Hey Peoples…
Just curious what some of you do on you chest day? For instance, flat bench, incline, etc. How many sets of each…
I usually some form of variation of the following:
1 warm up set of flat bench.
5 working sets of flat bench.
3-4 working sets of incline bench.
5 working sets of flat or incline flys.
Am I doing to little?
Thanks…
LJ
LJ4174, is it a training day dedicated completely to chest ? What about the reps ?
Ciao
Luca
I think u need some dips or decline presses in there.
Too much man! That’s how my workouts looked about 7-8 years ago.
I’ve made better progress using one or two movements and more sets.
What do you suggest? What movements? How many sets/reps?
here’s my routine that seems to work well for me…
2-3 sets warm-up flat bench
3 working sets of flat bench
2 sets of incline dumbells
2 set of decline bench
2 sets of pec deck or flies
then finish it out with one set of unweighted dips for as many reps as i can do
I do 4 - 6 reps for each working set except for the dips which I usually get about 20 - 30 reps and I’m out of the gym in about 30 - 40 minutes
1st post…
Heres my routine, pyramiding…every 3rd work out substituting dumbells
Flat bench:
reps 15,10,8,8,6,4
Incl bench:
reps 10,8,6,6,4
Flye:
reps 10,8,8,8,6
Weighted dips:
reps 15,10,8,8,8
Pullover:
reps 15,15,15
it works great for me…just wish my chest would keep the pumped look it has afterwards… all the time
[quote]LJ4174 wrote:
What do you suggest? What movements? How many sets/reps?[/quote]
I don’t follow those workouts anymore, but I did for quite some time. Yes, I built a pretty good chest, but it was too much work. I was able to stop doing that and do one exercise for chest and focus on lifting more weight and got even bigger and stronger.
I’d suggest something along the lines of what Chad Waterbury suggests. Look at Big Boy Basics, ABBH and some of his other programs. You divide the body into upper/lower and hit it two times a week or more. In each workout, you do one exercise to hit many muscles.
For example, in ABBH, you do decline bench presses for 10x3 one day and dips for 5x10 another. This way, you hit it twice a week with different exercises and different parameters.
I made great gains just doing a 5x5 program a few years back. My bench was at my best ever, and I only benched once a week with the flat bench.
NateDogg…
I looked over some of those routines you pointed out. Nice… Would you mind giving me an example of how you apply it? Perhaps what your weekly workout schedule looks like?
I just started Meltdown Training so I’m trying to get rid of some body fat. I’m lucky enough to have 2 bottles of Mag-10 waiting for me. Around Christmas I’m going to start a bulking phase so this type of training sounds perfect…
Thanks Man…
LJ
What is a 5X5 program???
Follow ABBH and the other programs as written.
If doing 5x5, check out “Training with Maximal Weights” by Charles Poliquin. It’s in one of the very first issues of T-mag.
It will give you some guidelines on how to set it up. Also, you can check out “Ripped, Rugged & Dense” as well as Chad Waterbury’s “The Next Big Three,” as all are based on the 5x5 system.
What’s up fellas,
Interesting thread here - lot’s of different ways to the same end.
One thing I wanted to chyme in on was that I almost completely agree with Nate Dogg. From what a lot of you are posting, you are trying to do a Ronnie Colman w/o, but with the IV of anabolics! I think you could simplify, both in number of exercises and rep ranges. ALL parts of your chest get worked with just about any pressing/flying movement!
You truly only need one exercise per body part per w/o to get an effective lift. Throwing in two is fine, but watch the total volume. There is no need to go flat barbell, incline barbell, decline dumbbell, flies, etc… that is over-kill and is actually retarding your growth.
Also, remember that white fast twitch muscle fibers have the biggest potential for growth. These fibers can only be stimulated two main ways (without getting too deep in muscle physiology). One is keeping the load heavy, say between 80 and 95% of your 1RM. Two is keeping the reps per set between 3 and 6 and using 100% effort and maximum speed of execution on each rep. Things like heavy lockouts, heavy negatives, and heavy rest-pauses are some of the most effective strength/size builders. But, your body can only handle those poundages for so many weeks.
Therefore, my next point is that none of you should say “this is what my chest day looks like”. You instead should be saying, “this is what I am doing for the next 4-6 weeks.” Remember, your body is the most advanced instrument on the planet - it adapts very quickly. Doing the same (or similar) routine month after month, year after year, is NOT productive. Sure you will see some gains, but at maybe 1-2% (more with drugs of course). Versus maybe a 5-15+% increase in strength/mass by cycling EVERY 4-6 weeks. Do a routine that you thought you would hate and watch your mass increases skyrocket!
Watch “mixing” rep ranges within the same session. Take the pyramid approach for example. After a warm-up, you hit a medium working set and then progressively get heavier with fewer reps. Say starting at 10 and going to 3. This is very confusing to the nervous system, becaue at the 10 rep level, your red fast twitch is firing, then as you get heavier, your white must then kick in. Therefore, you often times will not hit either fiber optimally. It may indeed give you a great pump, but that is a very poor way to rank a w/o. Notice that most of the T-Nation experts keep you at about the same rep range each set, but they vary load, TUT, and tempo.
Also, concerning the white fast twitch fibers: they consume the most stored energy (ATP) and go it at a faster rate than any other type of fiber. Because of this they are so strong and can grow quickly, however if you rob them of your stored ATP by doing lighter sets, then make them use creatine phoshate or pyruvate for fuel in the middle or end of the workout, they will not be stressed as greatly. Therefore, to hit the white fast twitch properly, warm-up then proceed directly into heavy reps. Then, if you want to hit some medium load sets, place them after. I really found hitting 3 x 6 using my 7 or 8 RM, then hitting ONE set to near failure of 60% of my 1RM max very effective in mass and strength gain.
I had to mention the “pump” thing and going to failure since I was already typing… you actually want to AVOID getting huge, bulging pumps (even though the girls think it’s cool looking!). Why? Short version - when you get a tight pump, you have made your muscle cell walls impermiable to fluids which can hamper oxygen flow and nutrition!
As for going to failure, same principle - at failure, your muscles are flooded with chemicals (lactic acid and free phosphates) that prevent further work to be done. In both cases you are hindering your w/o capicity and from getting fully stimulated muscle fibers. Again, T-Nation gurus can concure with me, they are usually saying to NOT go to failure… now you know why.
I like the slpit that Nate Dogg referred to especially: going heavy with a 3x8, then hitting an 8x3 in the next bout.
KIS (Keep It Simple)!!!
[quote]TopSirloin wrote:
What’s up fellas,
…
KIS (Keep It Simple)!!![/quote]
Nice post man. It’s guys like YOU that make this site so great.
Bastard F*ck Guy