You cant argue with that.
DBs are key for me, much easier on the shoulders. My gym used to have a HS iso press which I quite liked, although could be difficult getting started and into the machine.
DB flys are not comfortable on the shoulders anymore so am more likely to use cable crossovers.
I like to keep my elbows semi-tucked which makes things fairly easy for my shoulders. Decline stuff seems a bit limited in terms of stretch but again easier on the shoulders…
Sure it’s been said enough times already but keep shoulder blades down and together.
I’m just fonna gloat a little cause this is the only thread I can.
My pecs are proportionally a big muscle for me, to the point that my mates joke about it.
I’ve been working on my upper chest more to get it more proportional to the rest and I’m very happy so far. The main change I made was doing incline first most of the time.
I usually do two pressing exercises and 1 fly or cable and a finisher if I feel like it. eg: barbell incline, DB flat, low cable crossovers, chest press machine (1 dropset).
I think I just have a really good mind muscle connection, I can really feel my chest working on exercises like BP and dips. I am always sore after a chest workout and when I really wort it hard I get light cramps in my pecs for an hour or two afterwards.
What’s wrong with just a few exercises for chest so long as good load progression can be used (plus it targets pecs well for you) and you’re doing enough volume?
For example, hammer strength presses (like after building up good strength in the BB press)?
Sorry, don’t meant that to sound negative, just would like this to be discussed…
In the past, what I’ve found is that I get all “excited” about some different form of “extra” stimulation, and it works well FOR A LITTLE WHILE, only to find that the load becomes impractical/hard to progress with after a certain period of time and higher reps are needed just to fatigue the target muscle.
I then go back to focussing mainly on the good old basic compounds again (which can mean machines) and wonder why I got so distracted to begin with LOL.
[quote]Akuma01 wrote:
Yes i know some believe that, But facts are facts. A six time Olympia tells me to do something, a random person on the internet says something different, take a guess at who im going to listen to. If i allowed negative nancys like that to affect my workouts, then id still be a 220lb ball of jello blubbering about how its not my fault and its all genetics, while i macked down a box of oreos.[/quote]
Guys,… Arnold did a zillion things wrong in his training. You have to understand the difference between correlation and cause & effect. Arnold started juicing at about 15 (I have the interview book where they talk to the older guys in his gym, crazy stories! They couldn’t believe the amount of gear he was taking!), had amazing genetics, and didn’t care about his own safety when training.
No one can do the amount of work Arnold did without the insane amount of drugs as well and make gains. To say that his doing one exercise (pullovers) are what made his huge chest is the same rationale for the whole ‘protein can cause kidney damage’ argument. The last time this was discussed, the believe it was PX who quite simply pointed out that your rib cage is BONE, and you can’t permanently stretch it no matter what exercise you employ.
I agree Akuma, that we’d all be better off ignoring most internet ‘experts’, but while I’ll listen to the intelligent explanations of Yates, and Haney, some of the Mr. O winners who truly understood training science a bit, Arnold has been pretty much accepted in recent years as the guy who does everything ‘wrong’, but due to amazing genetics and circumstances makes progress anyway.
(I’m digging all your recent threads though,… good stuff!)
S
[quote]its_just_me wrote:
In the past, what I’ve found is that I get all “excited” about some different form of “extra” stimulation, and it works well FOR A LITTLE WHILE, only to find that the load becomes impractical/hard to progress with after a certain period of time and higher reps are needed just to fatigue the target muscle.[/quote]
What movement DOESN’T progress become increasingly more difficult on? Really?
Seriously, wtf are you even talking about? You are describing everything, lol. Any movement I move more than rank beginner amount of weight is now difficult for me to progress on.
Unless we are talking about some freak of nature, super advanced trainee or someone with injury concerns, I would venture to guess anyone not “focusing mainly on the good old basic compounds” probably looks like shit.
I’m not sure where you got the idea anyone wasn’t. I don’t know. Are you just pontificating?
Am I the only one here who does floor presses/dips as their primary exercise?
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
[quote]Akuma01 wrote:
Yes i know some believe that, But facts are facts. A six time Olympia tells me to do something, a random person on the internet says something different, take a guess at who im going to listen to. If i allowed negative nancys like that to affect my workouts, then id still be a 220lb ball of jello blubbering about how its not my fault and its all genetics, while i macked down a box of oreos.[/quote]
Guys,… Arnold did a zillion things wrong in his training. You have to understand the difference between correlation and cause & effect. Arnold started juicing at about 15 (I have the interview book where they talk to the older guys in his gym, crazy stories! They couldn’t believe the amount of gear he was taking!), had amazing genetics, and didn’t care about his own safety when training.
