Chest Growth

[Distilled Water]

I feel that my chest is lagging a little, ecspecially my lower chest. I have tried alot of different things. I have been away from doing chest (shoulder inj.) for about 5 weeks now, well hell just about all trianing.

I will start hitting it hard again monday and I will wait about 4 weeks to see how growth is comming along before I change my training.

I was thinking about hitting chest 2x's a week. I did it in High School and added a lot of stength that was training in the low rep ranges (2-6). Do you guys think this would apply to training for size?

I'd hit it monday normal and thursday with tri's and a higher volume

Monday would look like this all in the 8-12 rep range.....
Incline BB 4sets
Decline smith 4 sets
Flat DB 4 sets
DB flyes 4 sets

Thursday w/ tris all in the 12-20 rep range
Chest
Decline BB...5sets
Flat Flyes...5sets
Incline Flyes...5sets
Dips...4sets
Tri's
Close-Grip Bench...3sets (8-12)
Lying Ext. ...3sets (10-15)
DB overhead Ext. ...3set (6-10)
Reverse Grip press downs...3set (8-12)

Weekly split:
Mon: Chest
Tue: Back
Wed: Legs
Thur: Chest/Tri's
Fri: Biceps
Sat: Shoulders
Sun: OFF

You guys see any problems with this??????

 

[Jstrong20]

You could try two days and see if it works for you. When I use to train for size I trained chest once every 5 days. Now I do WSB and it works well to. I'd think training low reps one day and high reps the next would work best. I will say though my chest is one of my best body parts and people commented on it before I ever picked up a weight at 150lbs.

 

[Travis]

I recently spent the last few months working on my upper chest. I only did chest once a week but I always started that day with either incline BB or DB. Sometimes I only did incline presses, flies, etc. In the end I think it really paid off.

Your split looks good but you may want to put more focus on doing lower chest focused lifts first.

 

[kabuki]

i would drop the rep range on the first excercise on Monday to a 5 or 6 rep max. Rotate that excercise every two to three weeks. Stick with your 8-12 rep range on following excercises.

On thursday i would do two sets to failure on reps on BB bench at 50% of your max. Then jump to your tricep work

 

[thesinner]

I feel that my chest is lagging a little, ecspecially my lower chest. I have tried alot of different things. I have been away from doing chest (shoulder inj.) for about 5 weeks now, well hell just about all trianing.

I will start hitting it hard again monday and I will wait about 4 weeks to see how growth is comming along before I change my training.

I was thinking about hitting chest 2x's a week. I did it in High School and added a lot of stength that was training in the low rep ranges (2-6). Do you guys think this would apply to training for size?

I'd hit it monday normal and thursday with tri's and a higher volume

Monday would look like this all in the 8-12 rep range.....
Incline BB 4sets
Decline smith 4 sets
Flat DB 4 sets
DB flyes 4 sets

Thursday w/ tris all in the 12-20 rep range
Chest
Decline BB...5sets
Flat Flyes...5sets
Incline Flyes...5sets
Dips...4sets
Tri's
Close-Grip Bench...3sets (8-12)
Lying Ext. ...3sets (10-15)
DB overhead Ext. ...3set (6-10)
Reverse Grip press downs...3set (8-12)

Weekly split:
Mon: Chest
Tue: Back
Wed: Legs
Thur: Chest/Tri's
Fri: Biceps
Sat: Shoulders
Sun: OFF

You guys see any problems with this??????

You're hitting the chest too hard IMO. Chest is one of my better points, so I'll share with you my scheme.

I stick with this basic formula and it's yet to lead me wrong:
*Train Chest once per week
*3-4 chest exercises
*Maximum of 3 working sets per exercise
*Don't do more than one isolation exercise (i.e. flyes)


Also, IMO incline flyes are overrated.

I don't much care for the idea of hitting a lagging muscle group more in attempt to 'catch up'. Since the muscles are underdeveloped, how could you hit them harder than your already developed muscles without overtraining?


And now a dancing cheeseburger:
:burg:

 

[CryingEmo]

IMO 2-3 sets of chest every 5 days. Some people can handle way more volume, but I cannot.

