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A live recruitment map: joint torque distributed to each muscle, per set, per rep.
The lift, the chain
The bench press works three primary movers: pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, and triceps brachii. Pec major drives shoulder horizontal adduction, anterior delt drives shoulder flexion, and triceps brachii drives elbow extension. Serratus anterior, the rotator cuff, and forearm flexors stabilize the lift without matching that dose. YesCoach displays this recruitment map on the exercise info page before you unrack.
What muscles does the bench press work?
The flat barbell bench press recruits three primary movers: pectoralis major (shoulder horizontal adduction), anterior deltoid (shoulder flexion), and triceps brachii (elbow extension). Stabilizers (serratus anterior, rotator cuff, forearm flexors) contribute without matching dose. YesCoach computes each muscle's mechanical contribution from joint torque and the reps in reserve (RIR) you report per set, then renders the result as a heatmap that updates set by set.
Primary movers
- Pectoralis majorshoulder h. adduction
- Anterior deltoidshoulder flexion
- Triceps brachiielbow extension
Stabilizers
- Serratus anterior
- Rotator cuff
- Forearm flexors
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