Over Developed Chest & Front Delts

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

i been lifting a little longer then 2 years now. I will admit when i first started lifting i was a fucking ass hole, and i still am just not as bad. Lol but all i wanted to do was build a big chest and biceps. So i did a ton of bench press and bicep curls. i did throw in a back day, but my back really was lagging. Now i have over developed chest and delts. my shoulders are all hunched over. i do have some lat devlopment, but not what i was hopeing for.

anyone have a routine i could follow to correct this problem as quickly as possible? i have alot of trouble deadlifting by the way maybe because of this inbalence. Also should i stop chest work? For how long? i already tried this and as soon as i went back to bench press after a month the same problem accured. any help would be great! been strugleing for a while now and its really holding me back!

2

do what you did with your bench with deads, and then squats.

3

That is part 1. Use the search function to find the rest. Read them all before you take action.

4

Right now i am actually doing quite a bit of benching and arm work, partially because they are lagging…and also because women like some nice thick muscly arms.

The women probably like big thick muscly man arms the same way i like thier well shaped asses in a good pair of those yoga pants.

5

I would do very little pec, front delt, and bicep work and make the focus everything else. However long it took to develop those, it will at least take to balance.

6

[quote]Andrewdwatters1 wrote:
do what you did with your bench with deads, and then squats. [/quote]

So i was thinking for now i would throw in deads for the third exercise in my routine. This will allow me to to feel it in my upper back more since my upper back will allready be pumped? Is this wrong? what do you think?

Pullups
seated row
deadlifts

7

Get on a real split, don’t just add a new exercise.

Do at least as much pulling as pushing.

8

Get on a 3:1 pulling to pushing split

9

[quote]pats18 wrote:

[quote]Andrewdwatters1 wrote:
do what you did with your bench with deads, and then squats. [/quote]

So i was thinking for now i would throw in deads for the third exercise in my routine. This will allow me to to feel it in my upper back more since my upper back will allready be pumped? Is this wrong? what do you think?

Pullups
seated row
deadlifts[/quote]

Deads are gonna hit primarily your lower back, glutes, hammies and some upper back. They might not hit your upper back as well as you might like, but I would still start with them.

I try to think of it like this: Do your exercises that you lift the most total weight on first.

For example: On your back day, if those are your three exercises the best order to do them in imo would be: deads, pullups, rows. This will still hit your upper back just as well as doing deads last, if not better

10

[quote]Field wrote:
Right now i am actually doing quite a bit of benching and arm work, partially because they are lagging…and also because women like some nice thick muscly arms.

The women probably like big thick muscly man arms the same way i like thier well shaped asses in a good pair of those yoga pants.

[/quote]

You are a weird dude. Why do you always post this kind of nonsense in random threads?

11

[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
I would do very little pec, front delt, and bicep work and make the focus everything else. However long it took to develop those, it will at least take to balance. [/quote]

I agree with this.

If you were doing 3-4 times as many pressing exercises than pulling exercises per week(cycle) to become “unbalanced”, you should flip that ratio and now do 3-4 times as many pulling exercises per cycle than pressing exercises.

If it took you 2 years to become “unbalanced” expect to stick to this new setup for about 2 years.

You probably made some gains for your back with the minimal training you gave it - so the new minimal pressing training will surely be enough to maintain your pressing gains.

As others mentioned deadlifts, rows, facepulls are all excellent exercises. Lat pulldowns, from my understanding, will accentuate the internal rotation you say you have.

12

[quote]Empty-Cup wrote:

[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
I would do very little pec, front delt, and bicep work and make the focus everything else. However long it took to develop those, it will at least take to balance. [/quote]

I agree with this.

If you were doing 3-4 times as many pressing exercises than pulling exercises per week(cycle) to become “unbalanced”, you should flip that ratio and now do 3-4 times as many pulling exercises per cycle than pressing exercises.

If it took you 2 years to become “unbalanced” expect to stick to this new setup for about 2 years.

You probably made some gains for your back with the minimal training you gave it - so the new minimal pressing training will surely be enough to maintain your pressing gains.

As others mentioned deadlifts, rows, facepulls are all excellent exercises. Lat pulldowns, from my understanding, will accentuate the internal rotation you say you have.

[/quote]
so are you saying stay away from lat pulldowns and pull ups?

13

Deads are gonna hit primarily your lower back, glutes, hammies and some upper back. They might not hit your upper back as well as you might like, but I would still start with them.

I try to think of it like this: Do your exercises that you lift the most total weight on first.