No one can do the amount of work Arnold did without the insane amount of drugs as well and make gains. To say that his doing one exercise (pullovers) are what made his huge chest is the same rationale for the whole ‘protein can cause kidney damage’ argument. The last time this was discussed, the believe it was PX who quite simply pointed out that your rib cage is BONE, and you can’t permanently stretch it no matter what exercise you employ.
I agree Akuma, that we’d all be better off ignoring most internet ‘experts’, but while I’ll listen to the intelligent explanations of Yates, and Haney, some of the Mr. O winners who truly understood training science a bit, Arnold has been pretty much accepted in recent years as the guy who does everything ‘wrong’, but due to amazing genetics and circumstances makes progress anyway.
(I’m digging all your recent threads though,… good stuff!)
S[/quote]
Oh no, i agree with your Stu. Hard Started early with his drugs, had freaky genetics, and trained for some crazy 6 hrs a day or something ridiculous. But we can still learn things from him. DB pullovers are still useful. Yes, your rib cage is bone, but between those individual bones are muscle (External and Internal Intercostals) Which essentially are respiratory muscles involved with the rib cage during lung expansion.
Not to mention the benefit of pullovers for your serratus (A nowadays often neglected muscle). Also, Arnold i believe said this himself, That Db pullovers are More useful when started at an early Age. Hell the male body is still in growth mode til about 30yrs old, right? Well, its my belief that unless you start doing these at 35orso+, it will benefit you. Its benefits are debatable, but its usefulness is not. A Thick and Cut Serratus is one of the most impressive things ive ever seen, you can grate cheese on a good one!!
Im not saying Aim to be Arnold, adopt his methods completely, and take on his mentality. Im saying EVERY successful Olympia has had something from which i could take and grow from. Haney, Arnold, Coleman, Yates- I use it all. I have aspects of each of them in my regiment, because at one time or another, They were all perfect, and it was for different reasons too.
[quote]Standard Donkey wrote:
Am I the only one here who does floor presses/dips as their primary exercise?[/quote]
I might throw them in as an accessory movement, but i wouldnt use them as a primary/every week movement. Personally i think the primary exercise needs to be one that hits the muscle to its fullest. With Floor presses, you cut the Rom in half. Id also suggest if you’re going to do Floor presses, you do it with a Smith cage. That way, you can do some Explosion work with them.
I believe that Dips can truly be the best chest exercise, just look at the amazing pecs of the 1950’s competitors. They relied a hell of a lot more on dips than all the odd angled presses and cable stuff we do now. If I didn’t have a screwy shoulder (old discus injury), I’d love to incorporate them. Heck, that’s the reason I started playing around with low decline DB work, trying to simulate a dipping motion for my chest.
S
[quote]Akuma01 wrote:
[quote]Standard Donkey wrote:
Am I the only one here who does floor presses/dips as their primary exercise?[/quote]
I might throw them in as an accessory movement, but i wouldnt use them as a primary/every week movement. Personally i think the primary exercise needs to be one that hits the muscle to its fullest. With Floor presses, you cut the Rom in half. Id also suggest if you’re going to do Floor presses, you do it with a Smith cage. That way, you can do some Explosion work with them.[/quote]
How/why could you not do “explosion work” with a standard BB floor press? Johnnie Jackson does them as a main movement, he says he really feels it in the upper chest.
[quote]pumped340 wrote:
[quote]Akuma01 wrote:
[quote]Standard Donkey wrote:
Am I the only one here who does floor presses/dips as their primary exercise?[/quote]
I might throw them in as an accessory movement, but i wouldnt use them as a primary/every week movement. Personally i think the primary exercise needs to be one that hits the muscle to its fullest. With Floor presses, you cut the Rom in half. Id also suggest if you’re going to do Floor presses, you do it with a Smith cage. That way, you can do some Explosion work with them.[/quote]
How/why could you not do “explosion work” with a standard BB floor press? Johnnie Jackson does them as a main movement, he says he really feels it in the upper chest. [/quote]
Im assuming here that if you tried to do explosion work on a standard Floor press, youd throw in a lot of Deltoid
[quote]WestCoast7 wrote:
How much time do you spend coming up with your witty thread titles?[/quote]
I do enjoy these threads, though.
