Hi Coach, How can I de emphasize my tri and delt development and place focus solely on the chest? I have great development for the formers, but a puny pecs.
I’d have to ask what are you doing for chest? How many times a week are you training it? What does the volume look like?
I train flat bench 5sx10, incline or decline 5x10, flues (flat or incline) 5x10, and chest press machine 5x10 (all to my limits). I superset the last one with ball squeezes (the giant ball squeezed in between my elbows). I’ve focused on TUT, using dumbbells over barbell, and mind-muscle connection, but I’ve noticed that guys with broad shoulders and naturally strong tris tend to have underdeveloped chests.
Well that’s a LOT of pressing movements, zero activation work, and I am guessing you’re training chest once a week?
I would really focus on some activation work to start the chest session. One thing I like is “bar crawls”. Start with a wide grip on the bar on flat bench. Then walk your hands in really slowly and focus on bringing to pecs together the whole time. Then do some warm up sets with the bar on a pressing movement and go to a cable crossover and do 6 sets of 12 reps, 60 seconds between sets, and focus on holding the contraction on each rep for 3 seconds. Then move on to a pressing movement. Do this TWICE A WEEK.
Paul, can you give another ex of some activation work for chest and lats ?? Thanks master.
T-nation just regrammed a movement I do for lat activation. another variation for chest is the pec deck, and to simply hold the top of the movement for three seconds with hard scap retraction the whole time.