Exercise Selection For Chest Development

Training Bodybuilding
1

Ever since I started training my chest was always the most difficult body part for me to develop. My legs, shoulders, and back absolutely dominate my chest in terms of both size and strength. The flat BB bench has always been a staple of my chest routine, and I am lately wondering if this exercise is maybe just not suited for me in terms of gaining size.

Moreover, the difficulty of adding pounds to my bench is problematic, and progress on it is very slow. Comparatively, I can increase nicely on overhead DB press, incline DB press, leg press, bent over BB rows, pull ups, etc.

I feel like if something is broke I ought to fix it (ie focus moreso on dumbells and maybe incline BB), but the idea that the flat bench is such a universal lift in bodybuilding makes me scared to cut it out so significantly.

BTW: I find it extremely scary that I can bent over row 205 for 4 sets of 8 with strict form, yet cant bench 205 for one set of 8. Maybe it has to do with my long limbs on my 6’1 frame??

2

WEIGHTED DIPS!

3

it’s not anything to do with being long limbed…

try doing incline bench for a bit instead of flat…

or if your more interested in pec developement for your first exercise do some pec deck first then bench…found my chest developement improve quicker than before.

the moment you start making excuses for why this something is lagging you have two choices try something different, or give up.

4

The flat BB bench is not necessarily a universal staple in bodybuilding. Stereotypically it may be, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep it.

Warm up. Increase your weights each set, but not to failure. Just get some blood pumping in the target muscles.

Get up to your top heavy set and get as many reps as you can. Try for roughly 6-10. If you get 5-6, keep the weight the same the next time you do that exercise and get more reps. Once you hit upwards of 9-10, increase the weight 5-10lb.

Try one or two sets per exercise.
Then switch to a different one.

Flat DB bench is great. Inc BB is also great; especially the Smith version.

You can end your chest routine with some flies on the pec dec or maybe cable cross over to get some more blood in there. One or two sets, around 10-12 reps maybe (it varies).

Low(er) volume, focusing on progressing in weights or reps on core exercises. If you do too much volume you may not be able to progress as steadily. Doing 4x8 of flat bench, then 4x8 of inc and then 3 or 4 more sets of another exerise, when you are going to failure for nearly all sets, is not an easy way to progress for many.

5

In addition to what MHB said, do inclines on a low incline instead of a 45 degree one. (20-30 degrees or so are fine.)
A higher incline results in too much shoulders and too little chest for most people.

In general:
Chest out/sternum high, shoulders back and they never leave the bench/come forward during the movement.

Edit: Oh, and yeah, doing only the bottom half of flat/incline pressing, or maybe the bottom 3/4ths is perfectly fine if your goal is getting a big chest…

Just make sure you keep progressing on your exercises.

6

Thanks guys I am going to experiment with different pressing modalities and angles, see which seems to provide the most strain for the pecs, and progress from there.

CC, what you said about shoulder involvement is interesting because I feel that with a lot of my chest exercises that my deltoids are highly activated throughout. In fact, they are sometimes a bit sore the day after chest. What pressing movements are best for deactivating the delts? My middle delts become pretty involved which is kinda weird…

7

[quote]rotty88 wrote:
Thanks guys I am going to experiment with different pressing modalities and angles, see which seems to provide the most strain for the pecs, and progress from there.

CC, what you said about shoulder involvement is interesting because I feel that with a lot of my chest exercises that my deltoids are highly activated throughout. In fact, they are sometimes a bit sore the day after chest. What pressing movements are best for deactivating the delts? My middle delts become pretty involved which is kinda weird…[/quote]

It’s less about the movements… More about setup/technique.

Btw, you could try peck-deck-presses (not flyes)… Dante has explained them over at IM or you could check our local DC threads.
Try different machine presses as well… Some are very good, others suck (esp. the seated ones imo, I can get most of them to either hit the tris or the delts, but not the chest… At least not without shoulder pain lol). Switching to DB’s may help, too… And of course you have to actually work your way up to doing the big weights for reps.

In any event… Make sure your shoulders don’t come forward while you’re pressing and keep your sternum high. It might be best if you could record a vid or two of you doing various chest pressing exercises…

8

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
rotty88 wrote:
Thanks guys I am going to experiment with different pressing modalities and angles, see which seems to provide the most strain for the pecs, and progress from there.