 

[Rodja]

Adding in weight dips would also be a great idea.

 

[thesinner]

Adding in weight dips would also be a great idea.

Bar none the best exercise for overall chest development. I think DW is already doing them though.

 

[ReaperX]

My chest workout:

Incline barbell: 4x12
Flat barbell: 5x12
Decline barbell: 4x12
Pec Dec: 4x12/ Dips: 4x12....I alternate each time I work my chest.

^ Once a week

I've used this same routine for over 1 year and it has produced great results.



I'm gonna switch it up here and try

Incline barbell 3x10
Flat barbell: 3x12
Decline barbell: 3x10
Pec Dec: 3x10
Dips: 3x10

Every 5 days.


I'll probably catch flak for this, but I don't like doing chest with dumbbells. Its not my thing. I also too and not a very big advocate of cable crossovers. It might help with definition, but to me all it does is yank VERY HARD on my shoulder joint. The exercise in general is not nearly intense enough to stimulate muscle growth for my chest. My recovery for all my other muscles sucks beyond belief, but my chest muscles are the only ones that don't encounter overtraining.

 

[Travis]

My chest workout:

Incline barbell: 4x12
Flat barbell: 5x12
Decline barbell: 4x12
Pec Dec: 4x12/ Dips: 4x12....I alternate each time I work my chest.

^ Once a week

I've used this same routine for over 1 year and it has produced great results.



I'm gonna switch it up here and try

Incline barbell 3x10
Flat barbell: 3x12
Decline barbell: 3x10
Pec Dec: 3x10
Dips: 3x10

Every 5 days.


I'll probably catch flak for this, but I don't like doing chest with dumbbells. Its not my thing. I also too and not a very big advocate of cable crossovers. It might help with definition, but to me all it does is yank VERY HARD on my shoulder joint. The exercise in general is not nearly intense enough to stimulate muscle growth for my chest. My recovery for all my other muscles sucks beyond belief, but my chest muscles are the only ones that don't encounter overtraining.

You still see results with that same set/rep scheme even after a year? Or does that part of it vary?

 

[ReaperX]

I've used the same quantity and volume, but the reps may vary like 4x12 or 5x10, you know tweaking it slightly.

Before I always used to start flat bench. Now I'll start incline sometimes, or even the pec dec as a pre-exhaustion method.

Just varies.

Yeah I used it pretty consistantly for about 1 year (from when I first started bb'ing till last year. I've kinda hit a plateau at this point in strength/building muscle which is why I'm going to once again try another exercise/set/rep variation.

If that doesn't work then I'll face up to my nemisis and start going dumbbell benching.

 

[Distilled Water]

Bar none the best exercise for overall chest development. I think DW is already doing them though.

Yes I was doing them for some time but it aggrivated my shoulders so I stopped. They are feeling stronger so im going to go back to them.

I'll use all the info you guys have thrown at me and mix it in with what im doing. I'll relook the situation before going to 2x's a weej training.

 

[thesinner]

Just don't forget the dancing cheeseburgers,although their mechanism of action is yet to be determined, they are very important for chest development.

 

[bLacKjAck.]

I havn't read through the suggestions, but I recommend going all DB's for a while, Flat/Incline/Decline. Just tear up your chest with DB's, I bet it makes a diff for you. I do that when I get stuck in my chest developement and it always works for me. Also, incorporate dips/weighted dips, whichever you can handle....making sure you are leaning forward a good bit.

 

[SteelEntity]

I feel that my chest is lagging a little, ecspecially my lower chest. I have tried alot of different things. I have been away from doing chest (shoulder inj.) for about 5 weeks now, well hell just about all trianing.

I will start hitting it hard again monday and I will wait about 4 weeks to see how growth is comming along before I change my training.

I was thinking about hitting chest 2x's a week. I did it in High School and added a lot of stength that was training in the low rep ranges (2-6). Do you guys think this would apply to training for size?