For example: On your back day, if those are your three exercises the best order to do them in imo would be: deads, pullups, rows. This will still hit your upper back just as well as doing deads last, if not better[/quote]
I hear what your saying, however ive had the same problem with triceps. I coudnt feel the triceps working on the closed grip bench. so what i did was pushdowns, 15,12,10,8, in order to get my triceps pumped. then i would do skull crushers, followed by the closed grip bench. i was then able to feel the triceps working. Now i moved closed grip bench up to my second exercise. and eventually it will be my first exercise.

14

[quote]pats18 wrote:

[quote]Empty-Cup wrote:

[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
I would do very little pec, front delt, and bicep work and make the focus everything else. However long it took to develop those, it will at least take to balance. [/quote]

I agree with this.

If you were doing 3-4 times as many pressing exercises than pulling exercises per week(cycle) to become “unbalanced”, you should flip that ratio and now do 3-4 times as many pulling exercises per cycle than pressing exercises.

If it took you 2 years to become “unbalanced” expect to stick to this new setup for about 2 years.

You probably made some gains for your back with the minimal training you gave it - so the new minimal pressing training will surely be enough to maintain your pressing gains.

As others mentioned deadlifts, rows, facepulls are all excellent exercises. Lat pulldowns, from my understanding, will accentuate the internal rotation you say you have.

[/quote]
so are you saying stay away from lat pulldowns and pull ups?[/quote]

Let’s just be clear on this - I’m not an expert.

That being said I’ve noticed quite a few articles from this site from Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson, and Tony Gentilcore mentioning that lat pulldowns promotes internal rotation of the shoulders (something you are trying to avoid).

Here is an excerpt from one of Tony’s articles

[quote]
What computer guy WANTS to do: Lat Pulldowns

We can’t reiterate this point enough. The last thing we want computer guy doing in the gym is performing movements in a seated position after he’s been sitting all day. What’s more, lat pulldowns for someone with internally rotated shoulders is just not a good idea overall, as they tend to wreak havoc on the shoulders and lead to a plethora of other compensation patterns. [/quote]

For those just starting lifting I think a good recommendation would be to do a vertical pull exercise for every vertical pushing exercise; and a horizontal pull exercise for every horizontal pushing exercise.

But in your case you’ve been creating a deficiency for the past 2 years - so the above rule of thumb no longer applies.

Again - I’m not an expert so its not as if I have a specific answer to give you.

I think if you flip the push/pull ratio and favor rowing exercises that you will be on the right path.

In addition you can read a bunch of articles from the authors I mentioned do see if you can incorporate any additional tips.

15

"I agree with this.

If you were doing 3-4 times as many pressing exercises than pulling exercises per week(cycle) to become “unbalanced”, you should flip that ratio and now do 3-4 times as many pulling exercises per cycle than pressing exercises.

If it took you 2 years to become “unbalanced” expect to stick to this new setup for about 2 years.

You probably made some gains for your back with the minimal training you gave it - so the new minimal pressing training will surely be enough to maintain your pressing gains.

As others mentioned deadlifts, rows, facepulls are all excellent exercises. Lat pulldowns, from my understanding, will accentuate the internal rotation you say you have.

[/quote]
so are you saying stay away from lat pulldowns and pull ups?[/quote]

Let’s just be clear on this - I’m not an expert.

That being said I’ve noticed quite a few articles from this site from Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson, and Tony Gentilcore mentioning that lat pulldowns promotes internal rotation of the shoulders (something you are trying to avoid).

Here is an excerpt from one of Tony’s articles

[quote]
What computer guy WANTS to do: Lat Pulldowns

We can’t reiterate this point enough. The last thing we want computer guy doing in the gym is performing movements in a seated position after he’s been sitting all day. What’s more, lat pulldowns for someone with internally rotated shoulders is just not a good idea overall, as they tend to wreak havoc on the shoulders and lead to a plethora of other compensation patterns. [/quote]

For those just starting lifting I think a good recommendation would be to do a vertical pull exercise for every vertical pushing exercise; and a horizontal pull exercise for every horizontal pushing exercise.

But in your case you’ve been creating a deficiency for the past 2 years - so the above rule of thumb no longer applies.

Again - I’m not an expert so its not as if I have a specific answer to give you.

I think if you flip the push/pull ratio and favor rowing exercises that you will be on the right path.

In addition you can read a bunch of articles from the authors I mentioned do see if you can incorporate any additional tips.
[/quote]"
thanks man, i will definatley stay away from vertical pulling, at least for a couple of months. Very good info. Now that your saying this it makes alot of sense. I always faver vertical pulling (pulldows,pulups) just because i think a wide back is impresive. This could be why im not seeing results. I will definately favor rows now. Thanks you lol. This info means alot!