CC, what you said about shoulder involvement is interesting because I feel that with a lot of my chest exercises that my deltoids are highly activated throughout. In fact, they are sometimes a bit sore the day after chest. What pressing movements are best for deactivating the delts? My middle delts become pretty involved which is kinda weird…

It’s less about the movements… More about setup/technique.

Btw, you could try peck-deck-presses (not flyes)… Dante has explained them over at IM or you could check our local DC threads.
Try different machine presses as well… Some are very good, others suck (esp. the seated ones imo, I can get most of them to either hit the tris or the delts, but not the chest… At least not without shoulder pain lol). Switching to DB’s may help, too… And of course you have to actually work your way up to doing the big weights for reps.

In any event… Make sure your shoulders don’t come forward while you’re pressing and keep your sternum high. It might be best if you could record a vid or two of you doing various chest pressing exercises…
[/quote]

I think the seated Hammer Strength flat/incline presses are very quality machines. I like to finish off chest with high rep HS incline presses. I used to do incline flys, but these seem to work better.

9

[quote]Artem wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
rotty88 wrote:
Thanks guys I am going to experiment with different pressing modalities and angles, see which seems to provide the most strain for the pecs, and progress from there.

CC, what you said about shoulder involvement is interesting because I feel that with a lot of my chest exercises that my deltoids are highly activated throughout. In fact, they are sometimes a bit sore the day after chest. What pressing movements are best for deactivating the delts? My middle delts become pretty involved which is kinda weird…

It’s less about the movements… More about setup/technique.

Btw, you could try peck-deck-presses (not flyes)… Dante has explained them over at IM or you could check our local DC threads.
Try different machine presses as well… Some are very good, others suck (esp. the seated ones imo, I can get most of them to either hit the tris or the delts, but not the chest… At least not without shoulder pain lol). Switching to DB’s may help, too… And of course you have to actually work your way up to doing the big weights for reps.

In any event… Make sure your shoulders don’t come forward while you’re pressing and keep your sternum high. It might be best if you could record a vid or two of you doing various chest pressing exercises…

I think the seated Hammer Strength flat/incline presses are very quality machines. I like to finish off chest with high rep HS incline presses. I used to do incline flys, but these seem to work better.[/quote]

Well, we don’t have any HS machines in any of the gyms in my area :wink:

I’d love to try that brand out… Man… Screw Germany, nation of engineers my ass.

They can’t even make a decent preacher-curl machine.

10

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Artem wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
rotty88 wrote:
Thanks guys I am going to experiment with different pressing modalities and angles, see which seems to provide the most strain for the pecs, and progress from there.

CC, what you said about shoulder involvement is interesting because I feel that with a lot of my chest exercises that my deltoids are highly activated throughout. In fact, they are sometimes a bit sore the day after chest. What pressing movements are best for deactivating the delts? My middle delts become pretty involved which is kinda weird…

It’s less about the movements… More about setup/technique.

Btw, you could try peck-deck-presses (not flyes)… Dante has explained them over at IM or you could check our local DC threads.
Try different machine presses as well… Some are very good, others suck (esp. the seated ones imo, I can get most of them to either hit the tris or the delts, but not the chest… At least not without shoulder pain lol). Switching to DB’s may help, too… And of course you have to actually work your way up to doing the big weights for reps.

In any event… Make sure your shoulders don’t come forward while you’re pressing and keep your sternum high. It might be best if you could record a vid or two of you doing various chest pressing exercises…

I think the seated Hammer Strength flat/incline presses are very quality machines. I like to finish off chest with high rep HS incline presses. I used to do incline flys, but these seem to work better.

Well, we don’t have any HS machines in any of the gyms in my area :wink:

I’d love to try that brand out… Man… Screw Germany, nation of engineers my ass.

They can’t even make a decent preacher-curl machine.
[/quote]

I always see bicep machines get bashed, but then I see big guys using them in videos. What’s up with that? And what’s the benefit of using a preacher machine over a dumbbell? I don’t like it, so I used DBs.

11

Try doing this!

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article//hss100_chest_specialization

LR

12

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
rotty88 wrote:
Thanks guys I am going to experiment with different pressing modalities and angles, see which seems to provide the most strain for the pecs, and progress from there.

CC, what you said about shoulder involvement is interesting because I feel that with a lot of my chest exercises that my deltoids are highly activated throughout. In fact, they are sometimes a bit sore the day after chest. What pressing movements are best for deactivating the delts? My middle delts become pretty involved which is kinda weird…

It’s less about the movements… More about setup/technique.

