Improving Pec Growth

Training Beginners
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Improving Pec Growth -

be patient and eat more train more etc.

your profile says less than a year training. It takes quite some time to get used to recruiting specific muscles during movements. At first its enough to be sore all over but you should focus on really feeling the muscle you want to work if you are targeting it.

An author on this site once said something to the effect of ‘if you cannot flex a muscle you have no business doing isolation exercises for it’. Not sure if i agree but the point is intact, until you have enough control over your body to decide what the primary movers will be in a given movement you will have a very hard time targeting a specific muscle.

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I personally do flat, incline and decline. Hit them from all angles to stimulate the most growth.

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think about stretching the muscle before oyu begin a rep. begin each rep from the most stretched position that you can. in other words, for example on the decline dumbbell bench (this will be harder to do on barbell benches), instead of feeling like the hard portion of the rep is the pushing portion, feel instead like the goal of the rep is to get as LOW as you can at the bottom of the rep… get into as stretched a position as you can.
i suspect it will make a difference…
dan

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[quote]LiarPantsOnFire wrote:
think about stretching the muscle before oyu begin a rep. begin each rep from the most stretched position that you can. in other words, for example on the decline dumbbell bench (this will be harder to do on barbell benches), instead of feeling like the hard portion of the rep is the pushing portion, feel instead like the goal of the rep is to get as LOW as you can at the bottom of the rep… get into as stretched a position as you can.
i suspect it will make a difference…
dan[/quote]

Don’t you run the risk of injury if you go past where you “line up” with your back (Thought I heard somewhere that going back to far would injure some body part…)

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[quote]RebornTN wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
honestly bro, train harder.

Train harder as in doing more reps? I mean I’m sore today from that workout, but not nearly as much as I get from doing my triceps or legs.
Or do you think that I should try to just lift heavier (Which if I do my form goes to shit).[/quote]

ok, first your chest choices suck…whats with everyone doing dips?

youre doing decline, dips and pushups???

try this, flat DB bench 4x6-8, incline bench3-4x6-8, cable or machine flys. fin.

btw its setsxreps

and by train harder i mean, just get into the gym and destroy those weights, keep getting food down and just lift hard. theres no secrets in bodybuilding. everyone who got big did it the same way more or less, through dedication, lifting and eating. it takes time. a year ago i could only do like 6 reps with 65lb dumbbells now i can rep with 100lbs.

it just takes time. thats what people dont seem to understand, if you keep getting in there, getting a rep here and there, a couple pounds here and there youre gonna get bigger you just gotta keep at it.

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[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
RebornTN wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
honestly bro, train harder.

Train harder as in doing more reps? I mean I’m sore today from that workout, but not nearly as much as I get from doing my triceps or legs.
Or do you think that I should try to just lift heavier (Which if I do my form goes to shit).

ok, first your chest choices suck…whats with everyone doing dips?

youre doing decline, dips and pushups???

try this, flat DB bench 4x6-8, incline bench3-4x6-8, cable or machine flys. fin.

btw its setsxreps

and by train harder i mean, just get into the gym and destroy those weights, keep getting food down and just lift hard. theres no secrets in bodybuilding. everyone who got big did it the same way more or less, through dedication, lifting and eating. it takes time. a year ago i could only do like 6 reps with 65lb dumbbells now i can rep with 100lbs.

it just takes time. thats what people dont seem to understand, if you keep getting in there, getting a rep here and there, a couple pounds here and there youre gonna get bigger you just gotta keep at it. [/quote]

What is up with you and “don’t do dips!!”. I am not trying to be a dick here, but if you don’t see the value of dips as a chest exercise then you must be doing them wrong (as in not leaning forward enough).

I do dips on chest day… and I ONLY feel them in my chest. We are not all built the same, and if he is doing dips (and he leans forward enough for his chest to do most of the work) then let him do dips. Sure benching is great, but what’s worng with dips?

I agree with your other comments… and in that vein, someone who does 15 dips with 160lb strapped to his waist will probably NOT have a small chest, despite that exercise being apparently ‘inferior’ to chest growth.

I would also do dips instead of crossovers/flies any day. But that’s just me.

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On my chest days I usually do bb bench, incline db press, dips, and cable cross overs… Im going to get a weight belt soon so I can add a plate when I do dips… I tried them before with a 45 hanging and they work the chest like crazy.

