Bench press sans pecs
 

Okay, I mean ... I HAVE pecs .... but what I mean is I did a pretty hefty set of bench press the other day (something like 3x20) at a good weight for max reps (80% of what I usually bench, probably 60% of my true max since I don't really count a weight unless the bar speed is good). My grip was a bit narrow (the same as it is when I do push ups) and while my beck and triceps were sore the next day my pecs felt almost nothing. Am I not engaging them? Should I widen my grip? If I benched a lot I wouldn't stress about the lack of soreness (I don't get sore from squats or deads anymore, usually) but I rarely bench at all. I'm adding it as part of a period of CUBE style training.

Thanks
joe auerbach (aka PaleoDruid)

Are you training for soreness or for strength/size?

I know widening your grip will hit your pecs more, but Kelly Starrett and Mark Bell both advocate a more narrow and stable position to press from.

If it were me I would do other accesory movements to hit that muscle group (to get ready for beach season of course, lol)

Obviously I'm going for strength and speed, but I'm reasonably certain that the max rep day of the CORE is mostly for hypertrophy. if that's the case, I want to make sure I'm not wasting it by getting sweet triceps (I already have pretty sweet triceps and i'm sure I can work them other ways without a bar).

If you want strength hit up some 5x5s, if you want speed hit up some 8-10 sets of 2-3 reps.

Ive heard Louie Simmons say many a time that the lift is lat and tri dominant.