Btw, you could try peck-deck-presses (not flyes)… Dante has explained them over at IM or you could check our local DC threads.
Try different machine presses as well… Some are very good, others suck (esp. the seated ones imo, I can get most of them to either hit the tris or the delts, but not the chest… At least not without shoulder pain lol). Switching to DB’s may help, too… And of course you have to actually work your way up to doing the big weights for reps.

In any event… Make sure your shoulders don’t come forward while you’re pressing and keep your sternum high. It might be best if you could record a vid or two of you doing various chest pressing exercises…
[/quote]

Right. You want to retract your shoulder blades (imagine that you are trying to hold a pencil between your shoulder blades) throughout the entire exercise, never, ever let the shoulder blades round forward at any point during the exercise.

Also, make certain that you are bringing the bar all the way down to your chest, and, if you are having issues with your delts taking over, only pressing about 1/2-2/3 of the way up. It’s the bottom part of the ROM on bench that most heavily recruits the pecs, so that’s the part that you want to emphasize.

DB’s can be great as C_C mentions above because they allow you to get a better stretch in your pecs at the bottom of the movement (there is no bar hitting your chest to limit ROM). They also allow a more natural ROM and wrist positioning than a BB. Both BB and DB variations can be effective pec builders though.

13

[quote]rotty88 wrote:
Ever since I started training my chest was always the most difficult body part for me to develop. My legs, shoulders, and back absolutely dominate my chest in terms of both size and strength. The flat BB bench has always been a staple of my chest routine, and I am lately wondering if this exercise is maybe just not suited for me in terms of gaining size.

Moreover, the difficulty of adding pounds to my bench is problematic, and progress on it is very slow. Comparatively, I can increase nicely on overhead DB press, incline DB press, leg press, bent over BB rows, pull ups, etc.

I feel like if something is broke I ought to fix it (ie focus moreso on dumbells and maybe incline BB), but the idea that the flat bench is such a universal lift in bodybuilding makes me scared to cut it out so significantly.

BTW: I find it extremely scary that I can bent over row 205 for 4 sets of 8 with strict form, yet cant bench 205 for one set of 8. Maybe it has to do with my long limbs on my 6’1 frame?? [/quote]

Decline bench activates more of the chest fibers than flat and for sure include bench. That is why when you go heavy on flat bench your lower back arches; to get more leverage and muscle under the load.

So heavy decline bench will do the trick.

Ps- I also have long arms and can lift almost as much with my back as chest. It’s a leverage thing.

14

[quote]Artem wrote:

I always see bicep machines get bashed, but then I see big guys using them in videos. What’s up with that? And what’s the benefit of using a preacher machine over a dumbbell? I don’t like it, so I used DBs.[/quote]

Oh, I just meant that the preacher machines over here suck. The one at my old gym was a crappy design that would basically pull my elbows off the pad at the top of the movement because the machine’s arm couldn’t be adjusted much etc… I don’t think anyone ever felt that one in the biceps lol

Benefit… Well… It’s another exercise you can get strong on I suppose.

On bicep movements one can’t use as much weight as when squatting (duh, really), so many stall faster and if you go around plateaus by switching exercises in and out of a triple-rotation (as one does in DC, for example), then more machines/exercises available = good.

On a regular split, I guess I wouldn’t use these machines past maybe as the last “pump-only” movement… Or, if it was a really good design/felt great/lets me progress fast… Then as a main movement, of course.

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[quote]phatkins187 wrote:
WEIGHTED DIPS![/quote]

I said this yesterday on a different post!

17

[quote]hexx wrote:
www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/BBGuillotineBenchPress.html[/quote]

If your shoulders don’t mind that one lol

18

That’s actually an awful demonstration of the exercise.

Feet up on a smaller bench?

But in general bringing the bar to the throat very strongly recruits the pectorals. Just don’t drop the bar or… well look at the name of the exercise.

19

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
hexx wrote:

If your shoulders don’t mind that one lol
[/quote]

Definitely have to do that in the power rack or smith machine…

20

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

Right. You want to retract your shoulder blades (imagine that you are trying to hold a pencil between your shoulder blades) throughout the entire exercise, never, ever let the shoulder blades round forward at any point during the exercise.

[/quote]

Lots of good advice but I wanted to emphasize this point. Also, when chasing ever higher poundages it is easy to get loose with form and setup. Don’t move up in weight until you can do it with your blades retracted.