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Check out this video, it might be exactly what you’re looking for:

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[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
RebornTN wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
honestly bro, train harder.

Train harder as in doing more reps? I mean I’m sore today from that workout, but not nearly as much as I get from doing my triceps or legs.
Or do you think that I should try to just lift heavier (Which if I do my form goes to shit).

ok, first your chest choices suck…whats with everyone doing dips?

youre doing decline, dips and pushups???

try this, flat DB bench 4x6-8, incline bench3-4x6-8, cable or machine flys. fin.

btw its setsxreps

and by train harder i mean, just get into the gym and destroy those weights, keep getting food down and just lift hard. theres no secrets in bodybuilding. everyone who got big did it the same way more or less, through dedication, lifting and eating. it takes time. a year ago i could only do like 6 reps with 65lb dumbbells now i can rep with 100lbs.

it just takes time. thats what people dont seem to understand, if you keep getting in there, getting a rep here and there, a couple pounds here and there youre gonna get bigger you just gotta keep at it. [/quote]

x2

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[quote]Alquemist wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
RebornTN wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
honestly bro, train harder.

Train harder as in doing more reps? I mean I’m sore today from that workout, but not nearly as much as I get from doing my triceps or legs.
Or do you think that I should try to just lift heavier (Which if I do my form goes to shit).

ok, first your chest choices suck…whats with everyone doing dips?

youre doing decline, dips and pushups???

try this, flat DB bench 4x6-8, incline bench3-4x6-8, cable or machine flys. fin.

btw its setsxreps

and by train harder i mean, just get into the gym and destroy those weights, keep getting food down and just lift hard. theres no secrets in bodybuilding. everyone who got big did it the same way more or less, through dedication, lifting and eating. it takes time. a year ago i could only do like 6 reps with 65lb dumbbells now i can rep with 100lbs.

it just takes time. thats what people dont seem to understand, if you keep getting in there, getting a rep here and there, a couple pounds here and there youre gonna get bigger you just gotta keep at it.

What is up with you and “don’t do dips!!”. I am not trying to be a dick here, but if you don’t see the value of dips as a chest exercise then you must be doing them wrong (as in not leaning forward enough).

I do dips on chest day… and I ONLY feel them in my chest. We are not all built the same, and if he is doing dips (and he leans forward enough for his chest to do most of the work) then let him do dips. Sure benching is great, but what’s worng with dips?

I agree with your other comments… and in that vein, someone who does 15 dips with 160lb strapped to his waist will probably NOT have a small chest, despite that exercise being apparently ‘inferior’ to chest growth.

I would also do dips instead of crossovers/flies any day. But that’s just me.[/quote]

generally either machine or cable flys give you the best pump of any chest exercise. if you want seperation you need to hit those isolations.

i dont like dips for chest. i like them for triceps, but not for chest. i just think theres so many better alternatives out there…especially if the only way youre getting a big chest from them is to do 15 with 160lbs attached.

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[quote]Aleksandr wrote:
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.

Want to see some hilarious chest growth?

Do a few sets of 15 on an exercise that isolates the chest (cross-overs, flyes, or even bench). Use very light weight. Enough that you get a good chest pump, but don’t get really fatigued. Do this on your off days, and keep doing your regular workouts.

The increased stimulation may not have a huge effect, but the increased blood flow very well might. Try it for a month and let me know what happens.

NOTE: If you need to take a day off, TAKE A DAY OFF. Watch for indicators of overtraining, and adjust accordingly.[/quote]

Thanks for clearing that up for one.
2- Ill be sure to try that, and if this thread stay’s up for a month, Ill let you know how it goes.

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[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
RebornTN wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
honestly bro, train harder.