(damns waylander and his sexy back)
You qare amazing.
I think I’m going to try some wide grip, bent over dips today and see how it goes. Decline really aggravated my bicep/shoulder tendon for some reason so I’ve been looking for a replacement.
Can’t say I’ve ever been a fan of pullovers for chest, I honestly don’t even see how it’s mechanically possible to work chest effectively with that movement although I know some love it.
Good stuff man. I’m glad you said something about the ?serratus? muscles because I see people who work on chest all the time but they don’t have those little muscles that make a huge difference, in looks anyways.
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
[quote]its_just_me wrote:
In the past, what I’ve found is that I get all “excited” about some different form of “extra” stimulation, and it works well FOR A LITTLE WHILE, only to find that the load becomes impractical/hard to progress with after a certain period of time and higher reps are needed just to fatigue the target muscle.[/quote]
What movement DOESN’T progress become increasingly more difficult on? Really?
Seriously, wtf are you even talking about? You are describing everything, lol. Any movement I move more than rank beginner amount of weight is now difficult for me to progress on.
Unless we are talking about some freak of nature, super advanced trainee or someone with injury concerns, I would venture to guess anyone not “focusing mainly on the good old basic compounds” probably looks like shit.
I’m not sure where you got the idea anyone wasn’t. I don’t know. Are you just pontificating?[/quote]
Yes I am discussing 
What I’m saying is that for the 90%+ of the trainees on this site who are NOT advanced, or preparing for a contest, they do not need to be concerned with doing 6+ direct exercises for chest (like doing extra flys and cable crossovers).
Not saying that this has been the “order”, but the lifter who’s “only” using 2-3 “money exercises” for chest may read this thread and feel that their program is somehow lacking.
[quote]its_just_me wrote:
Yes I am discussing
What I’m saying is that for 90%+ of the trainees on this site who are NOT advanced, or preparing for a contest, they do not need to be concerned with doing 6+ direct exercises for chest (like doing extra flys and cable crossovers).
Not saying that this has been the “order”, but the lifter who’s “only” using 2-3 “money exercises” for chest may read this thread and feel that their program is somehow lacking.[/quote]
I think is a very valid point, good post.
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
[quote]its_just_me wrote:
Yes I am discussing
What I’m saying is that for 90%+ of the trainees on this site who are NOT advanced, or preparing for a contest, they do not need to be concerned with doing 6+ direct exercises for chest (like doing extra flys and cable crossovers).
Not saying that this has been the “order”, but the lifter who’s “only” using 2-3 “money exercises” for chest may read this thread and feel that their program is somehow lacking.[/quote]
I think is a very valid point, good post.
[/quote]
Thankyou
And on a totally unrelated note: Yay! I’ve hit the 1000 post mark…
[quote]its_just_me wrote:
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
[quote]its_just_me wrote:
In the past, what I’ve found is that I get all “excited” about some different form of “extra” stimulation, and it works well FOR A LITTLE WHILE, only to find that the load becomes impractical/hard to progress with after a certain period of time and higher reps are needed just to fatigue the target muscle.[/quote]
What movement DOESN’T progress become increasingly more difficult on? Really?
Seriously, wtf are you even talking about? You are describing everything, lol. Any movement I move more than rank beginner amount of weight is now difficult for me to progress on.
Unless we are talking about some freak of nature, super advanced trainee or someone with injury concerns, I would venture to guess anyone not “focusing mainly on the good old basic compounds” probably looks like shit.
I’m not sure where you got the idea anyone wasn’t. I don’t know. Are you just pontificating?[/quote]
Yes I am discussing
What I’m saying is that for the 90%+ of the trainees on this site who are NOT advanced, or preparing for a contest, they do not need to be concerned with doing 6+ direct exercises for chest (like doing extra flys and cable crossovers).
Not saying that this has been the “order”, but the lifter who’s “only” using 2-3 “money exercises” for chest may read this thread and feel that their program is somehow lacking.[/quote]
Fair enough.
I guess I just assume if someone can’t figure out whether their program is working or not, or if someone is going to stop doing something that is working because we are bouncing ideas off each other, they are damned to their own dumbassness, lol.
My bad for not ass wiping. 