16

Last ‘tips’ I want to share are to frequently stretch out your pecs and front delts. You can probably do these stretches between your rowing sets without them interfering with your workout or outside commitments.

And finally - simply doing all this rowing and pec/delt stretching will not do much in itself to correct your hunched posture (as opposed to your muscle mass imbalance). You need to make a conscious effort in every day life to walk / sit upright with your shoulders pulled back and down (same goes for your head).

I had that hunched look, not from poor exercise selection, but from sitting all day in front of my books (in university) and later my computer (at work) with the shittiest posture imaginable. I figured if I just did more rowing exercises that my posture would magically fix itself. Well it didn’t. It’s not until I forced myself to walk/sit “military style” that it eventually got better.

17

[quote]Empty-Cup wrote:
Last ‘tips’ I want to share are to frequently stretch out your pecs and front delts. You can probably do these stretches between your rowing sets without them interfering with your workout or outside commitments.

And finally - simply doing all this rowing and pec/delt stretching will not do much in itself to correct your hunched posture (as opposed to your muscle mass imbalance). You need to make a conscious effort in every day life to walk / sit upright with your shoulders pulled back and down (same goes for your head).

I had that hunched look, not from poor exercise selection, but from sitting all day in front of my books (in university) and later my computer (at work) with the shittiest posture imaginable. I figured if I just did more rowing exercises that my posture would magically fix itself. Well it didn’t. It’s not until I forced myself to walk/sit “military style” that it eventually got better.

[/quote]
I apreciate these tips man, especially the ones about pull downs. Now im debateing on my exercise selection.
1.Romanian deads, conventional, or rack pulls, maybe rack pulls with a romanian deadlift grip.
2. BB rows, Seated wide grip rows, inverted pull ups
3.meadow rows, or one arm DB Rows
Even though your not an expert i like your advice lol. any suggestions on exercise selection? before you shoot down romanian deads, i was thinking about useing them with and under hand grip to emphasize external rotation. what do you think. Any advice is great.

18

[quote]pats18 wrote:
Deads are gonna hit primarily your lower back, glutes, hammies and some upper back. They might not hit your upper back as well as you might like, but I would still start with them.

I try to think of it like this: Do your exercises that you lift the most total weight on first.

For example: On your back day, if those are your three exercises the best order to do them in imo would be: deads, pullups, rows. This will still hit your upper back just as well as doing deads last, if not better[/quote]
I hear what your saying, however ive had the same problem with triceps. I coudnt feel the triceps working on the closed grip bench. so what i did was pushdowns, 15,12,10,8, in order to get my triceps pumped. then i would do skull crushers, followed by the closed grip bench. i was then able to feel the triceps working. Now i moved closed grip bench up to my second exercise. and eventually it will be my first exercise. [/quote]

Just because you don’t feel them doesn’t mean they’re not working. Or inversely, just because you feel them more doesn’t necessarily mean you’re working them better.

Also, we’re not talking about your triceps here are we? Your back is very different

19

[quote]pats18 wrote:
I apreciate these tips man, especially the ones about pull downs. Now im debateing on my exercise selection.
1.Romanian deads, conventional, or rack pulls, maybe rack pulls with a romanian deadlift grip.
2. BB rows, Seated wide grip rows, inverted pull ups
3.meadow rows, or one arm DB Rows
Even though your not an expert i like your advice lol. any suggestions on exercise selection? before you shoot down romanian deads, i was thinking about useing them with and under hand grip to emphasize external rotation. what do you think. Any advice is great.[/quote]

Those all seem like fine options; and you’ll probably get to incorporate them all sooner or later in your training.

In addition - I don’t believe the grip will make much of a difference. For example chin-ups (supinated grip) and pullups (pronated grip) both predominantly work the lats. Overpowering pecs and lats contribute to internal rotation - so the change in grip has limited impact. I believe the plane of movement has a much greater impact in improving your condition, and the exercises you posted seem fine.

20

[quote]crazyj23 wrote:

[quote]Field wrote:
Right now i am actually doing quite a bit of benching and arm work, partially because they are lagging…and also because women like some nice thick muscly arms.

The women probably like big thick muscly man arms the same way i like thier well shaped asses in a good pair of those yoga pants.[/quote]

You are a weird dude. Why do you always post this kind of nonsense in random threads?[/quote]

Not seeing what’s weird about that. Also not sure why you think it’s ‘nonsense’.