Train harder as in doing more reps? I mean I’m sore today from that workout, but not nearly as much as I get from doing my triceps or legs.
Or do you think that I should try to just lift heavier (Which if I do my form goes to shit).

ok, first your chest choices suck…whats with everyone doing dips?

youre doing decline, dips and pushups???

try this, flat DB bench 4x6-8, incline bench3-4x6-8, cable or machine flys. fin.

btw its setsxreps

and by train harder i mean, just get into the gym and destroy those weights, keep getting food down and just lift hard. theres no secrets in bodybuilding. everyone who got big did it the same way more or less, through dedication, lifting and eating. it takes time. a year ago i could only do like 6 reps with 65lb dumbbells now i can rep with 100lbs.

it just takes time. thats what people dont seem to understand, if you keep getting in there, getting a rep here and there, a couple pounds here and there youre gonna get bigger you just gotta keep at it. [/quote]

Thanks for all the info in your post. As far as the time issue goes, I just want to make sure that I am utilizing my time effectively. I understand I won’t see huge gains in weeks, but I figure that if I run things past people who have more experience, I will be able to do sort of a pre-emptive strike. Whereas I won’t waste as much time due to ignorance.

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[quote]DougLance wrote:
Check out this video, it might be exactly what you’re looking for:

- YouTube [/quote]

Yea, that video pretty much sums up the info I was looking for.

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use full rom, go heavy and hard. 5-6 sets of 3-6 reps!

fuckes me up a treat compared to 12x3’s

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[quote]souldown wrote:
use full rom, go heavy and hard. 5-6 sets of 3-6 reps!

fuckes me up a treat compared to 12x3’s[/quote]

Thanks for the input- I just have to watch how heavy I go since I workout at home (No spotter)

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…i wish more people would say they worked out at home before i give them advice that requires different bench variations, heavy dumb bells and a cable station.

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[quote]RebornTN wrote:

For my chest day I did :
10x3 decline dumbbell press
10x2 dips
30 push-ups
(I’m not beyond completely changing my workout if there is significant flaws in it, but note I am limited to the equipment I have at home, due to no gym access)
[/quote]

I’ll try to make it more noticeable next time, sorry for the confusion.

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Not sure if there is a way to prove I didn’t edit it, but I know I didn’t update the first post yet with new info

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[quote]RebornTN wrote:
Hey, I was wondering if anyone had some tips on way’s that I can really work on my pecs. I have been reading as many articles as I can on this site, and I wanted to run some of what I learned from the articles/other threads to see if I am on the right track. Any advice would be appreciated, and feel free to correct my ideas. Im planning on editing this post to add in new suggestions, to make it easier for people to see what has already been suggested.

I ran through the search functions list in order to try and find more posts similar to what I’m looking for, but there were not too many suggestions other then not doing a “dead cockroach bench-press”.

From what I know now-

Pre-fatiguing the muscle, this would be along the lines of using a pec-deck and then super-setting into a bench press?
Isolating/Targeting the pecs- using decline dumbbell press’s?
Using a slight arch while doing bench press’s and increasing the width of your grip
Keep your feet on the ground while benching, this will allow you to be more stable and perhaps bench more?

My problem is that I really don’t feel any burn in my pecs after a workout. I feel it more in my triceps and a bit in the shoulders. I’m trying to widen my grip more, but I don’t know how far is safe.

For my chest day I did :
10x3 decline dumbbell press
10x2 dips
30 push-ups
(I’m not beyond completely changing my workout if there is significant flaws in it, but note I am limited to the equipment I have at home, due to no gym access)

If there is anymore information you need, just let me know and Ill get it back ASAP. Just to clarify, I’m trying to find out how come the burn is more in my triceps (Mainly in-case my technique is wrong)[/quote]

if tris and shoulders are felt more during press, then u r tri’s and shoulders dominant in this lift…a closed grip will work the tris, a wide one will hit the shoulders quite hard…try to be in the middle

Also u should change the workout a bit…include 2 presses (incline, flaT) where u alternate the first press form workout and workout. Include a stretching move inbetween, finish with dips.Smt like press(incline),stretch(flies), press(flat), stretch (db pullovers), dips.

There u have 5 exercises hitting the whole area of the chest and rib cage. Always go as heavy as possible on the presses (especially the 1st one)and use the streches to pump as much blood into the muscle and prepare for the next press. Next week, start press(flat) etc.

Try to keep this up for awhile, see how you feel…supersets-prefatigue-partials are better to be used to break platues and not used in the long run.
I hope this helps…
g

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also, if you work at home, u might not have enough weight to feel the workout in the pecs but enough to feelit in the arms and shoulders…
get a gym membership!

or do more sets to fatigue the pecs good…

generally, try to hit them from as many angles as possible and heavier as possible.
peace
g