you can no longer continue past 12 reps. Also, watch the clock and make sure your rest periods are 60 seconds. Work overhead presses (DB, machine, or barbell in front of the head, whichever you prefer), DB lateral raises, barbell front raises ( personally I prefer the cambered bar for this), and rear delt flyes. These exercises will not only work the three heads of the deltoid, but the rep ranges will help build up the local muscular endurance and lactic acid tolerances so that shoulder 'burning' buring chest disappears.

Yeah I normally do 8-10 reps for 3 sets of each exercise. I'll have to start working the shoulders more often then and hopefully that will solve the problem.