Back and triceps muscles activation

[Leandro Santos]

Hi guys, how can i fully engage my back muscles during exercise? proper scapula moviment? And what to do with triceps, i hardly feel it working? 

[Jon Douglas]

Which exercises are you having trouble feeling it in?

[Mikkel Ravn]

1: Pick exercise that activates said muscle group(s)

2: Do the exercise.

[Jon Douglas]

To add to Ravn's post, in case I misunderstood, rows and dips do better for back and triceps than other pushing/pulling in my experience. Your experience may vary.

[Leandro Santos]

Basically, sometimes i fell the muscle working, other times i don't but the muscle is actually working hard, any fell the same?

And there are muscles that i "fell" more on my body. If i do dips per example. My triceps could be working so hard that i did 2 reps and failed, yet i would't feel anything in my triceps, but i certainly would feel my chest working in the dips. After the dips I would fell that my chest worked but wouldn't feel any in my triceps.

Basically it's like that.

Muscles i can i feel when working out: Biceps, abs, quads,chest, hamstrings

Medium: upper traps, calves

Very low, hard to feel, almost dead:shoulder, triceps,serratus, medium e lower traps, lower back,lats

When i do pull ups, per example, i really only felt it on lats 4 times or so, but they are bigger. I can do heavy military press, but i will not feel my shoulders at all, but they will get bigger.

[Mikkel Ravn]

This raises the question of whether it is necessary to feel the muscle working. Is it the burn that you are after? Try doing higher rep exercises until failure (10-30 or so), and I guarantee that you will feel the muscles working.

[Jon Douglas]

Seems pretty simple to me. You are feeling the failure of your weaker links. To feel your bigger/stronger muscles will require more emphasis on them, whether you do Russian dips to feel your triceps more or isolate them with weighted tricep extensions.

But if they get bigger and stronger, what's the problem? Mental gratification? You could try going for higher reps for a couple workouts, as Ravn says, and reassure yourself that everything is working and involved.

[Leandro Santos]

Seems pretty simple to me. You are feeling the failure of your weaker links. To feel your bigger/stronger muscles will require more emphasis on them, whether you do Russian dips to feel your triceps more or isolate them with weighted tricep extensions.

But if they get bigger and stronger, what's the problem? Mental gratification? You could try going for higher reps for a couple workouts, as Ravn says, and reassure yourself that everything is working and involved.

It's nothing regarding weak links, if i do 3 heavy reps for my biceps, i will feel that i have worked it hard but if i do 3 even harder reps for my triceps, i will not feel anything in my triceps after it.

Mental gratification? I think there is no need for such harsh words. Every one in this community is seeking to improve their bodies while getting healthier and i think that's nothing strange if i have something which i think is a problem and ask questions about that. It give me problems when i see one exercise do it but it's hard to me to know if i'm doing it correct because there are muscles that i don't fell at all.

[Jon Douglas]

Já

It nothing regarding weak links, if i do 3 heavy reps for my biceps, i will feel that i have worked it hard but if i do 3 even harder reps for my triceps, i will not feel anything in my triceps after it.

Mental gratification? I think there is no need for such harsh words. Every one in this community is seeking to improve their bodies while getting healthier and i think that's nothing strange if i have something which i think is a problem and ask questions about that. It give me problems when i see one exercise do it but it's hard to me to know if i'm doing it correct because there are muscles that i don't fell at all.

I wasn't being harsh; I was pointing out that you are worrying about something which doesn't seem to hold you back. You say your muscles are getting bigger and stronger. So the issue doesn't seem physical to me, but mental.

Sorry if it came across as dismissive, I didn't intend that.

[Daniel Burnham]

dont worry too much about feeling individual muscles.  Eventually you will want to rely on the feeling of tension especially in the statics.  This will indicate that you are working and locking what you need to.

[Karri Kytömaa]

Not with any real anatomical background but how I've understood some things.

 

One way to look at this is that your muscle proprioception isn't at the same level in all the muscles which is no surprise. I still hardly ever feel my serratus working even though I've been to "searching" for them for a long time. Some things just come slow. This doesn't mean the muscle won't contract when needed, it has more to do about how conscious that activation can be. It's an ability  your training will hugely improve so just keep at it. Often getting the muscles exhausted/burning/sore will give you better feedback since pain is much easier to feel.

[Leandro Santos]

Ok guys thanks for all the answers. Good luck

[Leandro Santos]

So i just contimue to train and with time this will get better? I have been working out for 2 years and saw very little improvements on this.

[Connor Davies]

Try doing some isolation exercises to specifically target the desired muscles, and for 15-20 reps.  Pullovers are good for the lats, but I've never tried to isolate the triceps so I wouldn't know.  Try handstand wall runs for time to really feel your shoulders working.

 

Feeling the muscle activation can be very important.  It's something bodybuilders talk about a lot, the mind/muscle connection.  If you focus on feeling the movement in the right muscles, really think about the ones that should be working, rather than where you're actually feel it, then you will get a greater muscle activation and subsequent growth potential.  Feeling the movement in the right places is important in really achieving your full potential.

 

I remember when I could bang out 5-8 chin ups but I couldn't do a single pull up.  I was feeling the movement the most in my biceps, rather than in my lats.  Now that I have the muscle activation in my lats, I can do pullups, although I haven't increased my maximum chin ups.

 

Focus first on good form, and then second on the muscles that you want to feel the work in.  If you feel it in other muscles regardless, you may just have strength imbalances.  Make sure you have a balanced program, and make the time to do specific work on your weak areas.

[Joshua Slocum]

So i just contimue to train and with time this will get better? I have been working out for 2 years and saw very little improvements on this.

 

As long as you're seeing increases in size and strength, I wouldn't worry too much about it. 

[Leandro Santos]

Thanks for all the answers. 

[GoldenEagle]

For muscle activation.....movement, in general, requires muscle activations.

 

Now to "Feel" the muscle being stressed while working out you need to contract/squeeze the muscle group or groups you are working on.