I'd hit it monday normal and thursday with tri's and a higher volume

Monday would look like this all in the 8-12 rep range.....
Incline BB 4sets
Decline smith 4 sets
Flat DB 4 sets
DB flyes 4 sets

Thursday w/ tris all in the 12-20 rep range
Chest
Decline BB...5sets
Flat Flyes...5sets
Incline Flyes...5sets
Dips...4sets
Tri's
Close-Grip Bench...3sets (8-12)
Lying Ext. ...3sets (10-15)
DB overhead Ext. ...3set (6-10)
Reverse Grip press downs...3set (8-12)

Weekly split:
Mon: Chest
Tue: Back
Wed: Legs
Thur: Chest/Tri's
Fri: Biceps
Sat: Shoulders
Sun: OFF

You guys see any problems with this??????

How much time do spend in the gym per workout?

 

[Rodja]

Yes I was doing them for some time but it aggrivated my shoulders so I stopped. They are feeling stronger so im going to go back to them.

I'll use all the info you guys have thrown at me and mix it in with what im doing. I'll relook the situation before going to 2x's a weej training.

I used to not do them because of shoulder problems, but since I started strengthening my rotator cuffs, I have been able to re-incorporate dips and flat BP.

 

[Distilled Water]

How much time do spend in the gym per workout?

An hour tops.

BlackJak, A few of the guys at my gum have also suggested that moving to DB may help.

Roj, I will be doing weighted dips starting 2nite and I too had rot. cuff problems but have strengthed them a good bit over the past 5 weeks.

I have decied to hit 3 sets of each on decline/flat/incline with the DB with 3 sets weighted dips and ending with flyes

 

[Travis]

An hour tops.

BlackJak, A few of the guys at my gum have also suggested that moving to DB may help.

Roj, I will be doing weighted dips starting 2nite and I too had rot. cuff problems but have strengthed them a good bit over the past 5 weeks.

I have decied to hit 3 sets of each on decline/flat/incline with the DB with 3 sets weighted dips and ending with flyes

Just curious what you guys do for rotator cuffs lifts? I do a few things but pry not enough. I believe they are especially important for me too, since I have long arms and already feel a little stressed when doing heavy low rep BP.

 

[UNCfan1]

DW, my chest is lagging as well. Something that I tried from a suggestion from the boys at intense muslce was on flat benches either BB or DB was to hang ur ass off the bench.

I usually feel bench presses mainly in my shoulders. Maybe my length has something to do with that. This is a good way to do rev grip benches and close grip.

Dips too, but u already know that lol.

 

[UNCfan1]

DW, my chest is lagging as well. Something that I tried from a suggestion from the boys at intense muslce was on flat benches either BB or DB was to hang ur ass off the bench.

I usually feel bench presses mainly in my shoulders. Maybe my length has something to do with that. This is a good way to do rev grip benches and close grip.

Dips too, but u already know that lol.

BTW, for the barbell press u will need to use the smith machine. I haven't tried it this way with a reg bench press. I am not sure if u can even do it.

LOL, I meant to edit not quote.

 

[Travis]

DW, my chest is lagging as well. Something that I tried from a suggestion from the boys at intense muslce was on flat benches either BB or DB was to hang ur ass off the bench.

I usually feel bench presses mainly in my shoulders. Maybe my length has something to do with that. This is a good way to do rev grip benches and close grip.

Dips too, but u already know that lol.

I am assuming you dont use shoulders as much when you hang your ass of the bench, correct?

Is this somewhat similar to puttng your feet up on the bench so your not using a powerlifter type press with your feet flat on the floor? I tend to drive with my heels a lot....which Im trying not too.

 

[Distilled Water]

I always bench with my feet on the bench and I did notice thast helpd alot with chest development but I have pleatued again

 

[UNCfan1]

I am assuming you dont use shoulders as much when you hang your ass of the bench, correct?

Is this somewhat similar to puttng your feet up on the bench so your not using a powerlifter type press with your feet flat on the floor? I tend to drive with my heels a lot....which Im trying not too.

Since I started doing this I feel it alot more in my chest. I never have benched with my feet up. Its a good way to use leverage for strength and I am able to feel it better in my chest. At the same time I am noticing that I am not driving my heels as much. I don't know its different and it works for me lol.